Sometimes all you need is stellar goaltending and a hat trick to win a game.
Queen’s Golden Gaels forward Amanda Morra scored three goals as goalie Melissa John stopped 38 shots for a 4-2 win over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at Varsity Arena on Tuesday night.
With the loss Toronto is eliminated from further contention in the OUA playoffs.
The controversial winning goal came at 7:32 of the third period.
Victoria Kaufmann scooped up a loose puck in the high slot and raced in alone on Blues goalie Kendyl Valenta. While the freshman netminder made a nice left-leg save, Becky Conroy trailed the play and jammed the puck and the goalie into the net.
Blues head coach Karen Hughes explained that the winning goal shouldn’t have counted because you’re not allowed to push the goalie over the line to score.
The Gaels were 2-1 against Toronto in the regular season and were cautiously optimistic going into a winner-take-all situation.
“We were confident,” said Morra. “We like the pressure situations and we came into it knowing this could be the last game for our fourth and fifth-year players and we didn’t want our season to be over.”
Against the run of play, Queen’s opened the scoring on their fifth shot of the period. Morra deflected a shot that went through four bodies in the crease past Valenta.
The Blues were rewarded for their effort when Annie DelGuidace tied the game with 3:17 left in the first period.
DelGuidace intercepted an errant pass at the top of the right circle. She went in and wristed the puck high over the glove hand of John.
Even though there were 13 total shots in the second period, the Blues wasted three two-on-ones and had a three-on-one called offside.
The Blues took the lead at 3:13 of the middle stanza shortly after a missed two-on-one.
Callie Bazak couldn’t deflect the puck into the empty net off an Amanda Fawnes pass but seconds later Bazak made up for it. She found the back of the net with a slap shot from the right face-off dot that got through the legs of John.
Morra got her second goal of the game over six minutes later to knot the game at 2-2.
Following a Blues turnover in the neutral zone, Queen’s forward Megan McNutt dished the puck to a streaking Morra who blasted the puck far side and by the blocker off Valenta.
“I spent some time with the coaches after practice [last week],” said Morra. “I was working on shooting and I think it worked tonight because I picked some corners.”
The Blues outshot the Gaels 17-8 in the third period but were unable to solve the Queen’s goalie.
“She did exactly what we hoped a fourth-year goalie would do,” said Queen’s head coach Harold Parsons. “We felt we had that advantage coming into the game with Toronto. [John] was competitive tonight and if there was a rebound she was in position for it.”
Morra got her third of the game with a short-handed goal at 8:51 to make the score 4-2.
“Morra played the best game I have seen her play in five years,” Parsons said. “In every zone [Morra’s line] was the best unit on the ice for both teams.”
Toronto finished with 40 shots but John was the difference.
“I think we worked hard,” said Blues sophomore forward Lindsay Hill. “We didn’t finish on our chances […] and that is what it comes down to. We all worked hard, we had so much passion and drive, we just didn’t come through.”
