Tag: Julie Chu

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Stingers bounce back from loss with convincing win

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Despite the win, the Stingers still sit four points behind McGill for second place. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Katherine Purchase returns to action and records a shutout

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team blanked the Carleton University Ravens 6-0 Sunday afternoon at the Ed Meagher Arena. Forward Stéphanie Lalancette scored two goals and goaltender Katherine Purchase registered the shutout in her first start of the season to help the Stingers beat the Ravens.

Following Saturday’s lost to the McGill Martlets, Stingers head coach Julie Chu said her team missed killer instinct. She was pleased with how her team responded against the Ravens.

“We liked what we did today,” Chu said. “We had a pretty hard message on them after the game [Saturday]. Obviously they want to win, so when they lose 5-1 they’re really not feeling great about it. Then, we made sure they felt a little bit tougher about it. The best thing about this team is that they respond, and we have great leadership and great veterans that stepped up and realized we just needed a little reset.”

This was goalie Katherine Purchase’s first start since nationals last March. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

The Stingers took many of their 44 shots from the blue line and used their defencemen to create scoring opportunities. Chu said the team focused on playing great in the offensive zone.

“I think when we start some attacks down low it opens up our opportunities up top,” Chu said. “Our forwards did a really good job driving the net, creating spaces and time down low. It naturally opened up up top. What we were looking for our defencemen was to make sure we had some good puck movement and shots through as much as we could. I thought overall we did a really good job with that.”

The Stingers scored two power play goals in the game. According to Chu, the team’s special units worked well because of their quick puck management.

“It’s when we hold on to the puck a little bit longer [that it doesn’t work],” Chu said. “Maybe sometimes on the power play our intensity goes down. We have to move the puck quickly, tape to tape, and make sure we have a great net front presence.”

Forward Audrey Belzile, who recorded one goal and two assists in the victory, said the Stingers showed a totally different power play look than the one against the Martlets.

“I think we were moving the puck faster than yesterday,” Belzile said. “Yesterday we were stressed to make a mistake, but today we were simply moving the puck and taking shots. It’s especially what we didn’t do yesterday [that we did today], which is having a screen in front of the net to block the goaltender’s view. That’s what helped because she didn’t see pucks arrive.”

Purchase saved all 14 shots she received in her first start of the season with the Stingers. Chu said Purchase responded well to a game she knew would be challenging.

“Katherine [Purchase] did a great job,” Chu said. “In her first game, she had a tough start. Regardless of the score, she had to make some really good saves early on when it was 1-0 or 2-0. She had a two-on-one opportunity where she had to come up with a big save. If she doesn’t make that save, maybe it [would have changed] the flow of the game a little bit.”

 

Purchase said she prepared for this game knowing the team wanted to avenge their disappointing loss from Saturday. “It was a must win game for us,” Purchase said. “You could see just from the warm up that the team was ready and that gave me confidence.”

The Stingers play their next game on Jan. 18 against the Université de Montréal Carabins. The puck drop is at 7 p.m. at the CEPSUM Arena.

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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Stingers lack killer instinct in 5-1 loss

The Martlets are now six points ahead of the Stingers in the standings. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

McGill has beaten Concordia in all three meetings this season

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team were defeated 5-1 by the McGill Martlets Saturday afternoon at the Ed Meagher Arena. The Martlets have now won the three meetings played so far between the teams this season.

The Martlets took control early in the game when they scored in the opening minute. The Stingers’s lone goal was by forward Lidia Fillion, scored in the last minute of the first period, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

Despite having 37 shots on net, the Stingers only managed to score once. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

Stingers head coach Julie Chu said the score early in the game didn’t reflect the team’s effort. “We had two crossbars, and [had] different plays,” Chu said. “It could have been a very different first period outcome.”

Chu added that her team played a good second period, but missed many scoring chances. “We had a lot of chances, a lot of odd-man rushes, and it’s our job to bury them out and make sure we score on those,” Chu said. She added the Stingers didn’t have that “killer instinct.”

According to Fillion, the Stingers couldn’t find the scoring touch. “We had a lot of momentum, but we missed that finishing,” Fillion said. “We missed that second effort, the little spark that made us score.”

