Normore & Pitts earn two more victories with Team Canada

Normore & Pitts earn two more victories with Team Canada

Team Canada picked up two victories in two consecutive days in women's hockey action at the World University Games in Trentino, Italy. StFX forward Alex Normore had two assists in their 5-0 shutout over Russia on Thursday, then added a goal in thier 13-0 domination over Great Britain on Friday. X-Women defense Jenna Pitts is also a Team Canada member.

Winter Universiade: Women's hockey

Canada resumes domination, beats Great Britain 13-0

Dec. 13, 2013

TRENTINO, Italy (CIS) – Led once again by Gabrielle Davidson from McGill University, the Canadian women's hockey team resumed its domination at the 26th Winter Universiade on Friday afternoon, improving to 3-0 at the biennial tournament with a convincing 13-0 victory over Great Britain.

After three of five preliminary contests, the reigning two-time FISU champions have outscored their opponents 39-0. They opened their title defence on Tuesday with a resounding 21-0 win against Spain and followed up with a comfortable 5-0 shutout versus Russia on Thursday.

The CIS all-star squad has also outshot its rivals 230 to 13 since the start of the competition, including an 80-2 advantage against Spain, 56-10 over Russia and a mind-boggling 94-1 today against the British team.

Davidson once again paced the offence in Game 3 with a hat-trick and a pair of helpers. The super sophomore from Pte. Claire, Que., who leads CIS at the December break with 15 goals in only 10 league games, has already racked up 12 points (8-4-12) in three contests in Trentino, including a six-point effort in Tuesday's opener (4-2-6). 

Cara Wooster, a University of Saskatchewan graduate who hails from Luseland, Sask., chipped in with two goals and two helpers, while UBC's Tatiana Rafter (2-1-3), Calgary's Jenna Smith (2-1-3), Guelph's Amanda Parkins (2-1-3) and McGill's Brittney Fouracres (0-3-3) tallied three points apiece.

Rounding out the scoring with singles were team captain Kim Deschênes of the reigning CIS champion Montreal Carabins, Jessica Pinkerton of Guelph and Alex Normore of StFX.

Following a 10-save shutout against Russia, Western goaltender Kelly Campbell earned a second straight start in front of the Canadian net and only had to stop one shot to register the whitewash.

At the other end of the ice, British netminder Nicole Jackson stood on her head in a losing effort turning aside 81 pucks, including 35 in the opening period as she held Canada to a single goal in the first 17 minutes and three going into the intermission.

"Once again, I felt like this was a step forward for our group," said Team Canada head coach Howie Draper, from the University of Alberta. "We continue to move the puck better, we moved our feet better, our net presence was better - it was fun. We made some change because Great Britain played well defensively and have a good goalie, but our team adjusted quickly, which was good and makes it easy.  It's a pleasure to coach this group."

After three goals in the first period and four in the second, the Canadians seemed to get stronger as the game went on, scoring six in the final frame to sink their gritty opponents.

Parkins, a native of Kitchener, Ont., opened the scoring 6:23 into the affair with her third of the tourney. She would be in on each of the three goals in the first, scoring again later in the period after assisting on a Rafter tally.

The Red and White then put the game in cruise control in the second with four goals in a span of 5:17. Davidson notched her sixth of the Games, followed by Normore, Wooster and Pinkerton.

In the third frame, Deschênes, who also captains the Carabins and is the only returning member from the 2011 Universiade gold-winning team, notched her first of the 2013 tournament at the 1:26 mark.

Smith and Davidson, with a pair each, and Rafter, with her second of the game, also found the back of the net before the final buzzer.

Canada gets back on the ice Sunday at 2 p.m. EST (8 p.m. Trentino) against the United States (2-0). The Americans defeated the Russians 4-2 in their first game and then barely got by the Brits, 2-1. They face Japan (2-0) later on Friday in a battle of undefeated teams.

GAME NOTES: Canada picked up its first penalty of the Universiade when Smith was sent off for hooking halfway through the second period... The Canadian power play went 0-for-2 and is just 1-7 over the three games... Canada, which won the inaugural FISU tournament in 2009 in China and repeated two years ago in Turkey, is now 17-0 all-time at the tourney and has outscored its opponents by a 136-10 margin overall.

Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/winter/2013/index
Trentino 2013 website: http://www.universiadetrentino.org/en  
                                                                                                                                   
TEAM CANADA SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times local / 6 hours ahead of EST)

Dec. 10 (20:00): Canada 21, Spain 0
Dec. 12 (16:00): Canada 5, Russia 0
Dec. 13 (12:00): Canada 13, Great Britain 0
Dec. 15 (20:00): Canada vs. USA
Dec. 16 (16:00): Canada vs. Japan
Dec. 18 (16:00): Semifinal #1 (3 vs. 2)
Dec. 18 (20:00): Semifinal #2 (4 vs. 1)
Dec. 19 (16:00): 5th place
Dec. 20 (16:00): Bronze
Dec. 20 (20:00): Final

SCORING SUMMARY (official boxscore: BOXSCORE)
 
Canada 13, Great Britain 0

FIRST PERIOD
 
SCORING:
 
1. CAN Amanda Parkins (3) (Katia Clément-Heydra, Tatiana Rafter), 6:23
2. CAN Tatiana Rafter (2) (Amanda Parkins, Kimberley Wong), 17:26
3. CAN Amanda Parkins (4) (Brittney Fouracres, Katia Clément-Heydra), 18:21
 
PENALTIES:

Lauren Summers (GBR) tripping, 7:56;
Natalie Davies (GBR) hooking, 13:37.
 
SECOND PERIOD
 
SCORING:
 
4. CAN Gabrielle Davidson (6) (Cara Wooster), 10:04
5. CAN Alex Normore (2) (Christi Capozzi), 10:51
6. CAN Cara Wooster (3) (Jenna Smith), 13:44
7. CAN Jessica Pinkerton (3) (Gabrielle Davidson, Brittney Fouracres), 15:21

PENALTIES:
 
Jenna Smith (CAN) hooking, 7:58.
 
THIRD PERIOD
 
SCORING:

8. CAN Kim Deschênes (1) (Gabrielle Davidson, Josianne Legault), 1:26
9. CAN Jenna Smith (2) (Kim Deschênes, Caitlin MacDonald), 4:32
10. CAN Gabrielle Davidson (7) (Cara Wooster), 8:30
11. CAN Jenna Smith (3) (unassisted), 11:11
12. CAN Tatiana Rafter (3) (Cara Wooster), 18:44
13. CAN Gabrielle Davidson (8) (Brittney Fouracres), 19:41

PENALTIES:
 
(none)
 
GOALS (by period)
CAN: 3-4-6: 13
GBR: 0-0-0: 0
 
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
CAN: 38-23-33: 94
GBR: 0-0-1: 1
 
POWER PLAY:
CAN: 0-2
GBR: 0-1
 
GOALTENDERS
CAN – Kelly Campbell (W, 2-0, 1 shot, 1 save, 0 GA, 60:00)
GBR – Nicole Jackson (L, 94 shots, 81 saves, 13 GA, 60:00)
 
REFEREE: Maija Elina Kontturi (FIN)
 
LINESMEN: Jenna Marika Puhakka (FIN), Jackie Spresser (USA)

ATTENDANCE: -

START: 12:00
END: 13:58
LENGTH: 1:58

PRELIMINARY ROUND STANDINGS (each team plays 5 games)

GP       W         OTW    OTL     L          GF       GA       PTS
1. Canada        3          3          0          0          0          39        0          9        
2. Japan           2          2          0          0          0          16        1          6
3. USA             2          2          0          0          0          6          3          6
4. Russia          2          0          0          0          2          2          9          0
5. Spain           2          0          0          0          2          0          27        0
6. Great Britain3          0          0          0          3          2          25        0

Scoring system:
3 points for a win in regulation
2 points for a win in overtime or shootout
1 point for a loss in overtime or shootout

Legend: W (win), OTW (OT win), OTL (OT loss), L (loss)


Canada blanks Russia, improves to 2-0

Dec. 12, 2013

TRENTINO, Italy (CIS) – The Canadian women's hockey team improved to 2-0 at the Winter Universiade thanks to a comfortable 5-0 win over Russia, Thursday afternoon.

Canada, which won the inaugural FISU tournament in 2009 in China and repeated two years ago in Turkey, opened its title defence on Tuesday with a resounding 21-0 victory against Spain. The Canucks are now 16-0 all-time at the biennial tourney and have outscored their opponents by a 123-10 margin overall.

