Stingers 4, Gaels 0: Stingers sweep Gaels aside
Concordia defeats Queen’s, goes on to capture Theresa Humes Cup
The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team dominated the Queen’s Gaels 4-0 in the second of three games in the Theresa Humes Cup tournament on Saturday, Sept. 28.
The Stingers achieved victory despite head coaches Julie Chu and Caroline Ouellette and team captain Caroline Moquin-Joubert not being present at the game.
“I didn’t take a new ship to sea. I just took the ship that they already had out and kept it afloat, so nothing changed and we just kept going,” said assistant coach Devon Thompson when commenting on Chu, Ouellette and Moquin-Joubert's absence.
Not only did Thompson come through during the game, but so did forward Émilie Lavoie, who scored twice and recorded one assist. Thompson described the player of the game, Lavoie, as an “awesome leader” with “impeccable talent” and stated that Lavoie’s attitude is what helped them beat the Gaels in Saturday’s game.
With three minutes left in the first period, Lavoie accidentally collided into her teammate and appeared to have pain in her left leg. Two minutes after a quick check-in from an athletic therapist, Lavoie was back on the ice. Despite Lavoie’s pain, she didn’t hesitate to assist Jessymaude Drapeau’s goal early in the second period and score her own unassisted goal minutes after.
“The goals and assists are bonuses [...] but [Lavoie’s] attitude and the way she gave to others today was something that stood out quite a bit,” Thompson said.
Assistant captain Drapeau explained that the key to winning the Theresa Humes Cup is to bring back their unbelievable energy from Saturday to their final game on Sunday, Sept. 29 against St. Francis Xavier (StFX).
Drapeau described the importance of teamwork and positive mindsets as another key to taking home the trophy. She explained that the success the team has this season will come from the chemistry and the love that all the Stingers teammates have for each other. Starting goalie Arianne Leblanc agreed with Drapeau and expressed that it’s because of the team that she earned another shutout.
Thirty seconds before the end of the third period, the puck was loose in front of Leblanc with all five Gaels players surrounding her, but it’s because of her efforts and her defencemen that the puck stayed out of the net.
“[The puck] went behind me and my defence saved it,” Leblanc said, “so that just shows how much teamwork goes behind everything and we really need everyone to succeed as a team [...] not just the goalie.”
Concordia won against StFX on Sept. 27 in the first match of the Theresa Humes Cup tournament. Concordia defeated StFX again on Sunday, Sept. 29 by a 4-1 score, to capture the 56th annual Theresa Humes Cup.