“I think we’re still playing good hockey,” Chu said. “We created chances, and that’s step one. But at some point, we have to find a way to have that little extra hunger and be able to put it past a good goaltender.”

Stingers goaltender Alice Philbert was pulled from the game in the third period after conceding five goals on 28 shots.

The two teams will meet again on Jan. 25 at McGill. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

“I think at some point it’s time to get a little bit of a change. Then, we get an opportunity to get Katherine [Purchase] some ice-time as well, and get some feeling to the puck,” Chu said. This was Purchase’s first game of the season, as she’s been out with an injury. “I’m not going to stand here and say that we lost because of Alice. We’re not that type of team,” Chu added.

The Stingers finished the game with 37 shots, while the Martlets finished with 34. Forward Audrey Belzile said that everyone has to work on themselves for the next game.

“We have to focus on ourselves [for tomorrow], and stop focusing about others,” Belzile said. “If it doesn’t go well, [then] we support each other. When we are trailing, we need to stop looking at the negative and look at the positive.”

The Stingers will be in action against the Carleton Ravens on Jan. 13 at 3 p.m. at the Ed Meagher Arena.

Main photo by Gabe Chevalier. 

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Stingers lose rivalry game 3-2 against Martlets

Forward Audrey Belzile (pictured) hit two posts in the game. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Concordia heads into winter break third in conference

A third-period push wasn’t enough for the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team to comeback against the McGill Martlets on Saturday afternoon. The Martlets beat the Stingers 3-2 at the Ed Meagher Arena in the rivalry game.

“It’s a game of bounces, and in the first period we had a few breakdowns that [gave] McGill a few bounces that we didn’t get,” said Stingers head coach Julie Chu. “For sure it was a fun game, it was back-and-forth and very much like a playoff-atmosphere game.”

The Stingers and Martlets will face off in the first game after the break. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Early in the game, the Martlets displayed why they are ranked third in the country by U Sports. Emilia Cotter opened the scoring five minutes in, before Concordia’s Marie-Pascale Bernier tied the game four minutes later. McGill continued to fire shots on goalie Alice Philbert, and finally got one past her midway through the first for the lead.

After outshooting the Stingers 13-8 in the first, the Martlets extended their lead to two goals just three minutes into the second. “We have to tighten up so we don’t give those opportunities,” Chu said. “Even their third goal was a tough bounce that deflected weird and ended up going in.”

The Stingers stormed back during the second period. A power play gave them the energy they needed and created multiple scoring chances, only goalie Tricia Deguire to stop them. Stingers forward Audrey Belzile even hit a post in the second, only to hit a second post in the third. Concordia did cut the lead in half with an early third-period goal by Sophie Gagnon. It seemed to energize the team and the crowd at the Ed Meagher Arena, as they outshot McGill 18-7 in the final period—but couldn’t tie the game.

“I thought the third period we were tremendous, we were all over them and buzzing, plus we had a lot of good opportunities,” Chu said. “At the end of the day when we play a good team in one of the best leagues [in the country], we’re going to go back-and-forth, and some chances will go in, and others won’t.”

With 10 games played, the Stingers are halfway through their season and have a 5-3-1 record heading into the winter break. They sit third in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec conférence, four points behind McGill.

The Stingers host the Theresa Humes Tournament from Dec. 28 to Dec. 30, before returning to league play against McGill on Jan. 12.

“We’ve worked really hard and grown as a team [this season],” Chu said. “But the key for our girls is to focus on their exams and to make sure to still get some work-outs in December.”

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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Three-goal first period helps Stingers sink Gee-Gees

The Stingers’s three goals in the first were enough to force the Gee-Gees to make a goalie change. Photo by Gabriel Chevalier.

4-1 home win gives Concordia points in five-straight games

A three-goal first period by the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team helped the team defeat the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 4-1 Sunday afternoon at the Ed Meagher Arena.

Stephanie Lalancette scored her first goal of the season after an injury. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

The Stingers took control of the game early in the first period. Forwards Rosalie Bégin-Cyr, Marie-Pascale Bernier, and Stéphanie Lalancette scored three goals in less than nine minutes, giving them a 3-0 lead at the first intermission.