Five different players scored against the Russians, including Laura Brooker of Wilfrid Laurier University five minutes and 14 seconds into the contest, Josianne Legault of Montreal 1:20 into the middle frame, as well as Amanda Parkins of Guelph, Gabrielle Davidson of McGill and rearguard Christi Capozzi of UBC in the third.

It was Davidson's fifth marker of the competition following a four-goal performance versus Spain. Brooker, whose early game-winner came on the power play, also had a hat-trick on Tuesday.

Legault (1-1-2) finished the match with two points, as did Alex Normore of StFX and Katia Clément-Heydra of McGill, who tallied two assists apiece. 

Making her first Universiade start, Western goaltender Kelly Campbell made 10 saves to earn the shutout. At the other end of the ice, Anna Prugova was sensational in a losing cause, turning aside 51 of 56 pucks fired her way.

Canada outshot its rival 18-3 in the first stanza, 15-4 in the second and 23-3 in the third but was still up by only three goals with just over two minutes to go in regulation. Davidson and Capozzi then scored 61 seconds apart to put the game away.

"I felt that we played better as a team today, with better puck movement," said Team Canada head coach Howie Draper from the University of Alberta. "Defensively, we held up and responded to increased pressure from the Russian team. Kelly (Campbell) was solid. Despite the modest quantity of shots, they had some good opportunities to score and she was sharp when tested.

"I'm happy with the way the team is shaping up - we need more consistency but it's a good step forward."

Canada doesn't get much rest before its third of five round-robin contests, Friday against Great Britain (0-2). Puck drop is set for 6 a.m. EST (noon Trentino).

After dropping its opener 10-1 to Japan on Tuesday, Great Britain gave the Americans all they could handle on Thursday before falling 2-1.

GAME NOTES: Canada has yet to be penalized after two games... The Canadian power play went 1-for-5 against Russia... Not a single penalty was called Tuesday in the game between Canada and Spain. 

Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/winter/2013/index
Trentino 2013 website: http://www.universiadetrentino.org/en  
                                                                                                                                   
TEAM CANADA SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times local / 6 hours ahead of EST)

Dec. 10 (20:00): Canada 21, Spain 0
Dec. 12 (16:00): Canada 5, Russia 0
Dec. 13 (12:00): Canada vs. Great Britain
Dec. 15 (20:00): Canada vs. USA
Dec. 16 (16:00): Canada vs. Japan
Dec. 18 (16:00): Semifinal #1 (3 vs. 2)
Dec. 18 (20:00): Semifinal #2 (4 vs. 1)
Dec. 19 (16:00): 5th place
Dec. 20 (16:00): Bronze
Dec. 20 (20:00): Final

SCORING SUMMARY (official boxscore: BOXSCORE)
 
Canada 5, Russie 0

FIRST PERIOD
 
SCORING:
 
1. CAN Laura Brooker (4) (Alex Normore), 5:14 PP
 
PENALTIES:

Anna Schukina (RUS) body checking, 3:58;
Svetlana Litvintseva (RUS) hooking, 8:36.
 
SECOND PERIOD
 
SCORING:
 
2. CAN Josianne Legault (3) (Sophie Brault), 1:20

PENALTIES:
 
Zoya Polunina (RUS) hooking, 2:05;
Yulia Sadykova (RUS) hooking, 8:05.
 
THIRD PERIOD
 
SCORING:

3. CAN Amanda Parkins (2) (Jessica Pinkerton, Katia Clément-Heydra), 0:45
4. CAN Gabrielle Davidson (5) (Kim Deschênes, Josianne Legault), 17:46
5. CAN Christi Capozzi (1) (Katia Clément-Heydra, Alex Normore), 18:47

PENALTIES:
 
Oxana Afonina (RUS) slashing, 10:51.
 
GOALS (by period)
CAN: 1-1-3: 5
RUS: 0-0-0: 0
 
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
CAN: 18-15-23: 56
RUS: 3-4-3: 10
 
POWER PLAY:
CAN: 1-5
RUS: 0-0
 
GOALTENDERS
CAN – Kelly Campbell (W, 1-0, 10 shots, 10 saves, 0 GA, 60:00)
RUS – Anna Prugova (L, 56 shots, 51 saves, 5 GA, 60:00)
 
REFEREE: Marie Tjana Picavet (FRA)
 
LINESMEN: Lorna Beresford (GBR), Jackie Spresser (USA)

ATTENDANCE: -

START: 16:00
END: 17:58
LENGTH: 1:58