Concordia 2, Toronto 1: Women’s Hockey Team Rallies to Beat the Blues

Strong Third Period Gives Stingers the Win in Theresa Humes Cup Opener

SportsJared Lackman-Mincoff — Published September 26, 2022 3 minutes

“That’s one thing we always tell our players: you always have an opportunity to change a game,” explained Stingers Head Coach Julie Chu post-game.

It was an uneventful game for much of the first period, but the Stingers held most of the possession and had several scoring chances. Both teams traded power plays in the frame, with neither team capitalizing on their opportunities. The Stingers outshot the Blues 8-5, yet defence remained solid on both sides. The first period ended 0-0.

The Stingers continued to get most of the scoring chances in the game, but it was Blues’ goalie Erica Fryer who stole the show, making save after save kept the game scoreless. The teams traded power plays once again with no goals either way.

With just under six minutes to play in the second period, Stingers forward Rosalie Bégin-Cyr made a mistake as her cross-ice pass in the Stingers’ zone was picked off by the Blues’ Emma Potter. Potter wired a shot past Stingers goalie Alice Philbert to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.

Down a goal, the Stingers did not lose momentum, but Erica Fryer came up big for the Blues time and time again to conserve the 1-0 lead into the third period. The Stingers outshot the Blues 9-3 in the frame.

Concordia would finally beat Fryer four minutes into the third period. A 2-on-1 rush from Concordia forwards Emmy Fecteau and Jessymaude Drapeau ended with Drapeau beating Fryer and tying the game, 1-1.

“I got the puck on my tape. I tried to shoot it as fast as possible,” Drapeau said. “It ended up going in, so I was really happy.”

Five minutes later, Fryer would make two saves and mayhem would ensue in front of the net. The puck deflected in off of Jessymaude Drapeau for her second goal of the game, putting the Stingers ahead 2-1.

“[Bégin-Cyr] just put the puck on net,” Drapeau explained post-game. “I think it was a bit of ‘who wanted the puck more.’”

The Stingers got a late power play and allowed two Blues breakaways, but Philbert was up to the task, stopping both attempts and sealing the 2-1 win.

“For me, breakaways are my strength. I wasn’t stressed. I was there to have fun,” Philbert said post-game.

For tiebreaker purposes, the game also included a three-minute 4-on-4 overtime, three-minute 3-on-3 overtime, and a shootout. The Blues won the 3-on-3 overtime and the Stingers won the shootout, with neither team scoring during the 4-on-4 overtime.

But the Stingers got the win, which is worth the most points in the tournament standings. Even though this was an exhibition tournament game, Coach Chu was still glad the team was forced out of their comfort zone.

“We have to be okay with feeling a little bit uncomfortable,” Chu said. “I think that was a game where we got challenged to play grittier, and challenged to play a little bit more physically along the walls.”

In Concordia’s final two games of the tournament, they lost 3-2 in overtime against the University of New Brunswick Reds and they lost 2-1 to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

The Stingers will now continue with exhibition games until the regular season begins in October.