Gee-Gees recover quickly from overtime loss Friday night, gain three out of four possible points at home
With a heartbreaking overtime loss on Friday night against the Laurier Golden Hawks, the Gee-Gees women’s hockey team was unable to make it four wins in a row — but did get back in the win column under 24 hours later with a win over the TMU Bold.
Midway through the first period of Friday’s game, Gees forward Alyssa Biesenthal would beat Laurier netminder Sarah Howell off a dish from Gillian Warren for her ninth goal of the season, and fifth in her last four games.
That early lead would stand all the way until the end of the second, where Laurier forward Emerie Maltby would even the score. In the third, the Gee-Gees thought they had retaken it, as a Maëlle Laplante point shot found its way past Howell.
The referee signalled no goal, and the teams played on for more than three minutes while the crowd sat debating about what they had just witnessed. Finally, the play stopped, and after a request from Gee-Gees head coach Ali Domenico, the four officials converged to discuss the call, resulting in a goal call.
“You could just tell by the way it hit the net,” Domenico said after the game, noting that both the players on the ice and the video they had on the bench agreed. The game clock was wound back, and the goal was eventually credited to Naomi Morin, who was deemed to have tipped Laplante’s shot.
The lead wouldn’t last for long though. After Gees defender Reece Mepham took a double-minor for head contact, the Laurier power play broke through via a goal from Olivia MacMillan. The teams would head to overtime.
The officiating struggles would continue into the extra frame. After an exciting start to the period with chances on either side, Biesenthal would put some moves on to evade Maltby as she entered the Golden Hawks zone.
Maltby would take the fourth-year’s feet out from under her, causing a turnover, and quickly after, a two-on-one, with MacMillan carrying the puck up the ice. MacMillan would slide the puck over to Maltby and the third-year centre would fire it past Mireille Kingsley to secure the win.
The Gee-Gees defeated Laurier 6-2 back in November, but Domenico saw a lot of differences in the team’s play the second time around. “Last time we played them, we played 60 minutes, definitely wasn’t the case tonight,” the head coach said.
Give it to them, they’re a really tough opponent and they played probably more minutes than we did in that game, start to finish
Saturday’s Game
The Gee-Gees would right the ship the following afternoon, when they welcomed the Bold at 3 p.m. With the Gees holding a narrow 3-2 lead thanks to goals from Florence Lessard, Warren, and Angélique Proulx, the game was still very much undecided as the third period progressed.
Warren would collect her own rebound to begin an offensive possession with just over three minutes left in the game. Just moments later, the puck would find its way back on her stick, and she dished to Biesenthal in the slot, who found twine over Laurier netminder Alexia Stratos’s blocker to make it five games in a row with a goal — six if you count the team’s exhibition game against McGill on Jan. 4.
With the goal, Biesenthal tied teammate Arianne Gagnon at ten on the season. The pair now sit tied for second in the conference in the stat, only trailing Ontario Tech centre Julia Jackson.
The Gee-Gees are back in action Saturday when they travel to take on the OUA-leading Nipissing Lakers. Back on Nov. 1, the Gee-Gees suffered an overtime loss to the Lakers in an exciting game — which also saw a controversial non-called trip in the overtime period.
Despite a powerful opponent next on the docket, Domenico isn’t focusing on the schedule, but rather, the team in her locker room.
“We honestly don’t focus much on our opponent at all, if I’m going to be completely honest. We’re really just trying to make sure [that] we figure out what our identity is to make a run in playoffs. We’ve set ourselves up pretty nice here for a good second half, but it’s making sure we string some games together and 60-minute performances are what we need for that.”
