The Rundown: Week 4

This week's edition of The Rundown features streaks broken, streaks started, and streaks extended. Several teams need wins desperately if they want any hope of making the playoffs in the second-half of the season after the December break, and a few teams who started their seasons last week need to find a groove if they hope to remain a contender down the stretch. Let's break into this week's CIS Rundown!

Canada West Results

REGINA at SASKATCHEWAN - GAME ONE: The Saskatchewan Huskies came into the weekend ranked #10 in CIS women's hockey as they hosted their provincial rivals in the Regina Cougars. Both teams were looking to improve on their top-four placements in Canada West, but it was Saskatchewan who struck first. Hailey Tyndall found some room past Jane Kish just 5:48 in and it was 1-0. The Huskies would double their lead as Leah Bohlken notched a power-play marker at 12:57 for the 2-0 lead.

The second period saw an explosion of goals from both sides. Rachel Johnson made it 3-0 for the Huskies, but Regina would respond with two goals just 39 seconds apart. Meghan Shervan scored at 10:06 and Bailey Braden added another at 10:45 to cut the Saskatchewan lead to 3-2. Julia Flinton's point shot on the power-play 13:57 would put Saskatchewan up 4-2, and Marley Ervine would restore the three-goal lead at 15:18 for the 5-2 Huskies lead. Caitlin Dempsey would get one back again for the Cougars as she found some room past Cassidy Hendricks to cut the deficit to 5-3.

The third period would surprisingly feature no additional goals as the Huskies skated to the 5-3 victory over the Cougars. Hendricks would earn the win while Kish took the loss in the Friday night game.

SASKATCHEWAN at REGINA - GAME TWO: Being that the two teams are fairly close, they swapped places in this home-and-home battle. Saskatchewan would start the game the same way as the night before as they opened the scoring when Emma Waldenberger wrapped around a goal past Jerrica Waltz for the 1-0 lead. Regina would tie the game midway through the second period when Emma Nutter's point shot on the power-play beat a screened Toni Ross, and it was a 1-1 game once again.

That score would hold through the third period, so it was off to overtime for these two teams. Overtime was back and forth, but nothing was solved there, so it was off to double-overtime. A 2-on-1 in the second extra frame saw Julia Flinton find Rachel Johnson who tipped it past Ross for the 2-1 Saskatchewan double-overtime win.

LETHBRIDGE at CALGARY - GAME ONE: Three periods, three goals, one team. Lethbridge's Jenae Culp scored 2:02 into the first period, Aislinn Kooistra added another at 14:25 of the second period, and Tricia Van Vaerenbergh scored into the empty net at 18:39 of the third period for the 3-0 Pronghorns victory. Alicia Anderson stopped all 32 shots she faced for the shutout and the victory while Hayley Dowling took the loss on this night.

LETHBRIDGE at CALGARY - GAME TWO: Friday's performance by the Pronghorns was a bit of muscle flexing, so there was an expectation that the top team in Canada West would resume their dominance over the bottom team in the conference. Needless to say, it got off to that kind of start for the Pronghorns as Sarah Spence scored a power-play goal on Hayley Dowling just 1:32 into the game.

The Pronghorns would continue to dominate in the second period with three more goals before the period was ten minutes old. Kirsten Reeves made it 2-0 at 3:26 and Lauren Fredrich added another goal 1:05 later that would spell the end of Hayley Dowling's night as the Pronghorns went up 3-0. Jenae Culp would add a power-play marker at 9:17 as Carissa Fisher tried to stop the bleeding, but it was 4-0 for Lethbridge.

And then the Dinos awoke from their season-long slumber. Iya Gavrilova scored at 9:47 to make the game 4-1. Chelsea Court added a power-play marker at 12:12, and it was suddenly 4-2. The third period saw Sasha Vafina come to life as she scored at 6:11 to make it 4-3 before adding a shorthanded goal at 8:54 to tie the game up at 4-4! Could we see Calgary upset the Pronghorns?

