CIS women's hockey Sunday roundup: X-Women crowned as AUS champs

Source: Wray Perkin, Mount Allison Sports Info, Argosy

SACKVILLE, NB - The Saint Francis Xavier X-Women are the 2012-13 AUS Women's Hockey Champions, capping off the Subway AUS Championships with a 4-1 victory over the Saint Mary's Huskies.

The X-Women, for the second game in a row, overcame an early deficit and scored multiple unanswered goals to power their way to victory.

The Huskies took the lead 4:24 into the game when a Caitlyn Schell shot eluded Katie Greenway into the StFX net on the powerplay.

Brittany Perkins answered for the X-Women three minutes later, and Erin Brophy's powerplay goal with just under seven minutes to go in the period proved to be the game-winning goal.

Molly MacDonald pushed the X-Women lead to 3-1 with a goal off an Alyssa Hennigar pass.

The Huskies got into penalty trouble in the third period, but were unable to capitalize on powerplay opportunities of their own. The X-Women trio of Alex Normore, Jenna Downey and Jenna Pitts successfully killed off a 5-on-3 disadvantage without Saint Mary's mustering any good chances on the opportunity.

Normore rounded out the scoring with a powerplay breakaway into an empty net to seal the championship for StFX. Katie Greenway made 20 saves in the win, and was sharp in the third period, while rookie sensation Sienna Cooke stopped 24 shots in goal for Saint Mary's.

Kaitlyn Abbass was named Saint Mary's player of the game, while the X-Women's Brophy was selected as her team's player of the game.

The tournament all-star team was named, with Huskies' players Cooke (goaltender), Rebecca Mosher (defence), and Brianna Soper (forward) being selected along with Saint Thomas Tommies forward Jordan Miller. Normore rounded out the all-star forwards, while X-Women defender Jenna Pitts doubled up, as an all-star on defence while also being recognized as the tournament's MVP.

The X-Women, champions of the AUS for the ninth time, advance to the CIS Championships held in Toronto, ON from March 7-10.

Tournament All-Stars:

Goalie: Sienna Cooke, Saint Mary’s
Defence: Jenna Pitts, St FX
Defence: Rebecca Mosher, SMU
Forward: Brianna Soper, SMU
Forward: Jordan Miller, STU
Forward: Alex Normore, St FX

Tournament MVP: Jenna Pitts, St FX

Source: Blake Murphy, UBC Sports Info

Momentum.
 
That was the key for the UBC Thunderbirds, as they carried the momentum from Saturday's night's triple-overtime victory into Sunday's deciding contest, opening the scoring just 24 seconds into the game.
 
“I'm absolutely speechless,” fifth-year co-captain Kaylee Chanakos (Nanaimo, BC) told CiTR-FM after the game. “It was a special moment. Right from the first shift, we thought, 'we could do this, we've got this game.'”
 
“It feels unbelievable,” agreed her co-captain, fifth-year Kaitlin Imai (Coquitlam, BC). “I'm so proud of this group and how far we've come.”
 
When Tatiana Rafter (Winnipeg, MB) beat Jennifer Schmidt on the opening shift, it marked a seamless transition from Saturday's hard-fought victory with their backs against the wall. With the 1-0 lead, the Thunderbirds never looked back, cruising to an impressive 7-1 victory over the Regina Cougars. The victory hands UBC the series, two games to one, and sends them to the Canada West Finals next weekend.
 
For the first time in program history, UBC will also head to CIS Nationals in Toronto in two weeks. Canada West receives two berths this year, so clinching a top-two finish ensures the Thunderbirds will be there. First, they'll have a chance to win the first Canada West title in program history, as they'll square off with either Calgary (at Calgary) or Alberta (at UBC), depending on who wins game three of that series on Sunday.
 
“This team,” said head coach Graham Thomas. “They're just meant to be. They're so determined and such a family. Everybody is pulling for each other and everyone believed. It was a complete team effort.”
 
“I'm so proud of them right now. They never quit. They're such a special group.”
 
UBC quickly followed up on Rafter's goal with two more within eight minutes, as Stephanie Schaupmeyer (Kelowna, BC) and Nicole Saxvik (North Vancouver, BC) each scored. Schaupmeyer would finish with four points, giving her a conference-leading eight points through five playoff games. Her line with Rafter and Saxvik combined for four goals and five assists in the game, an incredible feat for a trio with a combined five years of experience.
 