“I think one of the big things we’ve had trouble dealing with [recently] is playing a full 60 minutes,” said head coach Julie Chu about their start. “In the last couple of games, we haven’t been the best in the first period, so I think that’s what our main focus was. It’s making sure we have a great start. We did and we pushed the pace. We were really happy with our first period.”

The Stingers played a fast game and were first on the puck most of the time, which Chu said forecheck is something the team has been working on this season.

“I think when we get our forecheck going, a lot of great things happen,” Chu said. “Obviously, forecheck is your first line of defence, through our ability to force the opponent to create turnovers, from there to get opportunities is really big. I think that’s what happened, especially in the first period.”

Marie-Pascale Bernier scored a goal when a point shot deflected off her foot. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

The Stingers took six of their eight penalty minutes of the game in the second period. Ottawa’s Alexane Papineau took advantage to score the Gee-Gees’s lone goal on the power play.

“They probably had the better on us in the second period,” Chu said. “However, we bounced back in the third and had a really solid game.”

Stingers’s goaltender Alice Philbert made 17 saves in the victory. However, she was mostly occupied in the second period, making nine saves.

“It’s about getting used to it,” Philbert said. “We had fewer shots [against us] last year, so it helped me to get used to it. What I do is thinking I’m the other goalie. I imagine myself making the saves, and it helps me to stay in the game.”

Chu said Philbert’s second period performance was a huge part of the win.

“The great thing about Alice is that she always works hard, and she always puts herself in a position to be ready to play,” Chu said. “In the second period, especially with six minutes of power play that we gave up, we obviously had to rely on our goaltender.”

The Stingers will play the Carleton Ravens on Sunday Nov. 25 at the Carleton Ice House at 3 p.m.

Main photo by Gabe Chevalier.

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Stingers come out on short end in 4-3 double overtime loss to Carabins

It’s already the third time the Stingers played the Carabins, winning one of the three games. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

Head coach Julie Chu still happy with the team’s performance

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team lost another tight game against their rivals, the Université de Montréal Carabins Friday night. The Carabins won 4-3 in double overtime at the CEPSUM arena.

There were a lot of broken plays in the first period, which was not expected between these two top teams.

“We have to start on time,” said Stingers head coach Julie Chu. “We got a good second and third.”

After Carabins’s Annie Germain opened the scoring early in the second, the Stingers answered 35 seconds later with a goal from Rosalie Bégin-Cyr, giving them confidence for the rest of the second period. Forward Claudia Dubois scored on a power play after a nice set-up from her teammates, Claudia Fortin and Amélie Lemay.

Montreal scored a goal in the first five minutes of the third period, tying the game 2-2. Less than two minutes later, Concordia’s Maria Manarolis scored the go-ahead goal, setting the table for a high-intensity ending as there was a lot of speed.

Forward Claudia Dubois scored a goal in the game. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

Both goalies had to make key saves, but Stingers’s goalie Alice Philbert had no chance when she allowed the Carabins’s third goal off a screened shot by Jessica Cormier. Both Philbert and Aube Racine didn’t allow another goal until overtime.

There were many scoring chances in the first five minutes of four-on-four overtime, but there was still no winner. The game went into double overtime, played three-on-three. The Stingers had their chances, but Carabins forward Estelle Duvin got the final word with the game-winning goal.

Despite the loss, the Stingers were happy about their performance. “I think we didn’t play a full 60 minutes,” said forward Audrey Belzile. Fortin also noticed the slow start, but liked how her team fought back.

“We battled—I mean, it’s not a lack of effort,” Fortin said. “These are tough games and we are not depressed in the locker room right now. We are on the right way.”

Coach Chu also believes in the learning process of her young team. “We are still growing and we are going to become the team that we want to,” she said.

The Stingers are now looking forward to their next game this Sunday, as they will host the Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Main photo by Gabe Chevalier.

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Devon Thompson is leading on and off the ice

Devon Thompson was voted as captain in her fifth season with the Concordia Stingers. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Fifth-year forward named captain in final season with Stingers

During Devon Thompson’s first season on the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team in 2014-15, they beat the McGill Martlets for the first time in 44 regular-season games.

“That night, our team got together and [celebrated] because we won a regular-season game,” Thompson said. “Now it’s kind of changed, and we’re pissed off any time we lose a game like that.”

