The playoffs started for two conferences while the other two confirmed who would attending their respective dances. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed that my local team didn't host a playoff game, but teams that win get to host. We'll look at those games first as work through the conferences, but the CWUAA and AUS will see two more teams eliminated from this article after this weekend. Let's get to The Rundown!
Canada West Playoffs
G1 - CALGARY at REGINA: The third-seeded Cougars would host the surprising sixth-seeded Dinos in one of two quarterfinal CWUAA match-ups. The opening goal in this game came late in the second period when Chelsea Perepeluk banged home a rebound past Hayley Dowling at 19:28 for the 1-0 lead. It should be noted that the Cougars, to that point, had outshot the Dinos by a 36-6 margin, so credit Dowling for keeping the Dinos even remotely close to that point.
Bronwyn Stevens would tie the game early in the third period as she beat Toni Ross at 1:21, and it appeared the chess match would continue. Except it didn't. Just ten seconds after Stevens' goal, Caitlin Dempsey took a pass as she streaked down the right wing, made a move to the middle, and ripped home a high wrist shot over Dowling's shoulder for the 2-1 lead.
Calgary would run into some penalty trouble midway through the period, and Regina made them pay. Kylie Gavelin scored at 7:18 and Jaycee Magwood added another power-play goal at 9:01. With the 4-1 lead, the Cougars simply sat back and defended their lead as they claimed victory in the opening game. Toni Ross stopped 13 of 14 shots she faced while Dowling took the loss after making 41 saves on the evening.
G2 - CALGARY at REGINA: It was do-or-die for the Dinos on Saturday night, and I expected a much better effort. Both teams delivered on this expectation as the checking was tight, chances were created and thwarted, and neither team gave the other many scoring opportunities. However, there was a goal scored.
Bailey Braden redirected a Nikki Watters-Matthes shot between the legs of Hayley Dowling while on the power-play at 7:24 of the opening period, and the Cougars would jump ahead 1-0. There would be no scoring in the second period as the two teams traded chances, but the Dinos applied the pressure in the final frame as their season was on the line. The only problem was that Toni Ross was equal to the task as she held the Dinos off the scoreboard for the 1-0 victory! Ross stopped all 29 shots thrown at her for the shutout while Dowling took the second loss in as many games despite stopped 27 of 28 shots.
Regina, being the third-seeded team, will travel to British Columbia for a best-of-three semifinal series against the UBC Thunderbirds next weekend.
G1 - MANITOBA at SASKATCHEWAN: The Huskies, as the fourth-place team, hosted the fifth-seeded Manitoba Bisons this weekend. The Bisons are starting Rachel Dyck in this game despite Amanda Schubert's recent success against the Huskies, so we'll see how this plays out. The home team would strike first, though, when Kaitlin Willoughby finished off a pass from Lauren Zary on 2-on-1 at 13:32 for the 1-0 lead.
After a scoreless second period, there would be more goals in the third period. Willoughby would add her second of the night with seven minutes to play after converting a good passing play that involved Julia Flinton and Leah Bolken. Willoughby would close out the scoring after firing a shot from center into the empty Manitoba net with 1:36 to play as Saskatchewan takes the opening game by a 3-0 score. Cassidy Hendricks stopped all 21 shots sent her way for the shutout while Dyck stopped 28 of 31 in the loss.
G2 - MANITOBA at SASKATCHEWAN: Manitoba needed a win after a shutout loss the night before, and we'd see Amanda Schubert get the start in this one. It would be Saskatchewan who scored first, though, as Julia Flinton scored on a screened Schubert at 18:43. Manitoba, however, would tie things before the horn as Venla Hovi redirected an Alanna Sharman pass past Cassidy Hendricks on a 2-on-1 at 19:47 to send the teams into the intermission tied at 1-1.
Hovi would make it a 2-1 game midway through the second period when she found a loose puck at the side of the net and buried it past Hendricks at 9:57. Alanna Sharman then got in on the act as she made a move around a defender and snapped a shot by Hendricks at 16:35 for the 3-1 lead. Keen, after assisting on all three goals, added another goal at 5:03 of the third period, and Kaleigh Wiens split the Huskies defence and beat Hendricks at 14:37 to put the Bisons up 5-1. Schubert stood tall through the entire game as she earned the victory in the 5-1 win. Hendricks would take the loss, but this series would need all three games to decided a winner.
