“I really liked our offensive play”
On Friday night the Gee-Gees women’s hockey team faced off against the Laurier Golden Hawks. Both teams coming off prior shutouts and great games. The Gee-Gees on the season were 4-4, and the Golden Hawks 5-2, in an East vs West OUA battle.
The Golden Hawks were granted a power play from an early Gees penalty. It took less than 30 seconds into the game for the Golden Hawks’ Clara Chisholm to score past Mireille Kingsley, putting the Gees down 1-0 early.
It would not be for long as Alyssa Biesenthal made a fantastic solo move across the crease just slipping it by Kayla Renaud to tie it up 1-1. Only a minute later Gees defender Maëlle Laplante would catch a bouncing puck, beating Renaud once again to give the Gees the lead, part of the flurry of action in the first five minutes of the game. 10 minutes into the period, Kingsley showcased her skills one-on-one against a Golden Hawks break, and would get a sneaky poke check to knock away the threat.
The scoring resumed eight minutes into the second period, when the Gees’ Suyeon Eom would send an ambitious slap shot right through Rennaud’s five-hole, increasing the Gees lead to 3-1. The Golden Hawks would be granted their third power play from the Gees having too many players on the ice. 30 seconds into the power play, the Golden Hawks Abby Glandon would catch a rebound and score, making the score 3-2.
The Gees would get their first power play late in the second period from a Golden Hawks cross-check. With six seconds left on the power play, Gees defender Reece Mepham slotted it top shelf on Renaud’s short side to put them up 4-2.
The Gees were putting immense offensive pressure on the Golden Hawks in the last period of the game, but would be stopped several times by Renaud. It would be nine minutes into the third period where the Gees would capitalize on a poor defensive pass from the Golden Hawks, intercepted by Laplante and putting it through Raynaud’s five hole for her second of the game, giving the Gees a comfy lead 5-2 late in the game.
The Gees would have to defend yet another Golden Hawks power play, who were 2-for-3 on the night. They successfully fended off the power play, maintaining their lead. Following the end of the power play, Gees forward Molly Heighington would jump on a loose puck in the crease, scoring once against making the score 6-2, and icing the game.
That would do it for the Gees, taking down the 5-2 Golden Hawks, now 5-3. Absolute dominance from the Gees outclassing the Golden Hawks in their first matchup in over 10 years. The Gees outshot the Golden Hawks 42-32. Gillian Warren had herself a game, facilitating the offence, racking up two assists. And Kingsley had yet another great performance saving 30 shots.
Gee-Gees head coach Ali Domenico had great things to say post game, “I thought there were a few contributing factors to our game on Friday. We played a really complete game against Laurier. I really liked our offensive play — we did a great job involving all five players, movement on and off the puck, and get players and bodies to the net. We had some very timely saves that allowed us to hold our lead as well.”
