Concordia’s women’s hockey team won the last game of the Shoot for the Cure weekend
The Concordia Stingers scored three unanswered goals in the third period on Saturday, in order to win 3-1 against the first place McGill Martlets in the last Shoot for the Cure game.
The Stingers mounted their comeback early in the third period when Stingers forward Stéphanie Lalancette scored to tie the game 1-1 on what was seemingly a goal that Martlets goaltender Rachelle Champion would have liked back. Lalancette’s shot barely left the ice but managed to squeak past Champion, underneath her right pad.
Champion came into the game to replace starting goaltender Tricia Deguire who went out with what appeared to be a head injury. The injury occurred on a collision with Stingers forward Claudia Dubois midway through the first period.
“I am curious to look back at the video to see exactly what happened,” Dubois said. “We don’t really understand if her head may have hit the ice or anything.”
Despite Deguire leaving the game, the Stingers don’t believe it was the goalie change that allowed them to win. For head coach Julie Chu, it has to do with the team sticking to their game plan.
“The reason why we were in such a good position is because we were playing our game,” Chu said. “That’s what made us successful.”
The Stingers started off strong and, even when they were down by a goal, they kept playing a fast-paced game. They took their first lead of the game with 10 minutes remaining in third period. The goal was scored by Stingers forward Sophie Gagnon.
Stingers goaltender Katherine Purchase took care of the rest and made multiple saves down the stretch, including one with 26 seconds left in the game.
Stingers forward Keriann Schofield scored the empty-netter in the dying seconds to secure the 3-1 win.
“They are a pretty tough team to play against,” Purchase said. “They have a pretty strong top six. They’ve got a couple players that can really shoot the puck.”
Purchase made 18 saves and was solid throughout the game, seldomly giving the Martlets chances to score.
“We were incredible today. You are never going to get an easy win against Mcgill—they are a tough team,” Purchase said. “Especially in the third, we never gave up down 1-0. I am really proud of the girls.”
“We were really disciplined out there. Our forecheck was tremendous and we got some great goaltending as well,” Chu added.
The Stingers will travel to Ottawa next Saturday to take on the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.
