Wiarton Willie did not see his shadow on Saturday, thereby predicting an early spring. The Varsity Blues women’s hockey team also shook off their winter blahs, bouncing back from their only backto- back losses of the season with a couple of wins against Queen’s and UOIT.
After dropping games to Western and York, the previous week, it was a welcome return to the win column for Toronto “I thought we played better today. Our last two games haven’t been that great, but today was much better,” said head coach Karen Hughes after the game. The win was especially important with playoffs just around the corner. The Blues are second in the OUA, and need to finish in the top two to secure a first-round bye. “We need to do well in these next three games to get ready, so I think today was important for us to get back on a positive side. Queen’s is a good team, they beat [first place] Laurier last weekend two-to-nothing, so that’s a big win for us, to get some positive energy going,” said coach Hughes.
The team will need to continue their stellar play just to keep third-place Guelph at bay. “We have to bring the same hard work, energy, moving the puck to each other, and getting lots of shots.” the Blues coach assessed. “ The Blues outshot Queen’s 39-12 en route to a 4-0 victory over the Golden Gael’s on Saturday. The teams appeared evenly matched in the opening frame, although Toronto would soon take control of the game. Neither team was able to score in the first period, despite some good chances at both ends. Despitte being outshot 14-4 early on, Golden Gaels goaltender Melissa John, recently named the OUA’s female athlete of the week, was able to shut the door.
For Toronto, goalie Stephanie Lockert faced fewer shots but made big saves when called upon, including a glove save on forward Michelle Hunt during a Queen’s powerplay. The Blues dominated the Golden Gaels in the second period, peppering John with 15 shots and allowing only three on their goaltender. After some pushing and shoving resulted in a two-minute roughing penalty to Queen’s forward Elizabeth Kench, defenceman Lindsey Ryan finally opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 19:27 of the second. Ryan’s point shot found its way to the net through traffic, and Janine Davies assisted for her league-leading 31st point of the year.
Despite solid goaltending from John, the Blues’ dominanted play in the third period. Laura Foster needed only 10 seconds to net her 11th tally of the season, an unassisted goal on a wrist shot following the opening faceoff.
Sustained offensive zone pressure, including an impressive display of puckhandling skill by Annie Del Guidice, led to Foster’s second goal of the game at 10:15. The fourth-year forward scored, and Emily Patry picked up the assist. If Queen’s had any hope for a comeback, it was dashed when Lindsay Hill scored off the rush on a nice passing play by Amanda Fawns and Sarah Poirier, with less than three minutes left in the game. The Blues’ threegoal outburst came despite spending much of the final frame short-handed. They took four penalties, while Queen’s took none, and were down two players at one point, but aggressive penalty killing and a strong showing by Lockert preserved the shutout. Foster was named Varsity Blue of the game for her two-goal performance.