The Stingers finished the 2014-15 season with a 8-7-5 record, and a 6-12-2 record in the 2015-16 season. Fast forward a few years, Thompson is now in her fifth year with the Stingers, who won the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) championship in March.

“When I take a step back and look at it, it’s crazy how much we’ve grown,” Thompson said. “Being expected to win is great, and it is pressure, but [head coach Julie Chu] tells us, ‘Pressure is privilege.’”

Thompson had a career-high 15 points last season, helping the Stingers win the RSEQ championship. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

This season, the players voted Thompson as co-captain alongside goalie Katherine Purchase, but since goalies can’t wear the “C” on their jerseys, Thompson has it.

“It was honourable to be [named captain],” Thompson said. “There are a lot of good leaders on and off the ice, so to get that recognition from my teammates was pretty special.”

Chu describes Thompson as the “mamma bear” of the team. “Devon is a truly kind person that cares about the people around her,” she said. “That’s what she does in her leadership, she builds those relationships, checks in on people and obviously does a great job on the ice.”

Purchase is also a fifth-year player on the team, so her and Thompson started their Stingers journey together.

“People think that, because she’s a goalie, she sticks to herself, but she’s always had a really big voice in the locker room,” Thompson said. “For me, she’s the one player I’ve played five years with, so we definitely have a special relationship.”

Last season, Thompson finished with a career-high of six goals and nine assists, good enough for sixth-most points on the team. She played on a line with Claudia Dubois and Sophie Gagnon, who had 20 and 17 points respectively. Along with forward Audrey Belzile, Gagnon and Dubois are the assistant captains this season.

“That group of girls, they’ve been stand-out players every year they’ve been here,” Thompson said. “But also it’s a testament to them-they don’t take anything for granted, they work hard, and they’re the first people on the ice, and last ones off.”

The last two captains of the women’s hockey team, Tracy-Ann Lavigne and Marie-Joëlle Allard, were both drafted by Les Canadiennes de Montréal in the professional Canadian Women’s Hockey League. Thompson said she learned about hard work from each of them, and that they never took a day off.

Thompson added that Lavigne and Allard proved you don’t just have to be a good player to be a good captain, but you need to be a good person outside the rink. “If I could be half the captain they were, I would be pretty happy,” Thompson said.

Part of being a captain on a varsity team is having so many new student-athletes on the roster. The Stingers have 12 rookies from Québec, Ontario, the United States, and the Netherlands, so the leadership group will have to make sure the new players integrate well into the team.

Head coach Julie Chu described Thompson as the “mamma bear” of the team. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

With players from all over the world, there isn’t just one language spoken in the dressing room. Thompson said some of the French-speaking players tend to be a bit more shy speaking English, but she tries to be a vocal leader so they feel more comfortable. “If you speak the language, you’re going to pick it up eventually,” the psychology student said.

Thompson grew up in Châteauguay, in the South Shore, and hockey wasn’t the first sport she played. She started playing football because her brothers played, and wanted to compete with them. “My parents never really gave that gender excuse. Whatever my brother did, I could do,” Thompson said. “My brother played football, so I played too.”

The captain started playing hockey at eight years old, but still wanted to beat her brother Theo at it. When asked whether or not she’s better than him now, Thompson was sure of herself: “Oh yeah, definitely,” she said with a laugh.

Thompson also had hockey stars to look up to growing up, such as Marie-Philip Poulin, Catherine Ward and Caroline Ouellette, one of the Stingers’s assistant coaches.

“She’s intense, but brings poise. You know what to expect and she wants you to work hard,” Thompson said, who was in awe when she was first coached by Ouellette. “She doesn’t let you take a rest or have excuses. If you want to have [anyone’s] mentality, you would want her mentality.”    

The fifth-year forward isn’t too sure what she wants to do after her career with the Stingers is over, but said she enjoys coaching younger kids. “I’m just focused on this year and taking it all in, then worry about all that in April,” Thompson said.

Main photo by Hannah Ewen.

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Women’s hockey team shows dominance in 5-1 win over Carleton

The Stingers improve to a 3-2-0 record with two wins this weekend. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Stingers offence breaks out big for first time this season

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey dominated the struggling Carleton Ravens en route to a 5-1 victory Sunday afternoon at the Ed Meagher Arena.

