“obviously would love to get to a spot where we can capitalize when the game is on the line”
On Saturday evening in Waterloo, the Gees faced off against the strong Waterloo Warriors who are 6-2 on the season and were coming off a massive victory against Ontario Tech, 6-1. The Gees were also coming off an impressive win over the Laurier Golden Hawks, 6-2. They looked to beat both Waterloo schools in back-to-back games over the weekend.
The Warriors would have the first power play of the game from a hooking call on the Gees. Béatrice Bilodeau would have a break away on the penalty kill and would almost score short handed, but would be hooked from a Warriors player to even out the Warriors powerplay. Maëlle Laplante would take a long shot, but would be rejected by the bar.
With six minutes to play in the first, the Gees had an odd man rush, and it was star defensive player Laplante shooting it past Warriors goalie Kara Mark for the first goal of the game. Late in the first period, Mireille Kingsley had an incredible pad stretching save on a penalty kill from a fast shot from Waterloo point leader Carley Orth. At the end of the first, the Gees had the lead in what was a fast paced playstyle from both teams.
The Gees would get a power play opportunity early in the second period, but would be unsuccessful, and would give up a penalty putting the Warriors on the powerplay shortly after. With a little over 12 minutes remaining in the period, Gees defender Tori Evans would score late into a Gees powerplay from a great play between Sydney Lynch and Arianne Gagnon feeding Evans, putting them up 2-0.
Late in the second period, Orth had a great wrist shot from the wing, shooting it close side over Kingsley’s pad, making the score 2-1 from a great shorthanded goal. Only one minute later Warriors Madison Pritchard would catch a rebound and put it past Kingsley, evening the score 2-2 with little time remaining in the period.
The Gees got started up early in the final period, Molly Heighington carried the puck up the wing and centered it into Kate Maloney who would put it past Kara Mark to regain the lead, putting them up 3-2. However they would not have the lead for long as Warriors forward Tatum James would have a nice toe drag, beating Kinglsey on the shot, tying the game at 3-3.
The Gees would go on the penalty kill in the eighth minute of the final period. With five minutes remaining, Kingsley would be faced with a Warriors two player break, but would make a quick play to stop the shot cross crease pass. Late in the third period, the Gees would have a power play which would eventually carry into overtime as they could not capitalize on their shots.
In overtime the game got physical. During 3-on-3 overtime, the Gees had a pass intercepted, and turned into a breakaway, but would be shut down by Kingsley. The Gees would get a powerplay with less than four minutes remaining in overtime from a clutch penalty from Nikki McDonald in the Warriors defensive end which saved a goal. The powerplay would be unsuccessful.
When McDonald got back onto the ice, she would get a breakaway, scoring a nice backhanded goal from a great move on Kingsley, winning the game with revenge from a great golden goal.
It was a penalty mayhem on Saturday with a staggering 40 minutes of penalties from both teams combined. It was also a rough night of capitalizing on the power play, as the Gees would get the only goal from the powerplay — despite the 18 combined opportunities.
“[The] power play is definitely not where we want it to be,” said head coach Ali Domenico after the game. “It’s definitely something we’re continuing to look to improve. It’s good to score [power play] goals in back-to-back games but obviously would love to get to a spot where we can capitalize when the game is on the line — which we’re excited to continue to work towards.”
