Photo: Richard A. Whittaker
A shift in attitude followed the Gee-Gees back to Ottawa after disappointing performances on the road the previous weekend. After losing two consecutive games in their first week of preseason action, the women’s hockey team said ‘no more’. Hungry for a win, the team amped up their performance, resulting in two colossal victories.
On Sept. 26, the Gee-Gees team played their fourth exhibition game, this time at home against the Ryerson Rams. The team came away with a 8-2 win. Two players stood out particularly for the Gees, forward Shanie Deschatelets had two goals and an assist, and defenceman Mélodie Bouchard added a goal and two assists.
The Gee-Gees earned their second win the following day, shutting out the York Lions by a score of 4-0.
Coming out of the woodwork was rookie Roxanne Rioux, who scored two goals, while veteran players Cindy Laurin and Violane Houle netted the rest. Between the pipes, Maude Lévesque-Ryan worked for her shutout with 29 saves.
“We were able to generate lots of scoring opportunities and that’s a good sign at this time of the season,” said Yanick Evola, head coach of the Gee-Gees. “We show lots of improvement from week-to-week and that’s the main goal right now.”
The team is now eagerly hoping to extend their winning streak, in hopes that the momentum will rub off when the season officially start on Oct. 16.
With one last exhibition game left to play against the nationally sixth-ranked Queen’s Gaels on Oct. 3, that chance might just present itself if they continue to play with such grit.
A two-week hiatus will follow the preseason, which gives the team an opportunity to go back to the drawing board and iron out any problems they saw in exhibition play.
The message remains loud and clear, as their coach puts it, the Gees “come to compete every day.”