The two teams would battle through the remainder of the third period deadlocked at 4-4, and they would carry that score through both overtime periods. Because of this, the shootout was called upon to decide the winner, and it was all abut the goaltending. Alicia Anderson and Carissa Fisher stopped al three shooters each faced in the shootout. However, Anderson would stop Vafina while Brett Campbell would find the net behind Fisher as Lethbridge takes the shootout victory by a 5-4 margin.

ALBERTA at MOUNT ROYAL - GAME ONE: Mount Royal was coming home to host Alberta after a weekend sweep of the Bisons, so they were looking to push the win streak to at least three games. The Cougars got off to a good start when Carley Bertram's deflection found the back of the net past Lindsey Post at 10:06 and Mount Royal had the 1-0 lead. Alberta would answer back 3:57 later when Autumn MacDougall's point shot pinballed its way past Jess Ross for the 1-1 equalizer.

The winner would be scored in the third period as Alberta's Lindsey Cunningham was the beneficiary of a lucky bounce at 4:26 as her initial shot on a breakaway was stopped by Ross, but the rebound bounced off Cunningham and found its way into the back of the net for the 2-1 lead. Post would hold the fort the rest of the way as Alberta skated to the 2-1 victory.

ALBERTA at MOUNT ROYAL - GAME TWO: Alberta looked to make it three wins in a row as they met Mount Royal on Saturday. While there were three goals scored on Friday, Saturday would see just one lamp lit. At 11:52 of the third period, Alex Poznikoff was alone at the side of the net and went shelf past Emma Pincott to give Alberta the 1-0 lead they would not relinquish. Lindsey Post recorded the 20-save shutout and the win while Pincott would absorb the loss in the 1-0 Alberta win.

MANITOBA at UBC - GAME ONE: UBC was looking to continue their strong play while Manitoba needed to break out of its scoring slump in a big way. For both of these teams, all they needed was the first period. Charity Price batted home rebound off a Nicole Carswell shot after a brutal giveaway in front of Samantha Langford, and Manitoba had the 1-0 lead just 1:51 into the game. UBC would fight back, though, as Rebecca Unrau's shot through a maze of players in front of Rachel Dyck dented the twine at 6:40 and it was a 1-1 game. 2:15 after that, Katie Zinn zipped a puck past Dyck with a pile of players down in front of the Manitoba crease for the 2-1 UBC lead.

From that point on, the goalies matched one another save for save, but the final horn saw UBC escape with the 2-1 win as Langford picks up the win while Dyck was assessed the loss in this game.

MANITOBA at UBC - GAME TWO: These two teams met again with both teams wanting, and, in one case, needing, a win to keep pace with the teams ahead of them. Erica Reider opened the scoring for Manitoba with a power-play goal at 6:41 to put the Bisons up 1-0. They would double their lead 3:56 later when Nicole Carswell converted a Jayden Skoleski pass past Samantha Langford for the 2-0 lead.

The second period saw Manitoba add another goal as Celine Caron found some room past Langford at 2:19. UBC would get one back at 3:33 when Kathleen Cahoon's shot beat Rachel Dyck to cut the deficit to 3-1. Manitoba would go back up by three, though, when Alanna Sharman scored a shorthanded marker at 7:03 for the 4-1 Manitoba lead.

From there on, it was all goaltending as the score would hold true to the end of the game. Rachel Dyck picked up the much-needed victory for Manitoba in helping the Bisons snap the five-game winning streak of the Thunderbirds. UBC's Samantha Langford would take the loss.

