Courtesy of Kelsey Pye (host organizing committee)
FREDERICTON (CIS) – The Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues defeated the tournament host St. Thomas Tommies 2-1 in the fifth place game of the Scotiabank CIS women's hockey championship Sunday morning at the Grant Harvey Centre in Fredericton.
Denis Ross, head coach of the Aigles Bleues, considered the win
important for next season.
"It was very important for our morals and to start next season. We
had no players on our team that had [national] experience, now all
of them have experience," he said.
It took both the Tommies and the Aigles Bleues a bit of time to
build up energy. The teams had lots of back and forth play, with
both sides suffering bad turnovers and spending a lot of time in
the neutral zone. Moncton was on the board first at 14:57. STU's
Eliza Snider fell over with the puck near the net, and
Félicia Anctil grabbed it, deked Tommies goalie Kristin
Wolfe, and slid the puck in behind her. After 20, the shots stood
10-9 Moncton.
Anctil thinks the win was important after losing both round-robin
games in the tournament.
"Everything we've been through...that's the thing we wanted. It
didn't go as well in the beginning because we lost the two games
but just to win the last even though it doesn't have a medal, it's
how we wanted to finish the season."
STU was visibly tired in the second period. Bad cross-ice passes
led to turnovers, but Wolfe was solid in net. STU's Teah Anderson
scored an equalizer at 18:19, after the puck hit Moncton netminder
Gabrielle Forget and deflected in. Moncton had 10 shots in the
period to STU's four.
The Tommies had a tough time in the third period. They had the
drive but were worn out and couldn't complete plays. STU was
getting chances at Forget, but had trouble finishing. The Aigles
Bleues secured the 2-1 win after Marika Lacroix scored a power-play
goal halfway through the third. Shots favoured Moncton 28-21.
Tommies head coach Peter Murphy said his team exceeded expectations
this tournament, which is exactly what he was hoping for.
"As much as people say these are the top-ranked teams in the
country, we're not that far off. Some people might have thought
that beforehand...as much as people say 'good luck', you can tell
from their face there was "I hope you don't get slaughtered"
look."
The bronze medal game between Wilfrid Laurier and Saskatchewan
takes place at 2 p.m. AST Sunday. Montreal and McGill will meet in
the gold medal game at 6:30, live on Sportsnet 360.
SCHEDULE, RESULTS & POOL STANDINGS (all times ATLANTIC TIME)
Final Pool Standings
Pool
A GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
1.
MTL 2 2 0 0 0 7 0 6
2. SASK 2 1 0 0 1 3 5 3
3.
STU 2 0 0 0 2 2 7 0
Pool
B GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
1.
McG 2 2 0 0 0 12 3 6
2. WLU 2 1 0 0 1 7 4 3
3.
MCT 2 0 0 0 2 2 14 0
NOTE (scoring system):
Win in regulation (W): 3 points
Win in overtime or shootout (OTW): 2 points
Loss in overtime or shootout (OTL): 1 point
Loss in regulation (L): 0 point
Thursday, March 13
14:00 Pool B #1: McGill 4, Wilfrid Laurier 1
19:00 Pool A #1: Montreal 3, Saskatchewan 0
Friday, March 14
14:00 Pool B #2: Wilfrid Laurier 6, Moncton 0
19:00 Pool A #2: Saskatchewan 3, St. Thomas 2
Saturday, March 15
14:00 Pool B #3: McGill 8, Moncton 2
19:00 Pool A #3: Montreal 4, St. Thomas 0
Sunday, March 16
10:00 5th Place: Moncton 2, St. Thomas 1
14:00 Bronze: No. 2 Wilfrid Laurier vs. No. 4 Saskatchewan (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:30 Final: No. 5 McGill vs. No. 1 Montreal (Sportsnet 360 &
www.CIS-SIC.tv)
* The webcast of the championship final will be on pay-per-view basis.
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, 11,000 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 55 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CIS_SIC
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cissports
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/universitysport
-CIS-