Coming off a big win against the Université de Montréal Carabins Friday night, the Stingers kept the momentum going against the winless Ravens.

“It was really important for our girls to come out after a big win on Friday, to make sure they had a full effort,” said Stingers head coach Julie Chu. “We’re really happy with how they did and how they competed the entire time.”

It didn’t take long for the Stingers’s power play to be a factor in this game: Claudia Fortin scored on the first power play of the game, just over two minutes in. The first period was played primarily in the Ravens’s zone, until Carleton forward Jamie Wainman found the net for their only goal of the game.

Audrey Belzile scored both game-winning goals this weekend. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Stingers forward Audrey Belzile made sure the game didn’t stay tied for long, as she scored her third goal of the season before the first intermission.

“Great team effort,” Fortin said following her one-goal, two-assist effort. “We came back strong from a tough weekend last weekend. It was important for us to bounce back and be amazing out there.”

The second period played much like the first, as the Stingers were on the constant attack in the Ravens’s zone. Two quick Carleton penalties set up a five-on-three situation and Marie-Pascale Bernier took advantage, scoring her first of the season. Shortly after, Stéphanie Lemelin added another goal to end the period with a 4-1 lead.

The third period was mainly stagnate, and it wasn’t until five seconds left in the game that Melinda Prévost scored to put the game away. By the end, Stingers goalie Alice Philbert made 12 saves.

“We’re constantly learning and the more games we play, the more experience we’re getting,” Chu said. “Consistently playing simple and strong. They played really good hockey and had a consistent effort overall. That’s what we’re working towards as we build.”

The Stingers improve to a 3-2-0 record this season and sit in second place, tied in points with the Carabins. They head to Ottawa next Sunday to play the Gee-Gees, and return home Nov. 18 against the same team.

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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Stingers break goalless drought in 2-1 win over Carabins

Audrey Belzile broke the Stingers's goalless drought after nearly three hours of hockey. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Audrey Belzile scores team-leading second goal and adds assist

One week after losing 1-0 to the Université de Montréal Carabins, the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team avenged the loss with a 2-1 win Friday night. Forward Audrey Belzile scored a goal and an assist in the win at the Ed Meagher Arena, and was named the first star of the game.

Audrey Belzile scored a goal and earned an assist in the win. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

“[Belzile] has been great for us all year,” said head coach Julie Chu. “She wants to win, she’s a great competitor, and loves the fact that she can take on the role [of a leader].”

Heading into the game, the Carabins were ranked as the top team in the country by U Sports, while the Stingers were third. Both teams played cautious hockey in the first period, knowing their opponent was able to pounce off any mistake. The Stingers had a relentless forecheck, pinning the Carabins in their zone for most of the period, but couldn’t force their opponents to make any errors.

“I thought our girls did a great job of having a great forecheck to energize our team,” Chu said. “Ultimately our forecheck is our defensive play because we didn’t have the puck […] We did a great job creating opportunities from that.”

Despite the Stingers’s strong play in the first period, the Carabins scored less than 30 seconds into the second period. Stingers defence Brigitte Laganière turned the puck over in front of Stingers’s goalie Alice Philbert, and the Carabins’s Jessica Cormier made her pay with the opening goal.

“You have to put it in the back of your mind,” said captain Devon Thompson. “We played a first good 20 minutes of the game, so the first 20 seconds of a [period] won’t change it.”

Before this game, the Stingers didn’t score a goal in nearly 140 minutes of play, since their opening game against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. They were also facing Carabins goalie Maude Trevisan, who hadn’t allowed a single goal in two games this season. The scoring drought ended after nearly three total hours of play when Belzile put the first goal past Trevisan.

All five regular-season games last season between the two teams were decided by a goal. This game was no different. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

“Honestly it felt good,” Thompson said about ending the goalless streak. “It had been a little while we hadn’t put one in the back of the net.”

Teams traded scoring chances throughout, with Trevisan keeping the Stingers from scoring most of the game. On the other end, Philbert made key saves when we needed her to, including a few diving stops, finishing the game with 28 saves.

