Stingers 4, Gaels 1: Concordia shows excellent team synergy in the Theresa Humes Cup semifinal game
Concordia wins for the third time in a row against Queen’s in pre-season tournaments
The Concordia University Stingers’ women’s hockey team played its second game in the Theresa Humes Cup on Sept. 26 against Queen's University Gaels and won 4-1. The Stingers beat the University of Guelph Gryphons 3-1 in its previous game, keeping Concordia undefeated in preseason tournaments.
Stingers forward Rosalie Parent won the opening faceoff, and both teams quickly sprang into action. Only a minute in, Stingers defenceman Béatrice Caron earned a two-minute minor. On the ensuing power play, Gaels forward Taya Leonard received a pass from forward Rhae Thomas and just barely tucked it into the back of the net for the first goal of the game.
Concordia earned a power play soon after and managed to poke in a goal, with a shot from Stingers forward Emilie Lussier that bounced far enough over the goaltender’s pad for Stingers defender and captain Camille Richard to poke it in.
“It’s a big part of the play, special teams,” Richard said. “On the power play we’re doing a great job just finding each other.”
With only 17 seconds left in the 1st, Richard scored another, giving Concordia a 2-1 lead. Off a drop pass from Lussier that let Richard shoot from the point, the shot went past three Gaels players and into the net.
“Part of what we love to do and why hockey is so great is we have the connections off the ice,” Stingers head coach Julie Chu said. “If we’re good in the locker room, if we’re good amongst each other, we’re able to find that in battle.”
The period ended 2-1 with five shots for each team, and even though there were only two penalties in the 1st, over half the shots came during the power plays.
In the second, a player pile-up at the Gaels' net led to the Gaels committing interference on Concordia forwards Courtney Rice. The resulting penalty shot saw Rice score after a grand fake.
The Stingers killed two penalties in the second period, and with three minutes left, Concordia defenceman Angélie Jobin passed the puck to Lussier at the point, who put a snap shot top corner, making the score 4-1 for Concordia at the end of the second.
The Stingers were aiming to be more disciplined this game. Stingers forward Emma Nonnenmacher commented on the effective use of physicality in a game reliant on it.
“We play also more physical but in a better way,” Nonnenmacher said.
The score stayed the same for almost 19 minutes of the third, when Rice received a two-minute minor while trying to score in Queen’s empty net. With only 25 seconds left on the clock, Jobin crosschecked a Gael, giving Queen’s a 3-on-6 for the last 25 seconds of play.
Stingers goaltender Léanne Brault kept the puck out of the net long enough to end the third period, and the official game, at 4-1 for Concordia.
As a treat for the fans in this preseason tournament, the game continued into an exhibition overtime with 4-on-4, 3-on-3, and a shootout. The highlight of these extra frames was a few very impressive saves from the Gaels' goaltender, Bronwynn Lee, during a penalty kill.
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