Stingers 7, Gaiters 0: Concordia out-matches Bishop’s on senior night
Stingers women’s hockey team celebrate senior’s night with an offensive outburst
The Stingers women’s team showed out, with an elite display of scoring for the home crowd on route to their third straight win since RSEQ play resumed.
Sunday afternoon was a celebration of graduating players, as the Concordia Stingers women's hockey team faced off against the Bishop’s Gaiters. Friends and family of the players made the trip down to the Ed Meagher Arena for the celebration. The five graduating players were Marie-Pascale Bernier, Audrey-Ann Rodrigue, Audrey Belzile, Stéphanie Lalancette, and Brigitte Laganière.
“It’s like a mix of emotions. A little bit of denial,” remarked Belzile about the event. Each graduate received gifts such as framed photos of their past playing experiences. “It’s the end of the season, but we are still playing. I’m happy, but not too sad. [...] It’s nice to get a little ring, a frame, so it’s just fun to feel all the love after all those years.”
The Stingers got off to a hot start, and wouldn’t take their feet off the gas. Gaiters goaltender Aglaé René de Cotret was tested early with a barrage of shots on goal. At the 10-minute mark, a shot from Rodrigue in-tight snuck by the keeper’s five-hole, making it 1-0 Concordia.
With 4:22 left in the frame, Lalancette would streak in and beat de Cotret blocker side for her first of two goals and three points on the night.
“My family and supporters since day one were all in the stands, so I had a lot of energy, and I think that it was just like a good game to get ready for the playoffs,” Lalancette said.
The second period didn’t differ from the first. The Stingers outplayed the Gaiters both offensively and defensively. The shots at the start of the second favoured Concordia 20-2.
At 11:49 in the period, the Stingers found themselves on a three-on-zero break after a turnover near the Gaiters’ blue-line. The collapse in defence meant de Corter stood no chance of stopping the cross-crease play, as Jessymaude Drapeau scored off assists by Rosalie Bégin-Cyr and Emmy Fecteau.
Less than two minutes later, Émilie Lavoie sniped a wrister top-right making it a 4-0 lead for Concordia, forcing the Gaiters to switch goaltenders from de Cortet to Faith Miller.
A Bishop's slashing penalty from defenseman Kamryn Johnson meant the Stingers would wrap up the period with a tic-tac-toe pass play wherein Belzile netted the goal with 1:33 remaining. Belzile herself was coming off a four-game hiatus while she dealt with an injury. Heading into the second intermission, Concordia led 5-0, with a shot total of 38 to 5.
Concordia would score two more times in the third. At thirty seconds in, Fecteau would beat Miller blocker side, then at the two-minute mark, a shot from Stingers defenseman Alexandra Calderone would hit off of Lalancette’s back and trickle into the net.
“I’m still not sure if it touched me,” said Lalancette about her deflection.
Puck possession would still be dominated by the Stingers for the remainder of the game. Aside from a few chances, the Gaiters offence could not find a way past the frontlines of the Stingers defenseman.
“I think that we came and we played a really solid 60 minutes,” said coach Julie Chu post-game. “I think for us we wanted to make sure that we continue to do our habits and we are playing our style of game that’s gonna help us be successful now and also successful for Thursday, so that was really important to us.”
The Stingers start their playoff pursuit of the RSEQ championship on March 3, versus the Montreal Carabins. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.
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