“We’ve had to lean on her and she made some big saves in that third period,” Chu said. “There were times we just left people a little more wide open than we would like to.”

Midway through the third period, Belzile took advantage of a Carabins’s mistake in the neutral zone to break in on a two-on-one. She passed the puck over to rookie Maria Manarolis who just got the shot by Trevisan for the game-winning goal, and her first goal with the Stingers.

“What we’re happy about is that everyone contributed,” Chu said. “We build this [winning] culture and believe in everyone on this team, so when our opportunities come, we are ready.”

The Stingers now have a 2-2-0 record and host the Carleton Ravens on Nov. 4 at 3 p.m.

Main photo by Hannah Ewen.

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Stingers shutout 3-0 in second consecutive game

The McGill Martlets scored three times in the third period to beat the Stingers on Sunday. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

McGill Martlets win in Concordia home-opener

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team were blanked for the second consecutive game on Sunday, Oct. 28. The McGill Martlets scored three goals in the third period and spoiled the Stingers’s home opener at the Ed Meagher Arena.

Missed opportunities and a slow start in the third period were reasons for the 3-0 loss against the Martlets. The Stingers had many scoring chances, but were unable to capitalize on any of them. The Stingers finished the game with 26 shots on goal, while the Martlets had 28.

“I think we didn’t have that much jump in the beginning [of the third period],” said head coach Julie Chu. “We did have a good penalty killing, which helps, but we need to have that intensity and the urgency to want to win right off the bat. It’s once they scored that we had a really good push.”

The Stingers and Martlets will meet four more times this season. Photo by Hannah Ewen.

Chu added that the team wasn’t consistent enough throughout the game.

“I think we had some flashes. We had a really good shift, and then had a couple of fine ones, but not great necessarily,” Chu said. “So we’ll need to find a way to create momentum and then sustain it and try to continue to build off of each other.”

Forward Audrey Belzile said the Stingers didn’t take advantage of their opportunities.

“We had many two-on-one, but often shot the puck next to the goal, or our sticks were not on the ice for rebounds,” Belzile said. “We didn’t take advantage of our chances, and McGill took advantage of theirs. I think it was equal on that aspect, but we’ll need to be more opportunisticnext time.”

Starting goalie Alice Philbert said they need to do a better job at coming out at the start of the game.

“We can’t wait after the first goal [to start playing],” Philbert said. “We have to capitalize on our chances and shoot more on the net to get good scoring chances.”

For the Martlets, Sidonie Chard and Marika Labrecque scored, while Frederique Gauthier closed the game with an empty-net goal.

The Stingers will play the Université de Montréal Carabins on Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. It will be the second game between both teams this season, after the Carabins won 1-0 on Oct. 26.

Main photo by Hannah Ewen.

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Stingers head into nationals full of experience

After winning the RSEQ championship, the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team are heading to nationals as favourites. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Coach says team learned “everything” after last season’s fourth-place finish

After defeating the Université de Montréal Carabins in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) final on March 4, the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team is returning to the U Sports national championship. This will be the second-straight trip to nationals for the Stingers. They hope to improve on their fourth-place finish from last season.

This time, the Stingers are in an unfamiliar position—they’re among the favourites to win.

“The team’s looking strong right now,” said head coach Julie Chu. “This is a good week off where we get to reset and refocus, get our energy and emotions back and get geared up for nationals.”

One of the more difficult aspects of the national championship for the Stingers will be preparing to face teams they haven’t seen at all this season.

“We’re breaking down videos of them,” Chu said. “We’re doing that for the seven other teams so that whoever we end up playing, we have at least a sense of what their power play is, what their penalty kill is, what their structure and tendencies might be. We know how to make our adjustments. Our girls are going to be prepared.”

The Stingers will be up against the top teams in the country, and could eventually face the top-ranked University of Manitoba Bisons in the semi-final. The Bisons finished the regular season 22-2-0, and won the Canada West title.

The Stingers could face off against the Montréal Carabins at nationals. The teams have played each other eight times this season. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

The Bisons knocked off the University of Alberta Pandas, the defending national champions, in the playoffs this season. The Bisons are led by the scoring duo of Jordyn Zacharias and Alanna Sharman, who both recorded 21 points in 33 games. Zacharias had six game-winning goals this season.

