Concordia’s women’s hockey team held off the Carabins to win their best of three series 2-0
After a 6-2 win in game one of their semi-final match up against the Université de Montréal Carabins, the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team won game two by a score of 3-2 and will move on to the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) finals.
“We set a lot of goals throughout the year and one of the was being top two in the division,” Stingers head coach Julie Chu said. “This win pretty much guarantees that we go to nationals so we achieved our first goal, now we still have to keep working hard.”
The Stingers started the game off slow, only registering three shots in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Carabins were able to get the puck into the Stingers zone and got solid chances on Stingers goalie Katherine Purchase, who did a good job shutting them down.
With about six minutes left in the period, the Stingers caught a break when the Carabins took a penalty for cross-checking. On the ensuing power play, Stingers forward Stephanie Lalancette scored on Carabins goalie Marie-Pier Chabot to make it 1-0.
Despite leading after the first period, Chu knew her team needed to be better.
“We didn’t start great. Montreal played with a lot of desperation and they were outworking us,” Chu said. “We were working hard but we didn’t have the same desperation.”
Halfway through the second period, the Carabins tied up the game on the power play, as forward Laurie Mercier squeaked the puck by Purchase.
Four minutes later, the Concordia Stingers regained the lead thanks to a power play goal by forward Claudia Dubois, who scored a hat trick in game one.
“The energy was great today and we knew it was our game,” Dubois said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
In the third period, the Stingers gave everything they had to hold off the Carabins. However, with just under four minutes left, Carabins forward Jessica Cormier scored on a shot that surprised Purchase, which tied the game at two.
Instead of getting discouraged and waiting for overtime, the Stingers went right back on the attack and just a minute later, Dubois scored her second goal of the game on a wraparound.
Dubois’ goal made the score 3-2 for the Stingers. The team hung on all the way until the final buzzer.
“We knew they could score and when they did our energy and our mindset never changed,” Dubois said. “We just wanted to score the next goal and we did it.”
Purchase was a big contributor to the team’s win, stopping 38 out of 40 shots. She made key saves down the stretch, and kept the Carabins off the board in the dying minutes of the game.
“I think I just didn’t want to play tomorrow,” Purchase said when discussing the possibility of a game 3. “When you win game one you have to put them away in game two and I had to be solid. When you’re getting consistent shots it’s easier to stay in the game.”
The win marks the first time the team will be going to the RSEQ finals since 2005. Depending on the winners of the other semi-final series, the Stingers will either play the McGill Martlets or the Ottawa Gee-Gees.