“They were fantastic tonight,” said Thomas. “They've had good chemistry before but tonight they just took over.”
 
The Thunderbirds managed the seven goals on 42 shots, peppering Schmidt and, briefly, Toni Ross, including 20 shots in the opening period. Though UBC converted on just one of their nine power play opportunities, the constant pressure wore the Cougars down quickly.
 
After the second Thunderbird goal, Regina pulled Schmidt for Ross. When UBC answered with their third shortly after, Schmidt returned for the rest of the game. Regina would answer with a goal of their own in the first, but Emily Grainger (Sooke, BC) made sure there were no doubts heading into intermission by burying a rebound with the man-advantage to make it 4-1.
 
Rafter would add her second goal in the second period, followed up 45 seconds later by Nikola Brown-John (Monte Lake, BC), who sniped a wrist shot into the top corner from alone in the slot. Regina native Genevieve Carpenter-Boesch (Regina, SK) then wrapped things up with a nifty shorthanded marker to make it 7-1.
 
Danielle Dube (Vancouver, BC) stopped 24 shots to improve her conference-leading playoff goals against average to 1.44 and her top save percentage mark to .941.
 
Late in the game, Regina took a few undisciplined penalties, showing their frustration at their play. Those penalties included a late hit on Schaupmeyer that appeared to shake the freshman up.

After two even and hard fought games Friday and Saturday, the Cougars couldn't muster the energy to match the Thunderbirds for a third time. The game marks quite the comeback for UBC, who lost game one on Friday and were unsure how they would respond to their first loss in nearly a month.
 
“We weren't panicking,” said Chanakos. “There was no fear. We kept thinking, 'we got this.'”
 
Sunday's game puts an exclamation point on what has been an incredible season for the Thunderbirds, as they've orchestrated the greatest single-season turnaround in CIS women's hockey history. With just a single win in 2011-12, UBC set a program record with a 17-7-4 record, then proceeded to host a playoff series for the first time, win a playoff series for the first time and, now, reach the Canada West Finals and CIS Nationals for the first time.
 
“We wanted to change the culture here,” said Thomas. “We wanted to gain respect for this UBC program, and this is a huge day for the UBC women's hockey program.”
 
The location and schedule for next weekend's Canada West Finals is still to be determined.

Source: Lance Doucet, Calgary Sports Info

CALGARY – The No. 2 University of Calgary Dinos will have a chance to defend their national title as they booked their ticket to the Canada West final and the CIS championship tournament with a 3-1 triumph over the University of Alberta Pandas Sunday afternoon.

Calgary wins the best-of-three conference semi-final 2-1 and will host the upstart UBC Thunderbirds for the Canada West title next weekend. The T-Birds have been the most improved team in 2012-13 after collecting a mere two wins a year ago. UBC needed a third game in their semi-final series to knock off the Regina Cougars at the Saskatchewan capital. Both teams will also have a chance to compete for the CIS title in Toronto.

The series went back and forth between these two provincial rivals with the higher ranked and more rested team coming up on top. Game 1 will go down as a classic after Tanya Morgan netted the triple overtime winner to clinch a 3-2 Calgary victory. On Saturday night, Alberta showed perseverance as they came back from two deficits and eventually won 5-3 to force Sunday’s final showdown.

“Last night they outworked us, but tonight I think we were the ones who outworked them,” described Calgary head coach Danielle Goyette. “It was easier to work with a two-goal lead, but the score didn’t matter, we had a plan and we had to follow it.

“It is only the second time this team has got to go to nationals and we have some young players and even some fifth-years who going to nationals will be very special for in their last season,” mentioned Goyette. “When you have five or six players that won’t be returning, this weekend was very important to them.”

“It is quite an amazing feeling knowing we have a spot in nationals,” added fifth-year forward Elana Lovell, who scored twice for the Dinos. “It is something we are all very excited about, but we know we have to do all the little things to hopefully get the Canada West title again and go into nationals on a winning note.”

The Dinos jumped out to an early 1-0 lead at 3:08 of the first period on Sunday thanks to their fourth power play marker in two games. A quick shot from the blue line by first-year rear guard Kelsie Lang was deflected in as Elana Lovell got a piece of the puck as she beat Michala Jeffries.