G3 - MANITOBA at SASKATCHEWAN: With the knowledge that Regina had already booked their flights to Vancouver, Regina and Manitoba met in the rubber match to determine which squad would travel to Edmonton to play the Alberta Pandas next weekend. Manitoba jumped out to an extremely early lead when Lauren Keen continued her weekend of strong play as she scored just 11 seconds into the first period to put the Bisons up 1-0.
The next goal wouldn't be seen until 10:38 of the third period when Lauren Zary found room past Amanda Schubert, and the Huskies and Bisons would close out the period tied at 1-1. Who would have guessed that we'd witness history tonight as the Bisons and Huskies would play the longest game in CWUAA women's hockey history! Venla Hovi deflected a shot at 9:02 of the fifth overtime period past Cassidy Hendricks to give the Bisons the 2-1 overtime win and the 2-1 series win! Amanda Schubert made 66 saves in the 5OT win while Hendricks suffered the loss on a night where it seemed unfair to send one team home. I'll have more on the historic night in Saskatchewan tomorrow, but the Bisons advance!
It should be noted that while Calgary didn't win a game in the playoffs, they will participate in the CIS Women's Hockey Championship as the host team. Calgary will now have approximately one month to prepare for that tournament. The Regina Cougars will play the UBC Thunderbirds in Vancouver next weekend while the Alberta Pandas will host the Manitoba Bisons next weekend in Edmonton in the second semifinal.
Ontario Results
It's the final week of games in the OUA, and there was some definite movement in the standings as teams secured playoff positions.
LAURIER at RYERSON: Ryerson's Victoria Chapman put the Rams up 1-0 at 4:52 after beating Lauren Webber with her shot. We'd have to jump ahead to the second period for the next goal as Madison MacCulloch evened the score off her shot that beat Alex Armstrong at 15:20. With no scoring in the third period, this game went to overtime. Dollee Meigs would ensure this game didn't last long as she found the back of the net just 1:01 into the extra time as Laurier wins this one by a 2-1 score. Webber stopped 28 shots for the win while Amrstrong suffered the loss.
WESTERN at WATERLOO: Western would get this game started as Catherine O'Connor scored 2:43 into the game. Waterloo would tie things up in the second period when Alyssa Gee beat Kelly Campbell at 9:32, but Evra Levesque would put Western back on top after she scored on Stephanie Sluys at 15:43. Brittany Clapham would make it 3-1 just 39 seconds into the third period, and that score looked to be enough. Waterloo's Paula Lagamba scored with 1:09 remaining, but that was as close as the Warriors would get as the Mustangs took this game 3-2. Campbell stopped 25 shots in the win while Sluys was on the losing end in this game.
YORK at TORONTO: The Varsity Blues took control of this game from the start. Jacqueline Scheffel scored on the power-play at 10:31 and Taylor Day added another at 16:45 for the 2-0 Toronto lead through one period. They added another pair of goals in the second period as Day added her second on the power-play at 9:25 and Meagan O'Brien added another at 11:49 to make it a 4-0 Toronto lead.
Lauren Straatman would make it 5-0 on the power-play at 7:24, and Kristi Riseley made it 6-0 at 17:49. York, however, wouldn't go silently. Lauren Cavarzan scored at 18:10 for the Lions and Kristen Barbara made it 6-2 at 18:48. The Lions wouldn't muster any further comeback, though, as Toronto skates to the 6-2 victory. Valencia Yordanov picked up the 18-save win while Eva Hall took the loss.
RYERSON at WATERLOO: The Warriors opened the scoring at 19:37 of the first period when Alison Hanson beat Sydney Authier for the 1-0 lead. Paula Lagamba extended the lead at 14:00 of the second period with her goal. Ryerson would get one back when Melissa Wronzberg snapped one past Rebecca Bouwhuis, but that would be the only puck to get past her. Waterloo takes this game by a 2-1 score. Bouwhuis stopped 27 shots for the win while Authier suffered the loss.
GUELPH at BROCK: The first goal would be seen at the 5:00 mark of the second period when Brock's Jazz Kennedy scored on the power-play past Valerie Lamenta. Guelph's Kelly Gribbons would find space past Jensen Murphy at 18:40 to tie the game, but Laura Neu scored at 19:23 to put the Badgers up 2-1 through 40 minutes.
