It was a huge day for both Varsity Blues hockey teams. Late Wednesday morning, the men’s team came from behind to defeat the heavily favoured Ryerson Rams at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre, clinching a spot in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoffs. Hours later, the women’s team hosted the Western Mustangs in the first game of their best-of-three OUA quarter-final series. It was a playoff game for the ages, with the Blues winning in the third period of sudden-death overtime.
Though the women’s game featured two of the best goaltenders in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), the deadlock was broken early, with the Mustangs scoring just two minutes and thirty seconds into the first period. Western rookie Jessica Sorensen put a point shot on goal on an early Mustangs power play. Blues star goaltender Nicole Kesteris made the initial save, but was unable to stop Western’s Katelyn Gosling who converted the rebound.
The early goal seemingly brought the Blues to life, and they outplayed the Mustangs for the majority of the next two periods. Alas, Western goaltender Kelly Campbell lived up to her sterling reputation, shutting down the Blues’ offense again and again.
It wasn’t until late in the third period that the Blues finally managed to solve the Mustangs net-minder. With just under three minutes to play, Courtney Brind’Amour-McClure walked in from the point and put a low shot on goal that her sister Alie redirected past Campbell for the equalizer.
The first overtime frame was very even, with both teams trading chances. By far the best opportunity to end the game came with less than twenty seconds remaining. After Kesteris stopped a point shot by Mustangs defender Madison Turk, Western forward Cassidy Gosling corralled the rebound and passed the puck across the crease to teammate Ally Galloway. It appeared to be a sure goal for Galloway, but Kesteris made an incredible diving stick save to keep the Blues in the game. It was undoubtedly Kesteris’s best save of the season, no mean feat considering that she is statistically the best goaltender in CIS.
The Blues sought to reward Kesteris’ heroics in the second overtime period, and gained the upper hand as the frame wore on, but Campbell again stymied the U of T offense. The Blues finally ended the game on a nondescript play four minutes into the third overtime period. At the end of a shift, Alie Brind’Amour-McClure crossed centre and dumped the puck on goal in order to make a line change. The puck landed a few feet in front of the Western goal crease and took an odd bounce, completely fooling Campbell and sailing into the back of the net for Brind’Amour-McClure’s second goal of the match. It was fitting that the game would be decided by such a lucky goal, given that both goaltenders had denied so many excellent chances in the 94 minutes of play that preceded it.
The Blues will look to win the series in London this Saturday at 3:30 pm. The game will be streamed live on the Varsity Blues website.
