The CIS No. 4 X-Women hockey team travelled to Montreal this week for the first Martlets Holiday Invitational tournament that featured four of the top teams from across the country.
The CIS No. 1 ranked McGill Martlets went 3-0 to win their own tournament, while No. 2 Wilfrid Laurier was 2-1, Manitoba were 1-2 and the X-Women were sent home at 0-3 without a victory. The Martlets defeated Laurier 5-4 in a shootout in the final game of the tournament.
StFX head coach David Synishin, who led the X-Women into a berth in the CIS championship game last season, commented, “We played better as the tournament progressed. Although the results weren't what we wanted, we now know what it takes to win at that level.”
Opening tournament action on Thursday afternoon saw Laurier defeat Manitoba 4-2, while the host Martlets shutout the X-Women 4-0.
The Martlets held leads of 1-0 and 3-0 after the opening two periods. Adrienne Crampton scored the lone first period goal for McGill at 9:38, while both second period goals were scored on the power play as the X-Women saw themselves in penalty trouble. Leslie Oles and Brittney Fouracres were the goal scorers.
Oles rounded out the game scoring for McGill with her second of the game late in the third period. She earned the nod as the game’s first star with three points on the night, while Katia Clement-Heydra was the second star as she tallied three assists for the Martlets. Martlets goaltender Charline Labonte was the third star, posting 17 saves.
Kristy Garrow took the loss in nets for the X-Women who were outshot 26-17 by the number one ranked team in the country.
Friday’s games saw the X-Women fall 3-1 to Wilfrid Laurier, while McGill shutout Manitoba 3-0.
Against the CIS No. 2 Golden Hawks, the X-Women skated to a scoreless first period of play, then got on the board first as Leah Boucher scored 4:53 into the second period of an Erin Brophy assist.
Laurier didn’t waste much time getting back into the game, however, as Caitlin Muirhead scored at 5:45 from Abby Rainsberry.
The Golden Hawks then scored two unanswered third period goals to take the 3-1 victory. Heather Fortuna scored an unassisted marker at 3:40 and Tammy Freiburger rounded out the Golden Hawks scoring at 16:37.
Coach Synishin commented, “We played very well, likely our best game of the year to date. We went up 1-0, but unfortunately Laurier scored goals on two bad bounces as the puck didn’t go our way.”
Wilfrid Laurier outshot the X-Women by a 48-22 margin.
Rachel Hamilton earned the win in nets with 21 saves, while Katie Greenway posted 45 saves in the losing effort for the X-Women. She was named the second star of the game for her performance, while Muirhead took home first star honors and Fortuna was the third star.
In their final game against Manitoba on Saturday afternoon, the X-Women held a 2-1 lead after two periods of play, but three third period goals were the deciding factor in a 4-2 Manitoba win.
X-Women forward Nicole Hansom opened the scoring in the game at 12:55 of the first period as Sydnee Parker picked up an assist on the play.
Maggie Kitchfield-Medd tied it at 1-1 late in the first period with a goal at 17:55 from Addie Miles.
Alex Normore scored the lone second period goal at the five minute mark as the X-Women held the 2-1 lead after forty minutes of play. Jenna Pitts assisted.
The third period proved unkind to the CIS No. 4 X-Women as the Bisons scored three consecutive goals within a two minute time span. Meagan Vestby scored at 9:15, followed by Kayleigh Wiens (10:47) and Litchfield-Medd (11:10) with her second of the match.
Manitoba outshot StFX 33-18 en route to the win. Tara Lacquette picked up the win in nets with 16 saves, while Kristy Garrow took the loss, turning aside 29 Bison shots.
Litchfield-Medd was named the first of the game, followed by teammates Vestby and Miles.
The Bisons finished tournament play in third place with a 1-2 record, while the X-Women were third at 0-3. In the final game of the tourney, McGill (3-0) needed a shootout to defeat Laurier (2-1) by a 5-4 margin.
The all-tournament team featured players from McGill and Laurier as Marlets goaltender Charline Labonte, defence Cathy Chartrand and Brittney Fouracres and forward Leslie Oles all received honors, as did Golden Hawks forwards Caitlin Muirhead and Heather Fortuna. McGill forward Oles was named tournament MVP.
Next on the schedule for the X-Women will be the resumption of AUS regular play when they travel to Charlottetown, PE and Sackville, NS on January 7th and 8th to take on the UPEI Panthers and Mount Allison Mounties.