Samantha Mileto – Page 4

Stingers centre Alyssa Sherrard (11) and Carleton Ravens forward Sadie Wegner (44) face off. Photo by Alyssa Tremblay.

The Concordia Stingers lost 3-1 in a tight game on Saturday afternoon against the Carleton Ravens at Ed Meagher Arena.

The first period saw the Stingers go down after a controversial call by the referee. At 15:18, Ravens defenseman Kelsey Vander Veen shot at a scramble in front of the Stingers net. The puck did not seem to have crossed the line, and the goal light did not go on. However, the referee credited the goal to Vander Veen, which gave the Ravens the 1-0 lead.

“I thought [the call] was a little bit unfair,” Stingers captain Mallory Lawton said. “We have people who sit [behind the net] to put the goal light on and the goal light never went on.”

Just before the first period ended, Stingers defenseman Margaret Hotte was boarded and injured her ankle. She left the game with the help of a trainer and did not return.

In the second period, Concordia pressured Ravens goalie Tamber Tisdale to try to tie the game. Left winger Veronique Laramee Paquette took a nice cross-pass from right winger Erin Lally with just under six minutes to go in the period, but she couldn’t find the back of the net.

The Ravens doubled their lead when a weak wrist shot by forward Ainslee Kent from the side of the net managed to go past Carolanne Lavoi-Pilon at 7:12 of the second period.

But with one minute left in the period, Laramee Paquette blasted a shot past Tisdale to cut the Ravens’ lead to 2-1.

The third period was quiet, until 16:36, when defenseman Laurie Proulx-Duperre was sent to the penalty box for roughing. Frustration ensued for the Stingers and a short scuffle broke out.

Just after play continued, the Stingers found themselves down two players when defenseman Mary-Jane Roper was sent to the box for four minutes for a hit to the head from behind, destroying the Stingers hopes to tie the game.

At 19:17, the Ravens put the game away when Alexandra Yallouz scored into the empty net.

“I thought we worked hard,” said head coach Les Lawton. “Obviously we’re having a hard time putting the puck in the net. It’s a real tough loss for us because […] we’ve been working hard. Hopefully we could get it together for next weekend.”

Concordia travels to Ottawa to face the Gee-Gees on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. before returning home to play McGill at Ed Meagher Arena on Sunday at 3 p.m.

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team came out on top of a high-scoring affair, winning 6-5 in their home-opener on Friday against the defending national champions, the McGill Redmen.

The Stingers set the tone early in the game at the Ed Meagher Arena , as right winger Etienne Archambault was given a two minute penalty and a 10-minute game misconduct for leveling a Redmen player less than one minute into the game.

After nearly seven minutes into the first period, while Archambault was still serving his misconduct, the Redmen opened the scoring on a goal by center Jonathan Brunelle. The Stingers responded at the end of the first period with a few chances of their own. Archambault took a drop pass from his teammate with a little more than three minutes left in the period. Redmen goaltender Hubert Morin was sharp and made the save.

With less than two minutes to go, Stinger George Lovatsis equalized the score after tucking the puck into the side on a rebound scramble in front of the net.

“We took a penalty [in the first period] and we lost a player for 10 minutes, and that kind of upset our lines,” explained coach Kevin Figsby. “I think that gave the Redmen an advantage […] but by the end of the period, it was still 1-1.”

The Stingers took their first lead of the game at 17:25 of the second period on a shorthanded goal by Lovatsis, his second of the night.

The Redmen tied the game up soon after when defenseman Hugo Laporte blasted a shot past Stingers goalie Nicholas Champion from the blueline.

After two goals from each side, the Stingers regained the lead once again at 6:16 of the third period. They hung onto it until the end of the game. Youssef Kabbaj made it 4-3 Stingers when his wrist shot from the point went in five hole.

Redmen winger Justin Ducharme was sent to the penalty box during the third for roughing after the whistle, and the Stingers took full advantage of the handicap. Alexandre Monahan passed it up the wing to an open Kyle Kelly who scored to give the Stingers a 5-3 lead.

After Archambault gave his team a three goal lead five minutes later, the Redmen got goals from Brunelle and Marc-Olivier Vachon in the last three minutes. However, the Stingers were able to hold off their rivals and win.

“Offensively, we did everything we needed to do,” said Lovatsis. “We just need to tighten up defensively.”

As a whole, coach Figsby believes this win is a sign of things to come.

“You saw the grit and the determination and I think our team will have this season,” he said. “We just played the defending national champions and we beat them on home ice to start the season with our first win. I’m very pleased with the effort of all our players tonight.”

Concordia will travel to Ottawa for their next game against Carleton University on Friday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m.