Concordia loses game two 5-3 after giving up three-goal lead
The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team were eliminated in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) semi-finals by the McGill Martlets Saturday afternoon. The Martlets won 5-3 after the Stingers opened the game with a 3-0 lead at the McConnell Arena.
The game started well for the Stingers as they established dominance early in the first period. Forward Claudia Dubois opened the scoring 10 minutes into the game with her first goal of the series. Concordia head coach Julie Chu said that after Thursday’s loss in game one, the team wanted to improve for Saturday.
“We talked about our mentality heading into this game,” Chu said. “It [was] a one-game season at that point for us, so we had to be ready to play and be ready to jump.”
The Stingers had a three-goal lead in the second period when forwards Rosalie Bégin-Cyr and Maria Manarolis scored two goals in less than five minutes. However, the Stingers lost their momentum after Manarolis’s goal, as the Martlets called a time-out and made a goaltending change. The Martlets then scored five unanswered goals. Chu said her team maintained a good position all game long despite the score.
“It wasn’t about a panic moment or anything,” Chu said. “It’s just a couple of moments that [the Martlets] found the back of the net, but, ultimately, they got four goals on seven shots [in the third period].”
The Stingers also had seven shots in the third period, but couldn’t beat back-up Martlets goalie Amanda Hadwen. Chu said she was still happy with how her team competed in the third period.
“I think the total effort of our team was really solid,” Chu said. “They’ve been battling all year long to be the team that they are, and I’m really proud of them. I think we didn’t come to play in the first game. This one we came to play.”
The Stingers won the RSEQ championship last year, but couldn’t win a playoff game this season. The head coach wants to use this loss as motivation for next season.
“This is definitely a tough one to swallow,” Chu said. “It will hurt for a long time, but for those who get the opportunity to return next year, that will be their fire. It will be their fire to not feel like this again and to know that we have it in this team.”
Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.