Watching scout videos will be less important if the Stingers face off against the Carabins. The memory of those eight games against Montréal this year, including the RSEQ final earlier this month, is probably still fresh in the mind of the players and coaching staff. With the Stingers beating the Carabins to claim the title, the Carabins would be eager to repay the favour at nationals.

The Stingers surprised many at nationals last season. After going into the championship tournament as the seventh seed, the Stingers made their way to the bronze-medal game. They lost that game 2-0 to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

Chu said the team learned “everything” after that championship run last season.

“We hadn’t been to nationals in 12 years, but we believed that we could win. But we still needed to develop a lot of the experience of going through [nationals]. Everyone, coaches included, are in such a better place in knowing what to expect,” said Chu about the 2017 nationals. “It’s never fun to lose, but sometimes you need to go through certain things so you know that you can handle it.”

After claiming their first RSEQ title in 13 years, the Stingers now face higher expectations at nationals. Concordia will face off against the fifth-ranked St-Francis Xavier X-Women on March 16, having been placed as the fourth seed in the tournament. This year, nationals will be hosted in London, Ont., from March 15 to 18.

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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Taking home gold

The women’s hockey team won their first championship since 2005 last season. Archive photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Stingers women’s hockey team win championship for the first time since 2005

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team wouldn’t have won the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) championship without the help of people outside the team.

“It’s not about the small group of us; it’s a big group,” said head coach Julie Chu. “It wasn’t only the players on the ice who contributed to this success.” She was talking about former head coach Les Lawton, who had to step down before the 2015-16 season for health reasons, which is when Chu took over as head coach.

Some of the Stingers’s stars who helped with this championship, including forwards Claudia Dubois, Sophie Gagnon, Claudia Fortin, defencemen Marie-Joëlle Allard, Caroll-Ann Gagné and goalie Katherine Purchase, were all recruited by Lawton.

“He has a huge hand in this, and he continues to give us good guidance,” Chu added. Lawton joined the Stingers on the ice for their celebration, and many former players and parents offered him congratulations, saying this title was “a long time coming.”

Fifth-year forward Kierann Schofield receivers her medal. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

The last time the Stingers won the championship was in 2005. Between then and 2017, the Stingers didn’t even play in the RSEQ final. They returned last year for the first time in over a decade, losing in two games against the McGill Martlets.

“Last year, we missed that opportunity [to win a championship]. We were so high after the first round, we weren’t prepared for the finals,” Chu said. “We learned from that experience.”

The Stingers looked like a different team from the final a year ago, when the Martlets dominated them. Concordia had trouble generating any chances, and was even shutout in game two at home. This year, against the Université de Montréal Carabins, they lost on the road in game one in overtime, 3-2, and didn’t want to repeat last year’s fate.

“We had our backs against the wall [after game one],” said forward Audrey Belzile after their 3-2 win in game two. “We didn’t have a choice. We had to put everything on the ice. Every player’s mentality switched, and we wanted to show them that game one was not our best hockey.”

The Stingers showed the Carabins their best hockey for the rest of the series, dominating game two. In game three, despite being tied 1-1 after two periods, the Stingers came out buzzing to start the final frame, scoring two goals in the first five minutes, eventually winning 3-1.

They played shutdown defence for the rest of the game, and fifth-year forward Alexandria D’Onofrio showed how badly the Stingers wanted to win by blocking multiple shots. The Stingers have come a long way since D’Onofrio’s rookie year in 2013-14, when they went 5-15-0.

“Our bench celebrated like she scored a goal,” Chu said, referring to when D’Onofrio blocked a shot. “Those are huge moments to build momentum and keep opponents at bay, just as big as a goal.”

Fifth-year forward Alexandria D’Onofrio made a huge block at the end of the game. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

In the final moments of game three, D’Onofrio blocked another shot. The players, as well as friends and family of the Stingers who had made the trip to Université de Montréal’s CEPSUM Arena, knew the Stingers would win, and everyone was on their feet. When the clock hit zero, the team spilled onto the ice to swarm Purchase and celebrate the trophy they worked all season for. Their friends and family joined them on the ice for the celebration, making one big Stingers family party.

