Women’s Hockey
Quarter-final 3: Bisons advance to semifinals with 4-0 shutout over Gaels
LONDON, Ont. (U SPORTS) – Goals from six different players lifted the Concordia Stingers into the semifinals with an 8-1 win over the St. Francis Xavier X-Women in quarter-final action on Friday night at the U SPORTS Women’s Hockey Championship.
“They’re playing 60 minutes of hockey,” said Stingers head coach Julie Chu. “That’s the biggest compliment I could give to our players. They honestly come to work every day – those guys, they expect the most out of themselves. They expect at the end of the game to go down and block shots. We got a two-pad stack, we got one in the chest, but they want to make sure that they’re not letting their teammates down by giving anything but their best. That’s why at the end of the game, in an 8-1 game, they’re still sprawling out for blocked shots.”
Concordia will move on to face Manitoba in the semifinals on Saturday, while St. Francis Xavier will face Queen’s in the consolation semifinals earlier in the day.
“I think the biggest thing for us, and we talked about, is not to quit and keep pushing,” said X-Women head coach Ben Berthiaume. “I think one thing I would like to see a little better, we’ve got to be better in our D zone. That’s something that we were a lot better at all year, and even in the playoffs. I thought at times we didn’t do a good job in the defensive zone, and if you give a team like Concordia those opportunities, they’re going to score.”
The Stingers’ eight goals were provided by Vyckie Gelinas, Claudia Dubois, Lidia Fillion, Keriann Schofield, who recorded one goal each, while Sophie Gagnon and Marie-Pascale Bernier both scored two. Kate Gotaas tallied the X-Women’s sole goal of the night.
Captain Marie-Joëlle Allard was named Concordia’s player of the game, while defender Lindsey Donovan was St. Francis Xavier’s player of the night.
Eight minutes into the first frame, the Stingers put their first goal on the board. Allard, Stéphanie Lalancette, and Gelinas displayed their chemistry, each picking up the other’s puck to help Gelinas score.
WHKY | And that's another one! Lidia Fillion finds the back of the net to give @The_Stingers a 5-1 lead, with just over five minutes still remaining in the period #ChampSZN pic.twitter.com/OPoVGBbdhh
— U SPORTS Hockey (@USPORTS_Hockey) March 17, 2018
Concordia didn’t wait long to add to the scoreboard as Bernier netted the team’s second goal of the game just before the midway point of the opening period.
“I had other players who helped me to score also,” said Bernier. “It’s not only me. I had a good pass, and I was in the right spot—it was good plays.”
Just over five minutes into the second period, Dubois netted the Stingers’ third of the game.
StFX responded a little more than two minutes later, as Gotaas hit Santana Gravelle’s rebound out of the air and past Katherine Purchase.
Bernier netted her second of the night with about 11 minutes to go in the second frame. The Stingers would go on to score twice more before the end of the period, with Fillion and Schofield each netting a goal to make it 6-1 for Concordia after 40 minutes.
Two more goals in the third would make it an 8-1 final in favour of the Stingers.
Concordia will play in the 7:00 pm ET / 4:00 p.m. PT semifinal tomorrow, while St. Francis Xavier will play in the consolation semi at 1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. PT.
Players of the Game
Concordia: Marie-Joëlle Allard
St. Francis Xavier: Lindsey Donovan