Gribbons would even things up in the third period when her shot dented twine at 8:04. Guelph would take the lead at 13:14 when Sophie Contant's shot found the back of the net for the 3-2 advantage, and Lamenta would allow no more as the Gryphons took this game 3-2. Lamenta stopped 26 shots in the win while Murphy was on record for the loss.
WINDSOR at YORK: There were a bunch of goals scored, so let's get this one going. York's Amy Locke scored at 4:36. Dana Somerville made it 2-0 at 6:49. Raeanna Kelly put the Lions up 3-0 at 12:50, but Windsor would get one back before the end of the period as Shawna Lesperance scored at 13:52 to make it 3-1 through 20 minutes.
Lesperance would strike again at 8:49 of the second period while on the power-play, and Shailyn Waites would tie the game for Windsor with her power-play goal at 14:15! However, York used a power-play of their own to take a 4-3 lead off an Erin Locke goal at 18:22. 30 seconds later, Justine Treadwell found the back of the net to put York up 5-3, but Windsor's Taylor Conte would score with 31 seconds left in the period to cut the lead to 5-4.
Both York's Ingrid Sandven and Windsor's Megan Lee were perfect through the third period which meant that York took this game 5-4! Lee took the win while Sandven took the loss despite only allowing two goals. Sandven relieved Hannah Slater after she gave up the three first-period goals to York in her 12:50 of work.
QUEEN'S at LAURIER: Queen's Megan Farrell beat Amanda Smith at 7:31 of the first period for the early lead. Laurier's Jessica Prevette would get the Golden Hawks back on even footing when she beat Caitlyn Lahonen at 1:21 of the second period, but Queen's would take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission after Katrina Manoukarakis' power-play goal at 14:21. Queen's Courtenay Jacklin would score a power-play goal at 14:34 and an empty-net goal at 19:18 to give the Gaels a 4-1 victory. Lahonen made 29 stops for the win while Smith took the loss.
TORONTO at UOIT: Jacqueline Scheffel opened the scoring at 13:44 when she beat Tori Campbell, giving Toronto the 1-0 lead. Nicole Gorda beat Katey Teekasingh at 2:57 in the second period to draw the Ridgebacks even, but Taylor Day would restore the one-goal lead for Toronto at 15:43. UOIT would even the score again at 17:03 off Kassidy Nauboris' goal, but Toronto would go ahead 3-2 on Lauren Straatman's late goal at 19:37!
UOIT would score the only goal of the third period as Rachel Budden scored with 50 seconds remaining in the game to force overtime! The only problem is that overtime would solve nothing as these two teams remain tied 3-3 through the two added periods. We'd go to a shootout to find a winner in this one. UOIT's Nicole Gorda would score on the first shot, and Tori Campbell would stop all three shooters to give UOIT the 4-3 shootout win over Toronto! Campbell earns the win while Teekasingh takes the loss in her first start this season.
QUEEN'S at BROCK: Queen's came out of the gate on fire. More specifically, Jessica Wakefield came out of the gate on fire as she put Queen's up 2-0 with goals at 4:52 and 17:09. Clare McKellar put Queen's up 3-0 at 9:49 of the second period. Kyla Crouse made it 4-0 at 12:04. Brock's Cara Sayles would cut into the lead with a power-play goal at 13:31, but Queen's restored the four-goal lead at 16:21 with McKellar's second of the night. The third period would go scoreless, giving the Queen's Gaels the 5-1 win. Claire Warren picked up the win in a 19-save effort while Jensen Murphy took the loss. Stephanie Sluys replaced Murphy after the fourth Queen's goal, playing 27:56 and making 12 stops.