CWUAA WOMEN'S HOCKEY

School	Record	Points	GF	GA	Streak	Next
Lethbridge	5-1-2-0	19	24	15	W2	vs MRU
Saskatchewan	5-1-1-1	18	22	15	W3	@ ALB
British Columbia	4-3-1-0	14	19	14	L1	@ REG
Alberta	4-4-0-0	12	17	14	W3	vs SAS
Regina	3-3-1-1	12	24	21	L3	vs UBC
Manitoba	3-5-0-0	9	13	15	W1	vs CAL
Mount Royal	2-5-0-1	7	8	14	L2	@ LET
Calgary	1-5-0-2	5	13	32	L4	@ MAN

★★★ Three Stars ★★★

1. Rachel Johnson (SAS) - A pair of goals, including a double-overtime winner, is enough to take top spot in the individual awards this week. Rachel helped Saskatchewan keep pace with Lethbridge as these two teams are starting to run away in the Canada West Conference.

2. Sarah Spence (LET) - A goal and three assists in the two games against Calgary helped Lethbridge stay atop the Canada West standings. Spence was the best player all weekend for the Pronghorns.

3. Lindsey Post (ALB) - It's been a while since Post's name appeared here, but the fifth-year netminder backstopped the Pandas to two wins, moving them into the top-four of the conference once more. If Post is finding her game, the rest of the conference may be in trouble.

Ontario Results

Let's run through these results quickly.

NIPISSING at UOIT: UOIT opened the scoring in the first period at 15:50 when Teresa Horner's shot got by Jacqueline Rochefort for the 1-0 lead. Nipissing would respond in the second period with a shorthanded goal from Carly Marchment at 9:16 and a Kaley Tienhaara goal at 17:03 to take the lead at 2-1. With UOIT pressing late in the third period, Nipissing would ice the game when Sam Strassburger found the back of the net with 46 seconds remaining for the 3-1 Nipissing win. Rochefort was the winner on this night while UOIT's Tori Campbell suffered the loss.

LAURENTIAN at QUEEN'S: All the scoring in this one came in the second period, and only one team recorded goals. Queen's Katrina Manoukarakis scored at 2:06 and Nadia Larocca scored at 19:33 on the power-play to send Queen's to the 2-0 victory. Caitlyn Lahonen recorded the 36-save shutout and the win while Emily Toffoli was on the losing end of this game.

GUELPH at WATERLOO: Guelph was the only team on the board in this game. Jessica Pinkerton scored at 8:39 of the second period while teammate Leigh Shilton scored a power-play goal at 13:02 of the third period to pace the Gryphons to the 2-0 victory. Valerie Lamenta made 30 stops for the shutout and the win while Rebecca Bouwhuis took the loss.

LAURENTIAN at UOIT: Both teams were looking for a win after dropping their respective games on Friday evening. UOIT got off to a great start as they were up 2-0 after the opening period on the strength of Nicole Gorda's goal at 9:15 and Jenna Carter's marker at 10:31. Sarah Biesenthal would make it a 3-0 UOIT lead 16:07 into the third period, but Laurentian's Brooklyn Davis would spoil the shutout bid with just 23 seconds to play as UOIT skates to the 3-1 win. Tori Campbell gets the win while Emily Toffoli took the loss.

RYERSON at WESTERN: Western got this game going early when Stacey Scott scored just 1:01 in for the 1-0 lead. Ryerson would answer back 51 seconds later while shorthanded when Blair Malthaner's shot found the back of the net for the 1-1 draw. We'll jump ahead to the third period when Western took the lead again as Kendra Broad scored at 10:34 for the 2-1 lead. Brittany Clapham would ice the game for Western with 40 seconds to play as she found the empty net. Kelly Campbell picked up the victory in the 3-1 win while Ally Sarna dropped this game.

TORONTO at WINDSOR: I hope you like goals because there were eleven of them scored in this game. Windsor's Shawna Lesperance opened the scoring at 2:51, and Toronto tied the game 1:36 later when Taylor Day scored on the power-play. Kristi Riseley put Toronto up 2-1 while on the power-play at 4:35 of the second period, but Windsor's Larissa Borowiec tied the game at 2-2 at 7:12. Windsor then went up 3-2 at 11:59 when Erinn Noseworthy scored, but Riseley scored her second goal of the period at 17:35 to make it a 3-3 game. Windsor would escape the second period with the 4-3 lead when Krystin Lawrence scored with 13 seconds left in the frame.