Slowly taking over the game, Calgary doubled their advantage with another power play goal at 16:41 mark of the middle frame. A shot by Stephanie Ramsay didn’t hit the back of the net, but the rebound would as Jenna Smith notched her second of the post season.

After an even first half of the game, the Dinos took control and held a 19-11 shot advantage after 40 minutes.

Midway through the third, Calgary extended its lead to three with yet another tally on the man-advantage. Lovell recorded her second of the game on a good release as Lang and Stephanie Zvonkovic picked up assists on the play.

Just 40 seconds after Lovell’s second of the day, Kayla Lavallee scored her second of the series as she beat Amanda Tapp with a hard shot from atop the left face-off circle on the power play. The goal made it a tight game heading into the final half of the third period, but Alberta never came close to a second tally. Howie Draper pulled his goalie in the final minute, but the Pandas couldn’t beat Tapp.

The Calgary netminder finished the night with 16 saves while her counterpart Jeffries ended with 31 stops.

The Canada West Final will begin next weekend at the Father David Bauer Arena between Calgary and UBC. Game 1 and 2 will have 7 p.m. puck drops on March 1-2. If necessary, Game 3 will be played on Sunday, March 3 at 4 p.m.

Source: Jamie Howieson, Laurier Sports Info

WATERLOO, Ont. - For the first time in a decade, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's hockey team will not play for the CIS Championship after they were eliminated by the No. 10 Western Mustangs on Sunday night 1-0 in Game 3 of their OUA Semifinal series.

A determined Mustangs' squad bounced the Hawks, ranked No. 4 in Canada, from the playoffs. Western scored the series-winning goal with just over five minutes to play in what was a hard-fought game by both teams.

"I'm proud of everyone on this team," said team captain Fiona Lester of Peterborough, Ont., who played her final game as a Golden Hawk. "Everyone played their hearts out tonight. It's too bad that tonight we just didn't have it."

Kendra Deller of London, Ont., was the hero for the Mustangs as she scored her first career playoff goal at the 14:17 mark of the third period. Goaltender Kelly Campbell of St. Thomas, Ont., also shone once again for Western as she recorded her second shutout of the series, a 29-save effort including a number of key saves in the third period.

For the Hawks, Erika Thunder of Buffalo Point, Man., stopped 29 shots as well in a game in which both goaltenders were the story of the contest.

"I feel really bad for Erika," commented head coach Rick Osborne after the game. "She just really held us in there in the first period when we were killing all those penalties. She had to make a lot of key saves to keep this a scoreless game."

In what was an inauspicious start for Laurier, the Hawks took five consecutive penalties to open the game. That allowed the Mustangs to establish early pressure on the Hawks defence but Thu nder and her teammates stood tall, turning away all five opportunities to keep the game scoreless after 20 minutes.

Laurier turned their game around in the second period thanks to two powerplay opportunities of their own. However, each time the Hawks found their way through the Mustangs defence, Campbell was equal to the task and despite a 17-7 edge in shots in the period, Laurier still found themselves scoreless heading to the third.

In the final frame, both teams battled hard for every inch of ice with the series on the line. The breakthrough for Western would come off what appeared to be a harmless shot wide from Stacey Scott of London, Ont. However, the puck took a funny deflection off the Zamboni doors and bounced in front where it eventually fell for Deller who tapped it into the open net for the games only goal.

The Hawks would press late but never got a quality chance as the Mustangs pulled off the series upset.

The loss ends the careers of a number of prominent members of the purple and gold including Lester, Caitlin Muirhead of Waterloo, Ont., Brittany Crago of Stouffville, Ont., Maureen Mommersteeg of St. Thomas, Ont., and Paula Lagamba of Toronto. While Osborne knows all five will be very difficult to replace, he says the Hawks will be back ready to compete next season.

"The people that are walking out the door have such unbelievable character and work ethic is really going to be tough to replace," stated Osborne. "We really are searching hard for well-conditioned, dedicated, focused, fast and tough players to come in and replace them. You're going to see a different type of style from us next year. It's going to be four lines deep and a pretty pesky, tough-checking team."

NOTES: The last time the Hawks did not qualify for the national tournament was all the way back in 2002-03...the loss represents the second time in three years that Laurier has failed to advance past the OUA semifinals...the Mustangs finished the series 1-for-24 on the powerplay while Laurier was 1-for-15