Stingers 3, Gryphons 1: Concordia opens the Theresa Humes Cup with hard-earned win
Despite accruing many penalties, the Stingers held on strong against Guelph
In its first game of the Theresa Humes Cup, the Concordia University Stingers women's hockey team committed penalty after penalty and still kept a 3-2 lead, continuing a winning streak against the Guelph University Gryphons on Sept. 25.
In its first game of the Theresa Humes Cup, the Concordia University Stingers women's hockey team committed penalty after penalty and still kept a 3-2 lead, continuing a winning streak against the Guelph University Gryphons on Sept. 25.
Last year’s U Sports National Women’s Hockey Championship saw Concordia beat Guelph University in an overtime semifinal win, and this is its first bout since. Although it was only a preseason game, tensions were high, and the players played hard.
The first period saw a trend of penalties that continued throughout the game, starting with Gryphons defender Kajsa Van Der Meer taking a two-minute minor. Gryphons forwards Michelle Gao and Myriam Parnell fought hard in the Stingers’ zone through the power play, with Parnell looking to score as she got a breakaway chance.
After a fierce penalty kill, Stingers forwards Audrey Clavette and Chloé Gaudreault found themselves in a two-on-one in the Gryphons' zone, and Gaudreault’s quick wrist shot beat the goalie low to open the scoring.
Before the end of the first, the Stingers picked up two more penalties. "Obviously, we want to put ourselves in a spot where we don’t have as many penalty kills,” Stingers head coach Julie Chu said. "But if we do, we've got to make sure that we learn from them, and we get the reps that we need to do a good job."
During a fourth penalty kill, Stingers goaltender Belle Mende saved four shots in 15 seconds of play. On the following Stingers penalty, Stingers defenceman Ani Robinson nearly scored on a shorthanded breakaway.
Eleven minutes into the second period, Stingers forward Rosalie Parent added to Concordia’s lead, converting a rebound off of Stingers forward Emilie Lussier’s shot to the pads.
Soon after, the lead became 3-0 with a breakaway goal from Frédérike Verpaelst after a perfect fake on the Gryphons’ goalie.
While odd-man rushes got the Stingers three goals this game, coach Chu said that those rushes aren’t the team’s priority. “We’re always looking for those chances [...], but we really want to have a complete game [...], trying to cover a little bit of everything.”
During a four-minute power play for the Stingers, the Gryphons' hard forecheck turned over the puck to Guelph forward Maeve Sutherland-Case in the Stingers' zone, and she buried a quick wrist shot into the top corner, giving the Gryphons their first goal short-handed.
Coming into the third period with 3-1 on the scoreboard, the Stingers killed off two more penalties.
With two minutes left on the clock, Guelph pulled their goaltender, and Lussier nearly got the open-net goal, only for it to be poked away right before the line.
While the official game ended 3-1 for Concordia, it kept going with a 4-on-4 play, then a 3-on-3 play and finished with a shootout.
The five-minute 4-on-4 play was uneventful. The 3-on-3 play, though, saw another hard forecheck from Sutherland-Case, who scored her second of the game only eight seconds in.
Finally, the game wrapped up with a shootout, with two goals for Concordia and one goal for Guelph, continuing the Stingers' undefeated streak in the Theresa Humes Cup.
Next, the tournament continues against Queen’s on Sept. 26, at 2:30 p.m.