Windsor jumped ahead 5-3 at 10:07 of the third period when Taylor Conte scored. Toronto, however, would rally once more. Rebecca Bourgeois scored on the power-play at 16:30 to make it a 5-4 game, and Taylor Day picked up her second goal to tie the game 5-5 at 18:26! That meant we were off to overtime, and we wouldn't have to wait long for another goal. Just 28 seconds into the extra frame, Autumn Garnham found some room past Marissa Kozovski, and Toronto completed the comeback with a 6-5 overtime victory! Katey Teekasingh picked up the win for Toronto while Windsor's Marissa Kozovski was on the losing end of this game.

LAURIER at BROCK: All it takes is one goal. Laurier's Dollee Meigs scored at 16:23 of the first period, and goaltender Lauren Webber took care of the rest as Laurier downed Brock 1-0. Webber made 16 saves in the shutout while Brock's Jensen Murphy took the loss.

NIPISSING at QUEEN'S: It would take 23 minutes, but the scoring would start in the second period. Katrina Manoukarakis put Queen's up 1-0 while on the power-play at 3:31 of the middle frame. The Lakers would tie the game when Brooklyn Irwin found the back of the net at 17:03, and would take the lead at 19:23 when Sam Strassburger beat Caitlyn Lahonen for the 2-1 Nipissing lead. It appeared that the Lakers may escape with the victory, but a late penalty led to a second power-play goal by Katrina Manoukarakis with just 27 seconds to play as the two teams were tied at 2-2.

It was off to overtime and we wouldn't have to stick around for for very long. Just 42 seconds into the extra frame, Queen's Taryn Pilon ripped a shot past Jacqueline Rochefort for the 3-2 overtime winner. Lahonen picked up the win in the victory while Rochefort accepted the loss in the overtime defeat.

BROCK at GUELPH: Things started well for the home squad as Guelph went up 1-0 on a Mackenzie Wong goal just 1:41 into the opening period. Brock would find the equalizer at 16:33 when Brenna Murphy scored on the power-play, but the tie game would last just 13 seconds as Leigh Shilton put Guelph up 2-1 with her goal at 16:46.

Guelph added an insurance goal at 3:05 of the third period when Jessica Pinkerton notched her second goal of the season for the 3-1 lead, and that was all the Gryphons needed as they skated to the 3-1 win. Valerie Lamenta earned the win while Jensen Murphy took the loss.

YORK at WATERLOO: It was all Waterloo in this game. The Warriors got goals from Michelle Tanel at 5:52 of the first period, Paula Lagamba at 12:40 of the second period, and an empty-netter from Alison Hanson at 18:29 of the third period for the 3-0 victory. Stephanie Sluys made 23 stops in the shutout win while Megan Lee took the loss.

TORONTO at WESTERN: Like the previous game, it was all one team in this tilt. Toronto saw Taylor Day score on the power-play at 13:42 of the second period before adding a Sonja Weidenfelder goal at 10:55 in the third period and a Kristi Riseley empty-netter at 18:08 to lock down this game and the 3-0 victory. Hailey Farrelly stopped 23 shots in the shutout win while Kelly Campbell suffered the loss.

OUA WOMEN'S HOCKEY

School	Record	Points	GF	GA	Streak	Next
Toronto	4-0-2-0	16	19	9	W6	@ LAU
Queen's	4-0-1-1	15	12	5	W3	@ WAT/GUE
Laurier	4-1-0-0	12	12	5	W4	@ YOR/vs TOR
Guelph	4-2-0-0	12	13	6	W2	vs UOIT/QUE
Nipissing	3-2-0-2	11	12	14	L1	vs WES/WIN
Waterloo	3-2-0-1	10	14	8	W1	vs QUE/UOIT
Western	3-2-0-0	9	11	8	L1	@ NIP/LAU
Laurentian	1-3-2-1	8	11	15	L4	vs WES/WIN
UOIT	2-3-1-0	8	13	15	W1	@ GUE/WAT
Brock	1-4-1-0	5	5	9	L2	@ RYE/vs YOR
York	1-4-0-0	3	8	14	L1	vs LAU/@ BRO
Windsor	0-3-0-1	1	10	22	L4	@ NIP/LAU
Ryerson	0-4-0-1	1	5	15	L5	vs BRO

Quebec Results

We're going to rip through these results as well. With only five teams in the RSEQ, it makes recaps really quick.

