Alberta shut out X-Women in national consolation semifinal
Alberta Pandas defeat STFX X-Women 3-0 in Saturday’s first consolation semi-final at the U SPORTS Women’s Hockey Championship tournament
Elmira, ON – The Alberta Pandas defeated the STFX X-Women 3-0 in Saturday's first consolation semi-final at the U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship tournament.
Both teams suffered quarterfinal upsets earlier in the tournament, with the 4th seeded X-Women falling 5-2 to 5th seeded Concordia Stingers, while 8th seeded Waterloo dropped the top seeded Pandas on Thursday.
The sides traded chances in the first 60 seconds as they settled into the game. Lainey Joyce had a big stop for STFX, blocking a shot in front of an open net to prevent a goal in the first five minutes.
The X-Women held an early advantage in shots but the stingy Pandas defense, which allowed just over a goal a game this season, accepted the pressure and replied in kind as the game went on.
Alberta, who entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed, got on the board 40 seconds before the first intermission, as Payton Laumbach entered the X-Women zone and fed an open Jadynn Morden, who made a nifty move before sliding the puck home.
The Pandas controlled play early in the second period, hemming the X-Women in their zone. STFX picked up the pace though, and the middle stanza saw an uptick in the physicality with plenty of board battles throughout.
The Pandas went on the powerplay with nine minutes gone, but some solid work from Ashlynn Garnett resulted in a scoring chance for STFX.
The X-Women went on their first powerplay of the game two minutes later, but a solo effort from Alberta's Natalie Kaiser provided the best scoring opportunity of the PK.
The Pandas continued to put pucks to the net, and it was Hayleigh Craig who increased their lead to 2-0, getting the last touch on a rebound after Abbey Bourdeaud'hui intercepted a pass in the STFX end and fired a shot home at 16:32 of the second period.
The X-Women came out buzzing in the third as they tried to get on the scoreboard but a pair of early Panda powerplays cut the momentum. Lizzy Lajoie made it 3-0 on the second powerplay, banging in a second chance rebound for Alberta at the 7:20 mark.
The X-Women pressed hard for the rest of the period to break the goose egg, but Panda's goalie Misty Rey held onto the shut out, picking up 36 saves along the way. Brooklyn Oakes had 18 saves for the X-Women.
Kamdyn Switzer, the AUS playoff MVP, was named player of the game for STFX while Rey got the nod for Alberta.
On a historical note, Alberta and STFX have played on three previous occasions at the national championship with Alberta winning all three games – 2010 (2-0, pool play), 2006 (3-2 SO, pool play) and 2006 (7-1, pool play).
The Pandas now move on to the consolation final on Sunday at 10:00 am EST against UBC to play for fifth place, in a rematch of the Canada West final. The X-Women are eliminated from further competition.
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Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics
2025 U SPORTS Women's Hockey Championship Schedule
All times local Eastern time
Thursday, March 20
Game 1 Quarterfinal: Concordia 5, STFX 2
Game 2 Quarterfinal: Alberta 0, Waterloo 3
Friday, March 21
Game 3 Quarterfinal: UBC 3 vs. Bishop's 4
Game 4 Quarterfinal: UNB 0, Toronto 2
Saturday, March 22
Game 5 Consolation Semifinal: STFX 0, Alberta 3
Game 6 Consolation Semifinal: UBC 5, UNB 1
Game 7 Semifinal: Concordia (5) vs Waterloo (8), 4:00 pm
Game 8 Semifinal: Bishop's (3) vs Toronto (2), 7:00 pm
Sunday, March 23
Game 9 Fifth Place Game: Alberta (1) vs UBC (6), 10:00 am
Game 10 Bronze Medal Game: Loser G7 vs Loser G8, 2:00 pm
Game 11 Gold Medal Game: Winner G7 vs Winner G8, 6:00 pm
Championship Website: https://en.usports.ca/championships/2024-2025/2024-25_wice/index
Championship Results: https://en.usports.ca/sports/wice/composite?d=2025-03-23
Championship Broadcasts: CBC Sports or CBC Gem or CBC YouTube