The frustrating season continued for the Concordia women’s hockey on Sunday afternoon at Ed Meagher Arena.
The Gee-Gees came to town hoping for results similar to the last time the two teams faced off; a 4-3 loss for the Stingers, the eighth in a row, has left them six points out of the playoffs with only five games to go.
“We had our moments, I thought, but overall we weren’t really satisfied with our full 60 minutes,” said Stingers head coach Les Lawton. “We have to realize that we have to play with a little more passion and a little more intensity at the important times of the game.”
The Stingers started the first period by getting outplayed in their own zone as forward Alyssa Sherrard took a penalty for a hit to the head. Concordia managed well on the penalty-kill with some good saves from goalie Marie-Pier Rémillard, keeping the game 0-0.
After trading a few penalties, Ottawa opened the scoring with two minutes left in the first as forward Dominique Lefebvre put one behind Rémillard.
Concordia tied it up with one minute to go in the period as forward Emilie Bocchia scored her first of three goals.
Picking up from where she left off, Bocchia scored her second off her own rebound only a minute and a half into the second period.
Ottawa forward Asha Kauffeldt had a great chance on a breakaway midway through the second, but Rémillard stood tall and kept her team’s lead.
With forward Jaymee Shell in the box for elbowing, Concordia couldn’t hold off the Gee-Gees powerplay as Fannie Desforges scored on a wrap-around, making it 2-2.
“We came out strong but we let down at times and penalties really were an issue for us,” said Stingers captain Alynn Doiron.
The third period started with a lot of back and forth action that had both teams trading chances. Ottawa came out on top with the momentum as Janie Paquette made it 3-2 at the 17:21 mark of the third period.
After the goal, Concordia seemed to struggle in its own zone, giving pucks away and making turnovers. Forward Maggie MacNeil was called for a body check at 11:39, and Veronica Lang went to the box for tripping one minute later, giving Ottawa a 5-on-3 opportunity.
Gee-Gees forward Valerie Watson made it 4-2 a few moments after the beginning of the 5-on-3, scoring from the slot on a wrist shot that went five-hole as Rémillard had her vision blocked in front.
Bocchia completed her hat trick with four minutes to go in the third, but the Stingers, even with the goalie pulled, weren’t able to come back in time. The loss put a damper on Bocchia’s accomplishment.
“Don’t give me too much credit on that, I really wanted to win this game,” she said. “My line worked hard and I just wished I had one more.”
Concordia now sits in last place in the RSEQ conference, six points behind Ottawa.
The Stingers’ next game is Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. on the road against Carleton.
