Carabins 5, Stingers 2: Concordia’s magical season ends in heartbreak
The Stingers rallied to knock out Guelph, but ran out of steam against Montréal
The Concordia University women’s hockey team needed overtime to defeat the University of Guelph Gryphons in the semifinal of the 2026 U Sports Women’s Ice Hockey National Championship, earning a 2-1 win on March 21. However, their season ended in defeat in the championship game, as the Stingers fell at the hands of the Université de Montréal (UdeM) Carabins by a score of 5-2 on March 22.
Concordia’s opening-round win over the University of Manitoba set up a marquee matchup with the Ontario University Athletics champion, Guelph. The Gryphons had defeated the host University of Waterloo Warriors in the first round, who beat Concordia at the 2025 tournament.
Guelph forward Maeve Sutherland-Case opened the scoring late in the first period, slipping a rebound through the legs of Concordia goaltender Jordyn Verbeek. The 1-0 scoreline held until two minutes were left in the second period, when Concordia forward Courtney Rice smashed the puck into the top corner to tie the game 1-1.
Both Verbeek and her Guelph counterpart Martina Fedel, who competed for Italy at the 2026 Winter Olympics, traded saves to preserve the draw through the final period. With no decision after 60 minutes, the teams headed to overtime.
And just like in the first round, Concordia’s top line finished off the game in dramatic fashion.
Winger Zoé Thibault created a turnover in the Gryphons’ zone and flipped the puck to the front of the net, where captain Jessymaude Drapeau was waiting to strike. However, her point-blank scramble couldn’t beat Fedel, and Drapeau’s momentum carried her away from her prime scoring position.
But at the last second, Drapeau reached back and hooked the puck towards the wide-open back post, where forward Émilie Lussier was lying in wait. And Fedel’s desperate extension couldn’t prevent the nation’s top scorer from burying the overtime game-winner.
The dramatic win sent the Stingers to the national championship game, a return to form after their run of three straight ended in 2025. Standing in their way was a very familiar foe: the eighth-seeded UdeM Carabins, who Concordia defeated in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) final to take home the conference crown.
UdeM defeated the Canada West champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and the Atlantic University Sport champion University of New Brunswick Reds en route to the title game.
The Quebec-flavoured final marked the first since 2014 to feature two teams from the same conference—another all-RSEQ affair, when McGill University beat UdeM in a double-overtime thriller.
UdeM jumped on top immediately when forward Audrey-Anne Veillette intercepted a pass and sent a soft shot that rolled through Verbeek’s legs just 13 seconds in. It was the fastest goal of the tournament, energizing the Carabins early.
Concordia had a quick-fire moment of their own later in the first period, however.
With under two minutes to go, forward Audrey Clavette—who scored in the opening game against Manitoba—buried the equalizer past Carabins netminder Maude Desroches. Then, 26 seconds later, defender Émilie Lavoie emerged from a netfront tangle to backhand in the second Stingers goal.
Concordia had chances to add to their lead, but blew point-blank looks and advantage attacks to hold the score at 2-1. It came back to bite them when a shot from Carabins forward Ann-Sophie Bédard was saved by Verbeek, but fell through the goaltender’s legs for the third time to tie the game at 2-2.
After the Stingers missed more chances in the third period, UdeM finally made them pay.
With under five minutes to play, Carabins defender Jade Picard collected the puck at the blue line and snapped a fourth shot through Verbeek’s legs to notch the eventual game-winning goal. Empty-net goals from attackers Catherine Proulx and Laurie-Anne Ethier finished off the upset.
Concordia’s season ended with an overall record of 28-3. The Stingers finished first in the RSEQ along with their national runners-up medals.
Six Stingers—Verbeek, Thibault, Drapeau, Lavoie and forwards Alexis Bedier and Ekaterina Pelowich—will graduate in the offseason. The team will also have a new captain in 2026-27 following Drapeau’s departure.
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