Stingers 2, Gaiters 1 (OT): Concordia earns signature win in a heated rivalry matchup
The Stingers held on in a back-and-forth duel to take down Bishop’s in the team’s annual Pride Night
The Concordia University women’s hockey team needed overtime to put away Bishop’s University, taking down the Gaiters in a cagey 2-1 win on Friday, Jan. 23—the day of the team’s annual Pride Night celebration. Concordia improved to 20-1-0, while Bishop’s fell to 10-11-0.
Concordia head coach Julie Chu took the opportunity to emphasize the importance of visibility. She praised the normalization of diverse sexualities and gender identities in sports and leadership roles as a step toward greater inclusion.
“I think games like this are really important for us to highlight the importance of someone being able to see that they belong in every space and they belong in our hockey space,” Chu said. “Then they have the opportunities from there to be able to be who they are and live the life that makes them happy.”
In front of a raucous crowd at Ed Meagher Arena, the Stingers flexed their muscles. Concordia peppered Bishop’s goaltender Éricka Gagnon with shots throughout the first period, but slipped just one past her, forward Émilie Lussier’s driving snipe ten minutes in.
Throughout the matchup, Concordia routinely threw all five skaters into the Gaiters’ zone, overloading the defence and creating chance after chance. However, this left them vulnerable to counterattacks on the rare occasions that Bishop’s evaded Concordia’s onslaught.
Stingers defender Émilie Lavoie, who assisted on Lussier’s opening goal, emphasized the work ahead of the team in preparation for the playoffs.
“I think at the end of the day, the people that are going to work the hardest are going to be the people that are going to win,” Lavoie said. “So even if we don't face them hypothetically in the first round of playoffs, we're going to face them at some point. So we're looking forward to Sunday and getting the win out of there.”
“I think games like this are really important for us to highlight the importance of someone being able to see that they belong in every space and they belong in our hockey space. Then they have the opportunities from there to be able to be who they are and live the life that makes them happy.” — Julie Chu, Concordia women’s hockey head coach
First, though, Concordia had to quell the Gaiters. On one of Bishop’s counterattacks in the second period, captain Gabrielle Santerre poked the puck past Stingers goaltender Jordyn Verbeek to knot the game at 1-1. The game stayed tied until the end of the third period, tacking on an additional five minutes at 4-on-4.
Throughout the game, Concordia dealt with late hits and cheap shots from Bishop’s. Things came to a head late in the third period when Gagnon shoved Lussier after the whistle as the forward skated by the Gaiters’ net. In all, seven penalties went against Bishop’s, though the Stingers failed to capitalize at all on the power play.
But Concordia got the last laugh, initiating the game-winning move as Lussier danced into the Gaiters’ zone. Her shot couldn’t beat Gagnon, but when the puck fell in front of the net, Stingers forward Ekaterina Pelowich was in the right place at the right time to shovel the puck into the net.
Pelowich congratulated her team on a job well done, commending them for their toughness.
“We worked hard in practice all week and I think we know what we can do and how strong of a team we are,” Pelowich said. “It was [like] playoff hockey tonight and it makes me super excited to continue with the season.”
In all, Concordia outshot Bishop’s 42-25. Verbeek made 24 saves and was named player of the game.
Concordia takes on Bishop’s again on Sunday, Jan. 25, at Jane & Eric Molson Arena. Puck drop is set for 3:30 p.m.
