Photo credit David Moll
CALGARY (CIS) – Three power play goals in the opening frame set the tone for the rest of the game as the first-seeded McGill Martlets downed the No. 8 Calgary Dinos 8-2 Thursday evening to close out the first day of the CIS women’s hockey championship.
The three power play goals in the first and a pair of empty netters in the third propelled the Martlets into the semi-final, where they will face the fourth-seeded St. FX X-Women, Saturday at 3 p.m. local (5 p.m. ET), live on Sportsnet ONE.
Calgary will take on the fifth-seeded Guelph Gryphons, who fell to the X-Women in the earlier quarterfinal, on the consolation side of the draw Friday morning at 11 a.m. MT.
Canadian Olympian Mélodie Daoust had no trouble finding the back of the net for the Martlets potting three goals, two of which came on the power play in the first period. Daoust showed her ability on her first goal making no mistake in beating Carissa Fischer high blocker side. She capped off the hat trick in the third with an empty netter.
“It was a great feeling to come out strong and get a win in our first game,” said Daoust. “It helps settle down the nerves and now we can just focus on playing our game. We did a pretty good job on the power-play today and created lots of scoring opportunities. I credit my teammates for my hat-trick, they made some nice passes and I just had to take the shot.”
In a contest between two teams that have only faced each other twice before in history, it was McGill out for revenge after having Calgary take away their chance at the title in 2012. Calgary claimed its first national title that year.
Out to defend their national title from 2014, Martlets grabbed the momentum in the first period after dominating on the power play and going up 3-0 on the Dinos. Five minutes in on their first power play, Kelsie Moffatt fired a wrist shot from the point that beat Fischer just below the blocker. Daoust sniped the second power play tally six minutes later. The Martlets continued to connect as Gabrielle Davidson passed the puck from behind the net to Daoust who had creeped into the slot again beating Fischer high blocker side.
Calgary began to find its own momentum in the second period after Janelle Parent picked up the puck on the back check and headed into the McGill zone two-on-one with Iya Gavrilova. Parent passed across to the CIS player of the year, and Gavrilova beat Taylor Hough forehand-backhand and in.
The Dinos netted one more when Chelsea Peterson came out from behind the net and beat Hough backhand five-hole, but it wasn’t enough to change the momentum. Calgary continued to try to generate offence, pulling the goaltender for an extra attacker several times in the third, but they were unable to get another into the McGill net.
“Obviously those first three goals on the power play were huge,” said McGill head coach Peter Smith, who improved to 31-12 lifetime at the CIS tournament. “We’ve worked on it all year and it has improved over the course of the season. That said, there were times in our defensive zone that we weren’t as sharp as we needed to be, so we’ll need to shore that up a little bit.”
Hough made 18 saves to help her team reach the semi-finals, while Fischer made five saves before Hayley Dowling came in and stopped 11 in a losing cause for the Dinos. Erika Mitschke was named player of the game for the Dinos, while Leslie Oles received the honour for the Martlets.
Dinos head coach Danielle Goyette pointed to the penalty parade in the first period as her team’s undoing.
“We can’t blame anyone besides ourselves,” explained Dinos head coach Danielle Goyette. “We put ourselves in that position in the first period and we paid for it. We created turnovers applying pressure but it’s hard to get momentum going when you’re only playing five-on-five for a few minutes at a time.”
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST PERIOD
1. McG Kelsie Moffatt (1) (Michelle Daigneault, Jordan McDonnell), 5:11 PP
2. McG Mélodie Daoust (1) (Gabrielle Davidson, Brittney Fouracres), 11:41 PP
3. McG Mélodie Daoust (2) (Gabrielle Davidson), 13:52 PP
PENALTIES:
Grenon (CGY) interference, 3:53;
Gavrilova (CGY) bodychecking, 5:01;
Bench minor (CGY) too many players, 10:20 (served by Vafina);
Peterson (CGY) hooking, 13:05;
Davies (McG) hooking, 18:49.
SECOND PERIOD
4. CGY Iya Gavrilova (1) (Janelle Parent), 2:32
5. McG Leslie Oles (1) (Jordan McDonnell, Gabrielle Davidson), 10:15
6. CGY Chelsea Peterson (1) (Jenna Smith), 13:46
PENALTIES:
Lang (CGY) holding, 3:54;
Lang (CGY) bodychecking, 6:41;
Cagianos (McG) tripping, 11:28;
Grenon (CGY) tripping, 16:14
THIRD PERIOD
7. McG Gabrielle Davidson (1) (Leslie Oles, Alison MacKenzie), 7:07
8. McG Elizabeth Hillier (1) (unassisted) 17:04 EN
9. McG Joanne Cagianos (1) (unassisted), 18:33
10. McG Mélodie Daoust (3) (Alexandria Serpico, Michelle Daigneault), 19:05 EN
PENALTIES:
Astle (CGY) roughing, 9:43;
Cagianos (McG) tripping, 12:39.
GOALS (by period)
McG 3-1-4:8
CGY 0-2-0:2
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
McG 10-10-7: 27
CGY 2-12-6: 20
POWER PLAY:
McG 3-8
CGY 0-3
GOALTENDERS
McG – Taylor Hough (W, 1-0, 20 shots, 18 saves, 2 GA, 60:00)
CGY – Carissa Fischer (L, 0-1, 8 shots, 5 saves, 3 GA, 13:52); Hayley Dowling (17 shots, 14 saves, 3 GA, 42:55)
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
McG: Leslie Oles
CGY: Erika Mitschke
REFEREE: Meaghan Mallette
LINESMEN: Shannon Klein, Cydnie Brice
ATTENDANCE: 771
START: 7:02
END: 9:02
LENGTH: 2:00
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times MOUNTAIN TIME)
Thursday, March 12
15:00 Quarter-final 1: StFX 4, Guelph 3
19:00 Quarter-final 2: McGill 8, Calgary 2
Friday, March 13
11:00 Consolation 1: No. 8 Calgary vs. No. 5 Guelph (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Quarter-final 3: No. 7 Moncton vs. No. 2 Western (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
19:00 Quarter-final 4: No. 6 Montreal vs. No. 3 Alberta (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
Saturday, March 14
11:00 Consolation 2: Loser QF 3 vs. Loser QF 4 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
15:00 Semifinal 1: No. 4 StFX vs. No. 1 McGill (Sportsnet ONE / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *
18:30 Semifinal 2: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4 (Sportsnet ONE / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *
Sunday, March 15
11:00 5th-place game (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
14:30 Bronze (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:00 Final (Sportsnet 360 & ONE / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *
* The webcast of the semifinals & final are on pay-per-view basis.