Tag: McGill Martlets

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Stingers lack killer instinct in 5-1 loss

killer instinct
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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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 win in emotional Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup

Kelly-Anne Drummond’s parents present the Stingers with the trophy named after their daughter. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

The Concordia Stingers women’s rugby team outplayed the McGill Martlets in the 14th annual Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup on Sept. 16 at the Concordia Stadium. The Stingers won with a final score of 51-24.

“It has always been the most important game for me, whether I was involved or not,” an emotional Barrieau said following the game. “I really care about this rugby community and I hope we all stand by each other and support each other.”

Kelly-Anne Drummond played for the Stingers from 1999 to 2001 and was a highly-valued member of the team and respected by all. She was killed by her boyfriend in 2004–the Cup has been named in her honour. Ticket sales and donations from Sunday’s game will be sent to Women Aware, a non-profit organization against domestic violence. This year, Concordia tried to raise funds to start a Kelly-Anne Drummond scholarship.

The women’s rugby team believes the Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup is the most important game of the season. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

The Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup has been a symbol of rugby supremacy in Montreal, with Concordia always playing McGill or Université de Montréal. It means so much more to the rugby community at Concordia than just a game.

“For us this cup, it is really important,” said coach Jocelyn Barrieau following the game. “It matters for Concordia and all of us to honor Kelly-Anne. We’ve had Kelly-Anne’s parents here to speak to the girls and did a lot with our alumni this week to show the girls what it means to play in this game.”

It didn’t take long for the Stingers to set the tone of the game. Back Jasmine Baxter found her way through traffic to get a try only 59 seconds into the game. From then, a scoring slugfest between both the Martlets and Stingers continued. Although Concordia did manage to put up points first, McGill always stayed within range of the lead.

The flow of the game then shifted to quick responses by the Stingers. Both times the Martlets scored in the first half, it took only five minutes for a Stingers response. By the end of the first half, five different Stingers had been able to put points on the board and the team held a fifteen-point lead.

“This game is the most important game of the season,” said second-year player Shawna Brayton. “Not just for me but for everyone else. It’s just a memorable game and we had to win this game. It’s a must for the season.”

The Stingers beat the Martlets 51-24 and improve their record to 2-1. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

The Martlets came out swinging in the second half and scored on their first drive, two minutes in. That would, however, be the closest McGill would come to the lead, as Stingers forward Samantha Molnar responded with her second try of the game to start a blistering scoring run.

“We came out and played really well as a team today,” Molnar said. “Playing together with my sisters is one of the best feelings we can have, especially to bring back the cup, which we lost last year.”

The remainder of the second half proved to be too much for the Martlets, who failed to score for the remaining 30 minutes of play. On the contrary, Concordia racked up another three tries to seal the deal.

By the end of the game, seven different Stingers had contributed to the scoring, with only Brayton and Molner finding the try zone on two occasions.

The win brings the women’s rugby team to a 2-1 record heading into the halfway point of the season.

The Stingers women’s rugby team will take on the Ottawa Gee-Gees at Concordia on Sept. 22.

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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Stingers defeat Martlets in home-opener

A pair of goals by Stephanie Lalancette helped propel the team to their first win of the season

After going down by an early goal in the second period, the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team stormed back with three unanswered goals on their way to a 3-1 victory in their home opener against the McGill Martlets on Oct. 21.

For Stingers head coach Julie Chu, it was important for her team to stay focused after allowing McGill’s first goal just 70 seconds into the second period.

“I just told them to take it one shift at a time,” Chu said. “We were playing good hockey up until that point, and they scored a really good power-play goal. It was important for us to not dwell on a moment and to just take control of each shift.”

In the first period, both teams were unable to take control of the game offensively. The Stingers and Martlets traded shots on goal with both goaltenders standing their ground and playing solid.

Stingers goaltender Katherine Purchase made six saves in the opening period, while Martlets goalie Tricia Deguire made eight.

In the second period, the Stingers went on the penalty kill early which led to the Martlets’ goal by forward Kellyane Lecours. Immediately after the goal, the Stingers went on the attack and scored three straight goals to round out the period.

The first of those goals was scored by defencemen Brigitte Laganière on the power play nearly seven minutes into the second period. Less than two minutes later, Stingers forward Stephanie Lalancette gave her team the lead off of a wrist shot right after a faceoff in the Martlets zone. Lalancette added another goal late in the period following a give-and-go play with forward Sophie Gagnon.

Forward Stephanie Lalancette scored one of her two goals on a breakaway against McGill goalie Tricia Deguire. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

Up by two in the third period, Purchase helped keep the Stingers in the game and steered aside multiple Martlets shots to secure her team the win. Purchase ended the game with 21 saves on 22 shots.

“She was really steady and solid,” Chu said. “She has been playing some great hockey for us, and she’s a great leader. She’s one of the captains on our team.”

The Stingers came into the game having lost their first game of the season against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. For Chu and the rest of the Stingers, a strong showing against their crosstown rivals was important to set the tone for the rest of the season.

“We did a great job today at playing shift by shift and not holding on to something that happened in the past,” Chu said. “We played a smart game, and we did the little things right and played start to finish which is what we need.”

The Stingers’ next game will be against the Carleton Ravens on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. in Ottawa.

 

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