“Those girls are paying attention, they’re showing up and putting in the effort, and we’re starting to see the results”
The Gee-Gees women’s hockey team hasn’t had an ideal start to the year. Just three months after being named the head coach of the team, Stefanie McKeough left for a PWHL assistant coaching role in Boston. And arguably more concerning, coming into Nov. 12’s game, the team had limped to a 2-5 record – a far cry from last year’s 16-7-2 season.
And coming into the Minto Sports Complex to face the Gees were the Concordia Stingers, the #1 ranked team in Canada. The Stingers had blown out the Gees 6-1 just over a week prior. The Gee-Gees were struggling, and this wasn’t a good matchup for the squad.
But there exists optimism in Gee-Gees country after that Nov. 12 game. The scoring would begin quickly. After a Stingers penalty, the Gees would have a power play just 12 minutes into the game — and they would make it count.
At the end of the powerplay, Amélia Laplante sent a crisp pass from the left faceoff circle below the goal line to Katherine Birkby. Birkby one-touched it to Arianne Gagnon in the slot, and Gagnon wired it past an outstretched Arianne LeBlanc in the Stinger’s goal.
Just a few minutes later, rookie defender Maëlle Laplante intercepted a Stinger’s rim on the left side of the zone. Laplante found herself pinched down past the hashmarks on the boards and threw the puck blindly at the net. It somehow found a hole in between LeBlanc’s pad and the post, and the Gees had themselves a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.
But just a minute into the second period, Concordia found the Gee’s defence flat-footed. Léonie Philbert sent a pass to Chloé Gendreau which she promptly sent flying over Gee-Gees netminder Mahika Sarrazin’s blocker. That would be the only scoring of the frame, but fans in attendance would have a sour taste in their mouths as the period came to a close.
With 13 minutes left in the frame, the Gees sent speedy forward Jade Todd on a breakaway. Todd was hauled down by the Stinger’s Rachel McIntyre as she made her way towards the goal, but instead of a penalty shot, the referee just called a tripping penalty — and the Gees couldn’t convert on the ensuing powerplay.
Sarrazin held the Gees in the game with a few more huge saves, including a sliding pad save as a Stinger cut across the net with about five minutes to go in the frame. The home team would again head to the dressing room with a lead, but one that was cut in half.
Just over four minutes into the period, Concordia had found the equalizer. Off of a failed Gees clearing attempt, Courtney Rice walked into the slot unopposed and sent a wrist shot over Sarrazin’s glove hand.
With about eight minutes left in the period, the Gee-Gees had started cycling the puck around in the Stingers’ end and looked to be threatening. Birkby found the rookie Laplante sneaking into the slot, and Laplante proceeded to kick the puck to her stick, spin around, and wire the puck over LeBlanc’s left shoulder.
With the two-goal effort, the Lévis, QC native is up to three goals and three assists in just seven games for the Gees. But Laplante denies that the adjustment period has been smooth for her. “It hasn’t been easy, but I adapt well.” The defender explained after the game. “We had some difficulties with the team [to start the year], but now we’ve got going, and I feel like that has helped me.”
But again, the Gees couldn’t hold off the Stingers. Laplante took an interference penalty with just over a minute left, following a collision that seemed indifferent from the dozens preceding it that game — that no penalties resulted from. On the ensuing powerplay, Emmy Fectau found space over Sarrazin’s right shoulder, popping her red Biosteel water bottle off of the top of the goal.
Concordia’s star winger would find the twine again just 20 seconds later. After Alyssa Biesenthal was tangled up and tripped, Fectau skated in on goal with no grey jersey in the vicinity and wired her fifth goal of the season past Sarrazin. The Gee-Gees were staring up at a deficit on the scoreboard for the first time all afternoon and would have just one minute to overcome it.
But Laplante showed why she was trusted by coaches Greg Bowles and Jennifer Wakefield to get right back on the ice. She sent a low shot from the point that found LeBlanc’s left pad, and Florence Lessard tapped in the rebound from her planted position just outside the blue paint. The game would head to 4-on-4 overtime.
After a scoreless first overtime period, the teams would regroup and return to the ice, down a player each. After an errant pass by the Gees breaking out of their zone, Concordia would gain possession and set off towards the Gee-Gees end on a 2-on-2, rush, with Emilie Lavoie in possession. Gendreau slipped by her check, and Lavoie sent a saucer pass towards the right post, which Gendreau easily tapped by a sliding Sarrazin.
After a heart-rate-increasing-few-hours, the #1 ranked Stingers had finally put an end to the contest, much to the chagrin of the fans in attendance. Laplante discussed how the team could take positives out of the heartbreaking loss. “We lost the last game against them 6-1, so it’s a really big improvement from the last time we saw them.”
Co-Coach Bowles also discussed the positives he saw on the ice post-game. “It’s the attention to detail,” the longtime Gee-Gees assistant coach and head scout declared. “Since the change in leadership here, we had to break down a few of the elements and structures that we think are going to be the key enablers to winning hockey.”
“And that’s difficult, especially in the middle of the season to have that change and have to rebuild yourself. But my goodness, those girls are showing up and it’s an amazing group. They’re putting in the effort and we’re starting to see the results.”
The Gee-Gees will travel to take on McGill on Nov. 18, and return home Sunday, Nov. 19, for the Colonel By Classic. Both games will start at 3 p.m. Tickets start at $15 for the Sunday rivalry match at TD Place, and can be found here. You don’t want to miss this one – last year, returning Gee Kylie Lalonde ended the thriller with a goal deep into the overtime frame.
