Women fall to 0-3 on season against Toronto; need to win two on the road to keep season alive
For nine seconds on Thursday night, the Gee-Gees women’s hockey team held the lead against the visiting Toronto Varsity Blues in the opener of their three-game quarterfinal set. But those nine seconds were all they’d get.
It took almost 40 minutes of game time for either team to get on the board. Second-year Gees defender Maëlle Laplante would lead the charge to change that with the Gees on the power play and just over a minute remaining in the second period.
Laplante would take the puck end-to-end and dump off to Arianne Gagnon wide open in front of Lyla McKinnon in the Blues’ net, and Gagnon, with 13 goals already to her name from the regular season, would add her first of the playoffs.
Immediately after the puck dropped on the ensuing centre-ice faceoff though, the Gees would turn it over. Blues forward Ashley Delahey would respond on a beautiful half-tip, half-shot on a pass from her twin sister Taylor that made its way over Mireille Kingsley’s blocker.
The teams would enter their locker rooms moments later tied. Just 14 seconds off the third period’s centre-ice faceoff, the Blues would gain another odd-man rush and a Katy McKenna shot would find its way past Kingsley with help from a Gees defender’s stick.
The Blues would add another goal, this time from Aili McKeown, minutes later, and despite some five-star saves from Kingsley keeping the Gees in the game, the offence was unable to solve McKinnon 200 feet away. The Blues would add an empty-netter and take the game 4-1.
In three meetings this season, the Gees have scored just five goals on McKinnon. Thursday, they mustered just 16 shots, maybe more concerning considering they put up figures of 24 and 28 in their October matchups.
“I don’t even know if it’s necessarily our opponents as much as us,” said Gees head coach Ali Domenico after the game when asked what was making McKinnon and Toronto so hard to solve.
“We’re struggling to generate some offence right now, not getting enough pucks to the dangerous part of the ice. I think regardless of who we’re playing, that needs to be a focus for us. [McKinnon] has been solid, don’t get me wrong, but we need to carry pucks into [the dangerous areas] more.”
The Gees hit the ice Friday morning for a practice before they left for Toronto, where they need wins on Saturday and Sunday night to keep their season alive.
“We knew we needed to win two to win this series,” said Domenico. “[We weren’t] really drawing it up this way, but it is what it is … they’re must-win games and our effort needs to show that.”
Last year’s Gees finished their final season in the RSEQ with an 8-12-5 record. With a move to the OUA this offseason, their new confines have proven much friendlier. The Gees entered the playoffs sporting a 15-7-4 record.
“We’re super happy with our season so far,” said Domenico. “We’re such a young team too, there’s a lot of newness to our group … [but] we don’t feel like we’re done yet making our mark.”