CONCORDIA at OTTAWA: Ottawa opened the scoring at 11:31 of the first period when Véronik Samson found some room behind Katherine Purchase for the 1-0 lead. Camille Pauck-Therrien made it a 2-0 lead when she converted a power-play marker at 8:23 of the second period. Melodie Bouchard added a third Ottawa goal at 15:58 before Concordia's Devon Thompson got one back on the power-play at 16:43. However, that would all that Concordia would get on this night as Ottawa skated to the 3-1 victory. Maude Levesque-Ryan picked up the victory while Katherine Purchase took the loss.

MCGILL at MONTREAL: We wouldn't see any goals until the third period. Montreal's Alexandra Labelle scored at 3:16 on the power-play to put the Carabins up 1-0. It looked like the one goal would be enough, but McGill would finally break through at 18:58 when Joanne Cagianos found the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.

The game would see overtime, but it would take a shootout to determine a winner. Melodie Daoust would score in Round Three for McGill and Audrey Gariepy would score for Montreal in Round Five, so extra shooters would be needed. It would take one additional round as McGill sent Melodie Daoust back out for another shot. She would score, and Montreal's Ariane Barker would be stopped for the second time in the shootout as McGill picks up the 2-1 shootout victory! Taylor Hough would earn the shootout victory while Marie-Pier Chabot takes the loss in the skills competition.

CONCORDIA at CARLETON: Tracy-Ann Lavigne would get Concordia on the board in the first period at 18:05. Carleton would get the equalizer in the second period when Nicole Miners found the back of the net at 16:46. Concordia's Katherine Purchase and Carleton's Katelyn Steele would match one another save for save through the rest of regulation time, so it was off to overtime!

Neither netminder would allow a goal in the extra frame, so it was off to the shootout for a winner in this tilt. Concordia would start the shootout, but it would Carelton's second shooter who got the scoring going. Tawnya Guindon beat Purchase for the early 1-0 lead in the shootout. Three more shooters from Concordia were turned aside by Steele, and the Carleton Ravens would take this game 2-1 in the shootout! Steele picks up the victory while Purchase takes the loss.

RSEQ WOMEN'S HOCKEY

School	Record	Points	GF	GA	Streak	Next
Concordia	2-1-1	5	8	8	L2	BYE
McGill	2-0-0	4	7	1	W2	@ OTT
Ottawa	2-2-0	4	7	11	L1	vs McG
Montreal	1-1-1	3	7	4	L1	vs CAR
Carleton	1-2-0	2	3	8	W1	@ MON

Maritime Results

Again, a quick rundown of the scores. Here we go.

MONCTON at UPEI: This game was postponed. It will be replayed in the future.

DALHOUSIE at SAINT MARY'S: Huskies forward Breanna Lanceleve gave Saint Mary's the 1-0 lead just 3:55 into the first period. Lanceleve would add her second goal at 3:53 of the second period for the 2-0 Saint Mary's lead, but Dalhousie's Jessie Rietveld would get one back at 4:27. The two goalies wouldn't allow any other pucks past them, and Saint Mary's skated to the 2-1 victory. Rebecca Clark picked up the victory while Mati Barrett took the loss.

ST. THOMAS at UPEI: The Panthers got on the board first when Lindsay Johnston notched a power-play goal at 16:54 for the 1-0 lead. St. Thomas responded at 5:31 into the second period when Kelty Apperson scored at 5:31. However, UPEI would go up by a pair of goals as Rachel Colles scored a power-play goal at 9:48 and Laura Bradley scored at 12:49 to lead 3-1 after 40 minutes.