“This was about Concordia hockey today, and about our team coming together as a family and executing in the end,” Chu said. “That’s what I’m proud of.”

Stingers athletics director D’Arcy Ryan presented the team with the trophy, making them the second Stingers team to win a championship this season.

“It’s fantastic to see all the hard work the team puts in,” Ryan said. “It’s rewarding for them, and rewarding for the faculty and staff who are out supporting them.”

The Stingers will now play at nationals in London, Ont., from March 15 to 18. They finished fourth at nationals last year.

Photos by Mackenzie Lad.

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High-energy Stingers force game three in final

Captain Marie-Joëlle Allard scored the game-winning goal in the second period. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

Katherine Purchase returned in nets to make 19 saves in win

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team kept their championship hopes alive with a 3-2 win over the Université de Montréal Carabins on Saturday at the Ed Meagher Arena.

After a slow start that saw the Stingers only get three shots in the first period, the Stingers came out in the next two periods flying, controlling much of the play and fending off a late push from the Carabins.

After losing the first game, it was do or die for the Stingers in the best-of-three series.

“We had our backs against the wall. We didn’t have a choice,” said Stingers forward Audrey Belzile after the game. “We had to put everything on the ice. Every player’s mentality switched, and we wanted to show them that game one was not our best hockey. Today, we played our game instead of adapting to theirs.”

Forward Audrey Belzile assisted on Stéphanie Lalancette’s goal in the first period. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

The Stingers grabbed the lead when Belzile flipped the puck over the stick of a Carabins defender, before firing a shot from one knee on Carabins goalie Marie-Pier Chabot. Stéphanie Lalancette was just in front of Chabot and managed to tip the shot over the goalie’s blocker for the first goal of the game, and her second of the final.

That was about as good as it got for the Stingers in the first, as they were swarmed by the Carabins for the rest of the period.

Out of the gate in the second though, the difference in energy level was night and day. Starting the period on the power play, the Stingers got into a rhythm, controlling much of the play and using their speed to match the physicality of the Carabins. Four minutes into the second period, defender Brigitte Laganière got a pass at the top of the circle and ripped a wrister over Chabot’s glove, giving the Stingers a two-goal lead.

“We don’t have to say a lot to fire up the team, especially against UdeM,” said head coach Julie Chu. “We get a lot of our energy from our forecheck, so we have to be relentless in those areas.”

It took the Carabins four minutes to respond to Laganière’s goal. Laganière fumbled the puck at the Carabins’s blueline leading to a two-on-one opportunity for the visiting team. Carabins forward Annie Germain carried the puck up the ice, and as the Concordia defender laid out to block the pass, she fired a shot just over the right pad of goalie Katherine Purchase to cut the lead in half.

Purchase returned to the crease after Alice Philbert got the start in game one of the series. Purchase stopped 19 of 21 shots.

Chu and Belzile both emphasized how Purchase motivates the team.

“There’s a reason that Kat is one of our captains this year,” Chu said. “That can be kind of tough for a goaltender to have that voice and have that presence, but that’s what Kat brings to that locker room.”

Stingers captain Marie-Joëlle Allard gave her team a 3-1 lead late in the second period with a power-play goal.

The Stingers’s shot chart. O represents the goals. By Matthew Coyte and Nicholas Di Giovanni.

The Stingers’s offensive zone pressure was highlighted by good puck movement and control down low, especially from Belzile who caused havoc for opposing defenders as she played her usual fast, physical, smart game. Belzile leads the team in points this playoffs with five.

Jessica Cormier scored the second goal for the Carabins five minutes into the third period, pulling her team to within one.

The Carabins pulled Chabot with 50 seconds left for the extra attacker, but were unable to tie the game as the Stingers threw their bodies in front of every shot. The late push was unsuccessful for the Carabins, and the Stingers forced the third and final game of the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) final.

This was the first game between the two teams this season that didn’t need extra time.

“It’s a relief to finally win one in regulation,” Belzile said. “We’ve proven now that we can beat them in 60 minutes, and we’re hoping to do the same tomorrow.”

The final game of the series will be played on Sunday, March 4 at 2 p.m. at Montréal’s CEPSUM Arena.

Main photo by Kirubel Mehari.

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