OUA WOMEN'S HOCKEY
School | Record | Points | GF | GA | Streak | Next |
Guelph | 17-2-4-1 | 60 | 78 | 31 | W11 | vs LAU |
Toronto | 12-4-4-4 | 48 | 63 | 44 | L1 | vs LGH |
Western | 14-8-1-1 | 45 | 62 | 36 | W3 | vs WAT |
Queen's | 13-7-2-2 | 45 | 57 | 39 | W2 | vs NIP |
Nipissing | 12-5-1-6 | 44 | 54 | 46 | L1 | @ QUE |
Waterloo | 12-9-2-1 | 41 | 62 | 41 | W1 | @ WES |
Laurier | 10-9-3-2 | 38 | 45 | 50 | L1 | @ TOR |
Laurentian | 8-11-3-2 | 32 | 47 | 62 | L4 | @ GUE |
Brock | 7-13-3-1 | 28 | 37 | 52 | L2 | OUT |
York | 5-11-4-4 | 27 | 45 | 59 | W1 | OUT |
Windsor | 7-14-1-2 | 25 | 67 | 84 | L4 | OUT |
UOIT | 5-14-3-2 | 23 | 49 | 79 | W3 | OUT |
Ryerson | 3-18-0-3 | 12 | 30 | 73 | L4 | OUT |
Playoffs start next weekend with the top-eight teams facing off. In keeping with the seeding tradition, the highest seed would then move on to face the lowest remaining seed, and the two mid-level seeds would playoff against one another. It all starts next week in Ontario!
Quebec Results
The three teams at the top were looking for that top-seed status while Concordia was trying to fend off Carleton. Let's run through these games to see how the five teams finished in the RSEQ!
CONCORDIA at McGILL: The Stingers had no answer for Melodie Daoust. Daoust scored at 14:07 of the first period, again at 7:49 of the second period, and finished off the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:32 of the third period. Concordia's Erica Porter did score on the power-play at 3:26 of the third period, but that goal was negated by Pamela Psihogios' goal at 6:59 as the McGill Martlets skated to the 4-1 win. Taylor Hough made nine saves for the win while Katherine Purchase suffered the loss.
MONTREAL at OTTAWA: This one had definite playoff implications as two of the top teams in the RSEQ battled. Montreal's Marion Allemoz opened the scoring at 12:21 when she beat Sarah-Maude Labrecque, and Maude Laramee would make it 2-0 with a goal just 29 seconds later. Vickie Lemire would cut the deficit to one goal before the end of the period when she beat Marie-Pier Chabot on the power-play at 17:45.
Véronik Samson would draw Ottawa even at 7:48 of the second period, but Montreal would restore the one-goal lead off Emmanuelle Passard's goal at 12:03. It was looking more and more like the Carabins would take the two points, but Carol-Ann Upshall found space past Chabot at 19:16, and this game would go to overtime! Overtime solved nothing, though, so it was off to the breakaway challenge. Cindy Lauren scored on Ottawa's second shot. Melodie Bouchard scored on Ottawa's third shot, but Montreal remained alive with a Jessica Cormier goal in the fourth round. However, Emmanuelle Passard couldn't score on Montreal's fifth attempt, so Ottawa took the game in a 4-3 shootout final! Labrecque picked up the win while Chabot took the loss.
OTTAWA at CARLETON: This game had a crazy finish. Nicole Miners put the Ravens up 1-0 on a power-play goal that beat Sarah-Maude Labrecque 1:30 into the second period. Melodie Bouchard would tie the game for Ottawa 1:04 later, but Carleton would jump ahead at 5:15 off Mackenzie Coney's goal. Ottawa would send the game into the intermission tied at 2-2 after Shanie Deschatelets found the back of the net at 16:04.
Carol-Ann Upshall put Ottawa up 3-2 at 1:41 of the third period, but Carleton wasn't going away. Jennifer Semkowski buried a goal on the power-play at 6:39, and this game would hit the final horn tied up at 3-3. Overtime solved nothing, so it was off to the skills competition. Ready? Eight rounds would go by without a goal scored. Melodie Bouchard would score in the ninth round, but Carleton's Tawnya Guindon was equal to the task. In the 14th round, Upshall would be stopped, but Carleton's Leah Scott found the back of the net to give Carleton the 4-3 shootout victory! Hailey Perreault made 42 saves in regulation plus 13 more in the shootout for the win while Labrecque is on the losing end in this game.
MONTREAL at CONCORDIA: Montreal had already wrapped up first-place while Concordia had clinched fourth-place, so this game would be a preview of next week's playoff series. Ann-Julie Deschenes put Concordia up 1-0 at 17:10 after she beat Elodie Rousseau Sirois. Montreal would tie things up while shorthanded in the second period as Audrey Gariepy beat Briar Bache while down a woman to make it a 1-1 game. Concordia would get out of the second period with the lead, though, as Claudia Dubois scored on the power-play to put the Stingers up 2-1 after 40 minutes.
