Concordia loses second straight game at home against Ottawa
The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team lost 2-1 against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees on Nov. 17 at the Ed Meagher Arena.
After a 4-3 loss to the McGill Martlets in their last game, the Stingers were looking to bounce back with a win. But they were outworked by a chippy Gee-Gees team that had already beaten the Stingers 3-1 in the first game of the season on Oct. 15.
“The Gee-Gees work hard and take away time and space,” said Stingers head coach Julie Chu. “When they do that, it makes it more difficult for us to get the flow that we want to.”
Neither team was able to score in the first period, with much of the game being played in the neutral zone. The Gee-Gees were able to wear the Stingers down by dumping the puck into the offensive zone and forcing Concordia’s defencemen to chase the puck.
As the game wore on, the Gee-Gees’ strategy paid dividends, as the Stingers became increasingly tired throughout the game.
Despite the Gee-Gees’ dump-and-chase success, it was the Stingers who struck first. Stingers forward Keriann Schofield buried the puck past Gee-Gees goalie Maude Levesque-Ryan to give her team a 1- 0 lead halfway through the second period. Just four minutes later, the Gee-Gees tied up the game with a goal from forward Mélodie Bouchard.
The third period was fairly uneventful with both teams not generating many scoring chances. Gee-Gees forward Laurence Morissette eventually broke the deadlock to give her team a 2-1 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
Morissette’s goal was all the Gee-Gees needed to pick up their third win of the season. With the Stingers on the power play with two minutes left, Chu pulled goalie Katherine Purchase for an extra attacker. This gave the Stingers a six-on-four advantage, but it wasn’t enough to tie the game.
“We had our chances, but it’s the little details we need to execute,” Chu said. “We’re almost waiting until the end to bury a game, and there were opportunities in the second period to score [that] we missed. We need to bury them.”
The Stingers’ next game will be away against the Université de Montéal Carabins on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. Chu said she hopes her team can have a big bounce-back game after two straight losses.
“Right now, we just need to refocus mentally,” Chu said. “This is our first back-to-back loss, so the thing is for our team to stay strong and united.”
Main photo by Alex Hutchins.
