Concordia 4, Montréal 0: Stingers Women’s Hockey Team Completes Perfect Weekend With Second Shutout
Rosalie Bégin-Cyr and Captain Claudia Dubois Each Pick Up a Pair of Goals in Victory
The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team completed its double-header weekend on Sunday afternoon, hosting the Université de Montréal Carabins.
The Stingers looked to stretch their lead in the Réseau du Sport Étudiant du Québec standings, as they already held a three-point advantage on the Carabins coming into the game.
After the defensive clinic they put up against the McGill Martlets, Sunday’s game was a real showdown of the pads, as Stingers’ goaltender Alice Philbert record a second straight shutout for the bees.
Philbert did not need to put up a 40 save performance on Sunday, but her work between the pipes was instrumental to her team’s dominance.
She was especially spectacular on Montréal’s second power play of the game, as she stood in front of more than five shots.
“She was really good,” said head coach Julie Chu. “She was really good against McGill and same thing today, especially in the second period. She made some really big saves that could have changed the momentum of the game on that [power play].”
Philbert stopped the Carabins shooters all game long, but her defense provided her with some important support. On top of blocking an impressive number of shots, the Bees’ defenders were also able to secure the slot and keep the Montréal shooters at bay.
Concordia’s defensive unit was not the only group supporting Philbert. The Stingers’ penalty kill was faced with the heavy challenge of a four-minute power play for the visitors in the second period.
Along with a stoic Philbert in net, the penalty kill unit annihilated the Montréal shooters by keeping them along the boards and blocking off a flurry of shots during the four minutes.
“Montréal’s always had a great power play,” said Chu. “It’s all about making small adjustments. We did a great job in the first four minutes. It’s a great night overall and we’re really happy with the compete level of our team.”
The perfect performance on the penalty kill overshadowed the fact that the bees were not able to convert on the power play for a third straight game.
Concordia has failed to score on their past 14 chances with the player advantage, bringing their efficiency at 7.1 per cent for the season.
Obviously, the lack of production on the power play did not affect the Stingers, but such a drought can become problematic in the long run.
But at five-on-five, The Stinger’s had no problem creating chances for themselves with their combination of quick transitions and a heavy forecheck.
The quick zone exits paid off in the first period when captain Claudia Dubois did all the work for sophomore Rosalie Bégin-Cyr, who simply had to push the puck in a wide-open cage to score the early game-winner.
Concordia’s quick feet in transition were again beneficial to Bégin-Cyr. The forward added her second goal of the game on a sneaky wrap around catching Montréal’s Aube Racine off guard on the other side of the net.
“There are players that you think are going to score more than others,” said Chu. “Those players are stepping up just like Rosalie. But the best part of today was the complete team game.”
Dubois scored twice in one minute in the third period to officially put the game out of reach for Montréal. The captain punched in her first goal of the game on a two-on-one opportunity as rookie Emmy Fecteau set her up with a perfect pass.
“It’s really nice to play with [Dubois],” she said. “We get along nicely and we make a good trio with Rosalie. Even though we’ve never played together, it’s easy to find them on the ice.”
With the win, Concordia extends its lead by five points over second place Montréal, widening their gap as top seed in the RSEQ standings with a perfect 6-0-0 record.
Challenging their undefeated streak, the Stingers will be visiting the Ottawa Gee-Gee’s for their second matchup of the season. The Stingers escaped their last matchup with a 5-4 win on an outstanding individual effort from Audrey-Ann Rodrigue in the last seconds of the third period.
A previous version of this article stated that the Ottawa Gee-Gee’s would be visiting the Concordia Stingers. In fact, the Stingers will be visiting the Ottawa Gee-Gee’s. The Link regrets this error.
