Stingers Streak Snapped at Three

Women’s Hockey Team Gets Shut Out at Home

SportsDavid S. Landsman — Published November 17, 2014 | Updated November 17, 2014 at 8:02pm

Still reeling over the previous weekend with back-to-back shutouts, the girls took to the ice with confidence, playing some up tempo hockey, but a poor turnover and one bad bounce gave the visiting Ottawa Gee-Gees their second win of the season.

“I thought we played really well today,” said Stingers’ head coach Les Lawton. “They took advantage of two breakdowns, and that was it. No way are we disappointed with the effort, just about not getting the two points.”

The first period was fairly quiet with both teams getting a fair amount of chances, but the opening 20 minutes ended without scoreless. The closest call was when sophomore forward Kerianne Schofield burst into the offensive zone and took a shot that beat the Gee-Gee goalie Maude Lévesque-Ryan but not the post.

“We definitely need to shoot more against teams like this,” said Schofield. “We didn’t take advantage of our chances. I had three great chances and didn’t get the puck in the net.”

Despite out-shooting the Gee-Gees 8-1 in the second period, Lévesque-Ryan kept the game tied, even stopping a breakaway opportunity on Stingers’ forward Tracy-Ann Lavigne.

After 40 minutes the game was still at a stalemate with both Lévesque-Ryan and Stingers’ goaltender Briar Bache being stellar between the pipes. The Stingers hadn’t allowed a goal in over eight periods.

The Gee-Gees were finally able to solve Bache just over five minutes into the final period when a Stinger offensive rush turned to a three-on-two the other way and Ottawa forward Carolann Upshall took a wrist shot beating Bache under the glove.

A couple of minutes later they added to their lead when Vickie Lemire intercepted a clearing attempt and took a shot on net. The shot took a weird bounce off Bache’s pads and wound up in the back of the net.

“We definitely came into the game carrying the confidence we had the last three games,” said Bache. “A couple of breakdowns our end and we wound up paying for it.”

The Stingers kept plugging away, trying to get one past Lévesque-Ryan, to no avail. The Ottawa net-minder made 24 saves for the shutout. Bache made 18 in the loss.

“We’re definitely working together as a unit,” said Bache of her team. “From goaltending to defense to forwards, everybody is taking care of their roles. It’s paying off, even today, despite today’s loss.”

It wasn’t for a lack of trying, as Concordia did have three power plays late in the game, including a two-player advantage. Stingers sophomore defender Caroll-Ann Gagné saw her ice time increase as one of the pivots on the power play.

“It’s a bit disappointing to see the end score after a game like this,” said Gagné. “We just weren’t able to score. We missed our opportunities. Good thing is the confidence is still high.”

Moving forward, the Stingers will play in their ‘Score with School’ game held at Ed Meagher this coming Wednesday morning at 10:30am, and a game Sunday afternoon against the Université de Montréal Carabins at 3pm.