Gariepy would add her second goal at 9:20 of the third period to draw the Carabins even. There was some intense pressure in the Concordia zone late, and it would Alexandra Labelle scoring with 24 seconds to play to give Montreal the 3-2 win. Rousseau Sirois made ten saves in the victory while Bache took the loss.
RSEQ WOMEN'S HOCKEY
School | Record | Points | GF | GA | Streak | Next |
Montreal | 15-3-2 | 32 | 72 | 34 | W1 | vs CON |
McGill | 13-5-2 | 28 | 54 | 33 | W4 | vs OTT |
Ottawa | 11-6-3 | 25 | 59 | 57 | L1 | @ McG |
Concordia | 6-12-2 | 14 | 32 | 51 | L4 | @ MON |
Carleton | 5-15-0 | 10 | 23 | 65 | W2 | OUT |
Montreal will play Concordia while McGill and Ottawa will meet in the best-of-three series scheduled for next weekend. While it's hard to imagine that Montreal will lose two of three games, Ottawa and McGill could be one of the best series in the country if it lives up to the statistical billing.
Maritime Results
G1 - ST. FRANCIS XAVIER at MOUNT ALLISON: One team hit the scoresheet in this game. Jenna Pitts scored at 9:26 and Kara Power added a second goal at 12:48 to put the X-Women up 2-0 after one period. Taylor Dale popped home a power-play goal at 4:03 of the second period, and it was more than necessary as StFX took Game One with a 3-0 win. Sojung Shin pitched a 29-save shutout for the victory while Keri Martin was on the losing end.
G2 - MOUNT ALLISON at ST. FRANCIS XAVIER: Mount Allison got on the board early in this game as Samantha Bujold beat Sojung Shin on the power-play just 1:41 into the game. StFX would tie things up when Connor Garagan beat Keri Martin at 5:05, and they would take the lead before the end of the first period when Heather Tillsley found the back of the net at 14:24 for the 2-1 StFX lead.
That score would hold through the second period, so we'd move onto the third period where Nicole Corcoran made it a 3-1 game after she scored on the power-play at 4:01. The Mounties would use a power-play of their own to make it 3-2 when Kara Anthony scored at 4:54, but StFX would use another power-play goal off the stick of Taylor Dale at 8:07 to go up 4-2. Kara Power then scored shorthanded at 12:53 to give StFX a 5-2 lead, and that's how this one would finish as the X-Women advance to the AUS Semifinal. Shin stopped 16 shots for the win while Martin suffered her second-straight loss.
G1 - DALHOUSIE at ST. THOMAS: The Tigers jumped out to an early lead as Jesse Rietveld scored on Taylor Cook 33 seconds into this game to put Dalhousie up 1-0. They would make it a 2-0 game at 14:10 when Taylor Reichheld found the back of the net. The Tommies would get within one goal before the end of the period when Kelty Apperson beat Mati Barrett at 16:18 to make it a 2-1 game.
Apperson took over the second period. She scored shorthanded at 11:37 and added her hat-trick goal at 19:40 to put the Tommies up 3-2 after 40 minutes. Lauren Henman scored at 11:30, Teah Anderson added another shorthanded marker at 13:05, and Marina Sergina capped the game off with her goal at 15:12 as St. Thomas scored six unanswered goals in the 6-2 victory. Cook stopped 21 of 23 shots while Barrett took the loss.
G1 - ST. THOMAS at DALHOUSIE: St. Thomas opened the scoring in the second period when Emily Oleksuk scored on Jessica Severeyns on the power-play for the 1-0 lead. Kenzie Macphee would draw the Tigers even at 1:33 in third period when she beat Taylor Cook with a shot. Kelty Apperson put the pressure on the Tigers with her goal at 15:06 to put the Tommies up 2-1, and Teah Anderson would end Dalhousie's season with an empty-net goal at 19:16 as St. Thomas takes Game Two by a 3-1 score. Cook stopped 16 shots in the win while Severeyns suffered the loss.
St. Francis Xavier will face-off against the Saint Mary's Huskies in one semifinal while St. Thomas will meet up with the Moncton Aigles Bleues in the other semifinal. Both series start on Tuesday, so these series could be done by the time the weekend rolls around. We'll see how each series goes!
There will be lots of playoff action to report next week, so tune in then!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!