The third period, however, was a complete change from the previous two periods. Four unanswered goals from the Tommies from Kenya Marcelline at 4:21, a power-play goal from Jessica McCann at 9:45, a power-play goal Emily Oleksuk at 14:01, and an empty-netter from Becky Connor at 19:29 gave St. Thomas the 5-3 victory. Abby Clarke picked up the win while Marie-Soliel Deschenes was the goalie of note in the loss for UPEI.

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER at SAINT MARY'S: Saint Mary's struck first at 7:34 of the second period when Mary Worndl picked up a power-play marker. The Huskies would double their lead at 12:12 when Caitlyn Schell added her goal. It looked like the Huskies would maintain a clean sheet against StFX, but the X-Women would break the shutout with 1:09 to go as Sarah Bujold found the back of the net. Rebecca Clark would hold the fort the rest of the way as she picked up the win. Sojung Shin was charged with the loss.

DALHOUSIE at MOUNT ALLISON: The Mounties got on the board at 5:24 of the first period with a Kara Anthony power-play goal. It was the second period, though, where this game would be decided. Dalhousie's Sarah Robichaud scored at 4:11 and Corinne Desjardins scored at 5:40 to put the Tigers up 2-1. The Mounties would tie the game at 11:08 off Rosie Heffernan's goal, but Courtney Sheedy scored two seconds later to restore Dalhousie's one-goal lead. Heather Richards would score for Mount Allison at 13:01 to tie the game at 3-3, but Robichaud would score her second goal of the period at 17:19 to put Dalhousie up 4-3.

Robichaud would complete the hat trick 3:44 into the third period, and that would be all that netminder Mati Barrett would need as the Tigers skated to the 5-3 win. Keri Martin took the loss for the Mounties.

ST. THOMAS at MOUNT ALLISON: Sometimes, all it takes is one goal. Jennifer Bell scored at 3:19 of the second period, and that would all the scoring in this game as Mount Allison takes the 1-0 victory. Keri Martin picked up the 30-save shutout and win while Taylor Cook took the loss.

MONCTON at ST. FRANCIS XAVIER: Les Aigles Bleues scored first in this game as Marie-Pier Corriveau put Moncton on the board at 10:18. The X-Women would respond on the power-play at 18:23 when Nicole Corcoran found the back of the net. The power-play would be beneficial for the X-Women once again as Daley Oddy put StFX up 2-1 at 3:11 of the second period. Moncton would tie the game late in the second on a power-play of their own as Marie-Pier Arsenault scored with just eight seconds remaining to send the game to the final frame tied at 2-2.

The X-Women would jump ahead at 12:37 when Daley Oddy picked up her second goal of the game, and Pascale Daigle wouldn't allow anything else by her as StFX picks up the 3-2 victory. Gabrielle Forget would take the loss for the Aigles Bleues.

AUS WOMEN'S HOCKEY

School	Record	Points	GF	GA	Streak	Next
St. Thomas	3-1-0	6	11	6	L1	vs StFX/MAU
Moncton	2-1-0	4	14	9	L1	@ MAU/vs StFX
UPEI	2-1-0	4	8	6	L1	@ DAL/SMU
Saint Mary's	2-2-0	4	11	12	W2	@ DAL/vs UPEI
StFX	2-2-0	4	9	9	W1	@ StT/MON
Dalhousie	1-3-0	2	7	13	W1	vs SMU/UPEI
Mount Allison	1-3-0	2	6	11	W1	vs MON/@ StT

There's the weekly look at CIS women's hockey as we ran across the country and got caught up. I'm not surprised that McGill is undefeated in conference play in the RSEQ, but it is surprising to see Western, the reigning CIS Champions, in the middle of the pack on the OUA. There's still a ton of hockey to play, though, so everything could change by the season's end, let alone week to week.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!