Saskatoon, SK – The No. 5 seeded STFX X-Women fell 6-1 to the No. 4 seeded Waterloo Warriors in the first quarterfinal game of the GFL U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship at Merlis Belsher Place, hosted on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan.
Third year Warriors forward Tatum James scored three goals as Waterloo tallied five goals in the third period to skate to the victory in what was their first appearance at the national championship in their team history.
The Warriors opened the scoring just 33 seconds into the game on the first shot of the afternoon as James handcuffed STFX goaltender Amaya Giraudier on a shot that trickled in past her pads.
The X-Women had a power play midway through the period that generated shots on net, but they couldn't solve Warriors netminder Mikayla Schnarr.
Schnarr also turned aside a shot by X forward Kamdyn Switzer as she had a good scoring chance for STFX on a short break inside the Warriors defence.
Both teams exchanged power play opportunities late in the period and the X-Women had several key shots on goal, but the score remained 1-0 in favor of the OUA champion Warriors after 20 minutes.
STFX lead 9-7 in shots in the opening period.
The X-Women pressured for the equalizer in the second period.
About five minutes in, James had another key scoring chance for the Warriors from in tight, but was stopped by Giraudier. A flurry of activity ensued in front of the X net but the puck stayed out.
STFX captain Maggy Burbidge had a key chance for X at the other end of the ice a minute later but was denied.
It was a physical second period but both teams stayed out of the penalty box until just over a minute left to play when X defense Bree MacPherson was tagged with a double minor for head contact.
The Warriors pressured on the power play late in the period but Giraudier stood her ground and kept the period scoreless.
Waterloo held a 10-6 shot advantage in the middle period as they hung onto their slim one-goal lead through 40 minutes of play.
X-Women head coach Ben Berthiaume noted after the game, "I felt that for the most part through two periods we were pretty good. It was an unfortunate way to start with that goal at the beginning. We had some good scoring chances, especially in the first, and we held our own in the first and second period."
The Warriors power play carried over to the third period but they were unable to convert a goal.
They did find the back of the net at the 7:36 mark, however, when Sarah Bestic streaked down the left side into the X zone and fired a high shot over the glove of Giraudier.
Three minutes later Keiara Raitt almost made it a three-goal lead for the Warriors but she was stopped by Giraudier from in tight. Waterloo kept on the pressure and James scored her second goal of the game at 11:33, depositing a rebound into the open X cage after Giraudier made the initial save on net.
Down 3-0 midway through the third period proved to be an uphill battle for the X-Women.
STFX went on the powerplay with four minutes left in the period but after pulling Giraudier for the extra attacker, a turnover gave the Warriors an empty net chance and James scored her hat trick marker to make it a 4-0 lead.
Ireland McCloskey put the X-Women on the board with 2:40 left in the period as Burbidge found her in the slot while still on the power play and she converted a quick shot past Schnarr.
The Warriors then added another empty net goal from Carly Orth and a power play marker from Madison Pritchard to take the commanding 6-1 lead late in the game, all with under three minutes to play.
Final shots were 28-21 in favour of the Warriors as Schnarr had 20 saves in the winning effort. Giraudier had 22 saves for X at the other end.
James earned player of the game honours for the Warriors, while Burbidge received the same nod for the X-Women.
"To me it just seemed like we ran out of gas in the third," said Berthiaume. "Especially with a lot of players playing through a lot of different things, and it was an unfortunate way to end it."
With the win, Waterloo advances to the semifinal game to be played Saturday at 4:00 pm against the winner of Concordia and Saskatchewan.
The X-Women will play the losing team from that game on Saturday morning at 10:00 am in the consolation semifinal as they are now out of medal contention and relegated to the consolation side of the tournament bracket.
Coach Berthiaume commented, "We need to take care of ourselves over the next day, but we are at the national tournament here with a young team that we want to give some good experience to. It is tough to climb back on the horse but we have to get ready, we have another game to play."
All games will be broadcast live on CBC Sports digital platforms, with links available at www.usports.ca/en/broadcast.
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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics
GFL U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship Schedule
All times local GMT time
Quarterfinals:
G1 Thurs, March 14 at 1 pm: No. 5 STFX vs. No. 4 Waterloo
G2 Thurs, March 14 at 7 pm: No. 1 Concordia at No. 8 Saskatchewan
G3 Fri, March 15 at 1 pm: No. 7 Montréal vs. No. 2 UBC
G4 Fri, March 15 at 7 pm: No. 6 Toronto vs. No. 3 UNB
Consolation Semifinals:
G5 Sat, March 16 at 10 am: StFX vs Loser G2
G6 Sat, March 16 at 1pm: Loser G3 vs Loser G4
Semifinals:
G7 Sat, March 16 at 4 pm: Waterloo vs Winner G2
G8 Sat, March 16 at 7 pm: Winner G3 vs Winner G4
Medal Round:
G9 Sun, March 17 at 11 am, Consolation Final: Winner G5 vs Winner G6
G10 Sun, March 17 at 3 pm, Bronze Medal: Loser G7 vs Loser G8
G11 Sun, March 17 at 6 pm, Gold Medal: Winner G7 vs Winner G8
Seed, Team, Standing, Regular Season Record, Playoff Record
1. Concordia Stingers (RSEQ champions, 25-0, 4-2)
2. UBC Thunderbirds (CW champions, 24-4, 4-2)
3. UNB Reds (AUS champions: 21-7, 5-1)
4. Waterloo Warriors (OUA champions, 18-10, 5-1)
5. STFX X-Women (AUS finalists, 21-7, 3-4)
6. Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA finalists, 19-9, 4-3)
7. Montréal Carabins (RSEQ finalists, 13-12, 3-3)
8. Saskatchewan Huskies (hosts, 19-9, 1-2)