Stingers 6, Gee-Gees 1: A penalty-filled game ends in fifth straight win for Concordia
Gee-Gees narrowly avoid being shut out by top-ranked Stingers team
The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team beat the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 6-1 on Nov. 3 at the Ed Meagher Arena, notching their fifth win in a thus-far undefeated season.
The win was a dominant effort, with the final shots-on-goal count at 41-17 in favour of the Stingers. Stingers forward Émilie Lussier tallied two goals and an assist in the game. She leads the Réseau des sports étudiants du Québec in points so far this season, even more impressive given that this is her rookie year.
“As a first-year player, [Lussier] has been incredible,” head coach Julie Chu said post-game. “She’s been able to generate the offensive jump and offensive opportunities, so that’s been a huge asset for our team already, and she’s just at the start of it.”
Lussier has scored 12 points in five games this season, for a team-leading 2.4 points per game. “Honestly, I think it’s all about the team. Coming into an energetic and structured team, it’s easier to find ourselves on the ice,” Lussier said.
In a fast-moving, high-scoring game, the Gee-Gees consistently struggled with puck possession, turning the puck over on messy passes and allowing the Stingers to capitalize on their mistakes. The two teams also combined for a total of 38 penalty minutes, putting both sides’ special team units to the test.
With under four minutes remaining in the first period, Stingers defenceman Alexandra-Anne Boyer opened the scoring with her first goal of the season, a clean shot from the blue line on a pass from forward Megan Bureau-Gagnon.
Aside from notching a goal and an assist, Boyer also sat for a delay-of-game penalty in the third period. “I think we just did a good job [...] we just capitalized on our opportunities. It was just a good collective effort on our part,” Boyer said.
Stingers goaltender Jordyn Verbeek earned second star of the game for her performance, stopping all but one of 17 shots on goal. Several of those shots came late in the third period, as Verbeek smothered all of Ottawa’s scoring chances on a nearly two-minute 5-on-3 Gee-Gees’ powerplay. The Gee-Gees’ single goal came with 27 seconds left in the third period, on their 11th powerplay chance of the game.
Both teams played a physical game, with Ottawa taking two penalties for illegal body-checking in the third period. Cross-checking and roughing penalties were also assessed to both teams throughout the game.
“When you have teams that are going fast, they’re playing hard, sometimes you end up reaching for pucks,” said Chu. “I think [on] both sides, it was the same.”
In preparation for the Stingers’ next game on Sunday, Chu plans on cleaning up the mistakes that led to the abundance of penalties.
The Stingers’ next game will take place on Nov. 5 at 3:30 p.m. at Bishop’s University.
