X-Women claim CIS bronze

March 10, 2013

Bronze medal game: CIS women’s hockey championship
Brophy, X-Women edge Blues in OT for bronze

TORONTO (CIS) – Fourth-year forward Erin Brophy scored two goals, including the game-winner, as the StFX X-Women defeated the host Toronto Varsity Blues 3-2 in overtime to claim the bronze medal at the 2013 CIS women’s hockey championship at Varsity Arena.

Championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wice/index

With StFX on the powerplay, Brophy (Antigonish, N.S.) banged home a Jenna Downey (Stratford, Ont.) rebound with 3:04 remaining in the overtime period to secure the victory.

The X-Women reach the national podium for the second time in program history, after earning the silver medal at the 2011 championship.

StFX, appearing in their 11th CIS tournament, opened the four-day affair with a 4-0 loss to the defending champion Calgary Dinos, before earning a spot in the bronze-medal game with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Queen’s Gaels on Friday afternoon.

"It was tremendous what our girls were able to do here,” said StFX head coach David Synishin. “To take home our second medal in three years means so much to this team, our program and our school. I'm thrilled to be a part of it.”

Fourth-year X-Women goalie Katie Greenway of Guelph, Ont., made 24 saves, while U of T netminder Nicole Kesteris posted 27 stops in the loss, bringing her tournament-total to 112. The Aurora, Ont., made a career-high 53 saves versus Montreal on Day 1, and turned aside 32 shots versus UBC on Friday.

Third-year U of T forward Amanda Ricker of Ottawa opened the scoring midway through the second period when Taylor Day sent the puck to her all alone in the high slot and she wired a wrist shot into the top corner of the net.

StFX poured on the pressure late in the second frame and it paid off as rookie forward Taylor Dale of Oromocto, N.B., banged in a Megan Innes point shot that was tipped over Kesteris’ head. The game remained deadlocked at 1-1 heading into the third period.

The X-Women notched the go-ahead goal on the power play with 12 minutes remaining in the game as Brophy received a rebound off a fellow Antigonish, N.S., native Jenna Pitts point shot and spun around to find the mesh.

Sophomore forward and Toronto native Sonja Weidenfelder evened the score for the Blues with just 2:52 remaining in the game when she took a pass from team captain Kelly O’Hanlon (Markham, Ont.) from behind the net and made no mistake in finding the back of the net.

StFX took back-to-back penalties in the ensuing minutes, giving the host Blues a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:22 with less than two minutes remaining, but Greenway stood tall and carried the X-Women into overtime.

“They played their hearts out,” said Vicky Sunohara, in her second season as Blues bench boss. “I think that we earned some respect at this tournament. They never gave up and we are just so proud of everything our players did this weekend.”

SCORING SUMMARY

Complete boxscore: BOXSCORE

StFX 3, Toronto 2 OT

FIRST PERIOD

SCORING:
(No scoring)

PENALTIES:
Taylor Day (TOR) hooking, 3:55

SECOND PERIOD

SCORING:

1. TOR: Amanda Ricker (Mary Claire Geneau, Courtney Tougas), 10:39
2. StFX: Taylor Dale (2) (Schyler Campbell, Megan Innes)15:28

PENALTIES:

Jenna Pitts (StFX) slashing, 5:10;
Mary Claire Geneau (TOR) hooking, 10:51;
Schyler Campbell (StFX) tripping, 15:51;
Caitlin Maikawa (TOR) interference, 18:26

THIRD PERIOD

SCORING:

3. StFX: Erin Brophy (2) (Jenna Pitts, Abygail Laking), 7:23 (PP)
4. TOR: Sonja Weidenfelder (2) (Kelly O’Hanlon, Mary Claire Geneau), 17:03

PENALTIES:

Daniela Falconio (StFX) body checking, 1: 24;
Rebecca Danford (TOR) body checking, 6:10;
Sara Kaljuvee (StFX) hooking, 13:00;
Daniela Falconio (StFX) hooking, 17:28;
Jenna Downey (StFX) cross checking, 18:06

OVERTIME

SCORING:

5. StFX: Erin Brophy (3) (Taylor Dale, Jenna Downey), 6:56 (PP)

PENALTIES:

Marie McLaughlin (TOR) interference, 5:13

GOALS (by period)
StFX: 0-1-1-1:3
TOR: 0-1-1-0:2

SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
StFX: 11-7-8-0:30
TOR: 5-6-13-2:26

POWER PLAY:
StFX: 1-4
TOR: 0-4

GOALTENDERS
StFX: Katie Greenway (W, 2-0, 19 shots, 24 saves, 66:56)
TOR: Nicole Kesteris (L, 1-2 23 shots, 27 saves, 66:56)

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
StFX: Erin Brophy
TOR: Sonja Weidenfelder

REFEREE: Lacey Senuk

LINESMEN: Lysanne Patry, Jennifer McMahon

ATTENDANCE: 515

SCHEDULE, RESULTS & POOL STANDINGS
Pool A GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
1. Montreal 2 1 1 0 0 6 3 5
2. Toronto 2 0 1 1 0 4 5 3
3. UBC 2 0 0 1 1 7 9 1

Pool B GP W OTW OTL L GF GA PTS
1. Calgary 2 1 1 0 0 9 4 5
2. StFX 2 0 1 0 1 2 5 2
3. Queen’s 2 0 0 2 0 5 7 2

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 7
13:00 Pool B #1: Calgary 4, StFX 0
19:30 Pool A #1: Montreal 1, Toronto 0 (OT)

Friday, March 8
16:00 Pool B #2: St FX 2, Queen’s 1 (OT)
19:30 Pool A #2: Toronto 5, UBC 4 (SO)

Saturday, March 9
16:00 Pool B #3: Calgary 5, Queen’s 4 (OT)
19:30 Pool A #3: Montreal 5, UBC 3

Sunday, March 10
12:00 UBC 2, Queen’s 1
15:30 StFX 3, Toronto 2 (OT)
19:00 Montreal 3, Calgary 2