Concordia 4, Queen’s 1: Women’s Hockey Team Dominates The Gaels

Claudia Dubois Scored Twice to Advance the Stingers Past the Queen’s Gaels

SportsEric Beaudoin — Published September 18, 2017

The matchup against the very physical Queen’s University Gaels tested the Stingers’ strength.

Concordia head coach Julie Chu addressed the challenge following the win. “They did a great job. Our team, minus a couple players are not very big,” said Concordia head coach Julie Chu after the hard fought win. “In the two first games against Brock and York, we weren’t all that physical or ready, but today we made sure to be ready for it and we could initiate contact.”

Audrey Belzile, Claudia Dubois and Vyckie Gélinas all scored to solidify the victory for the Stingers, while the team accumulated 38 total shots towards the hard charging Gaels.

The first period opened with a quick goal from Queen’s forward Hailey Wilson, which proved to be their only goal. The Stingers risked putting themselves deeper into a hole when they responded by committing some sloppy penalties.

Shortly thereafter, Dubois scored to even it up and shift the momentum in favour of the Stingers. From there, the Stingers offence took over and found some confidence heading into the second frame.

The second period began with Concordia coming out strong and tough. Audrey Belzile scored to give the Stingers a lead. More penalties would ensue for both teams as the period progressed with a total of 12 minutes being handed out with no goals scored.

As the period closed, Dubois added another goal to give Concordia some breathing room. That was backed up about 20 seconds later with another Stingers goal by Gelinas to take a commanding lead heading into the third period.

With the lead and a win for the Stingers all but sealed, the team’s focus turned to defending. The Gaels managed just 6 shots for the whole period.

This was the Stingers third win out of three games in preseason action.

“We made sure our effort was there from the first to the third,” said Chu. “We made it clear that these games were [meant for us] to be tested. So, it was great to see them step up to that and it’s great to see the energy on the bench that want to learn and be better and we’re very excited for the season ahead.”

Stingers Women’s hockey will now embark on a five-game road trip where they’ll have two stops in Boston to play the National Collegiate Athletics Association powerhouses Boston University and Northeastern University. Then, they’ll head to Connecticut to face Quinnipiac. After that, they’re off to Alberta to face Calgary and Lethbridge.

The team will return home on Oct. 1 with a few weeks off before starting their regular season in the nation’s capital against the Ottawa University Gee Gees.