Huskies make history with bronze finish
5th place: 2016 CIS women's hockey championship
Huskies make history with bronze finish
March 20, 2016
CALGARY (CIS) – The Saint Mary's Huskies have made its programs history but claiming its first ever bronze medal after defeating the No. 1 Guelph Gryphons 3-1 in the bronze medal game of the CIS Women's Hockey Championships on Sunday, March 20.
CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wice/index
After ranking No. 1 coming into the tournament, Guelph ties its programs highest finish at the tournament in fourth. The last time Guelph finished fourth was in 1998. This is Saint Mary's first medal in its programs history and first national championship tournament since its program was reinstated five years ago. The Huskies last appearance at the national tournament was in 2010 where they finished fourth – losing in the bronze medal game to Laurier 4-0.
"It feels great; yesterday we somewhat feel we deserved a better fate," said Huskies head coach Chris Larade. "To have the first medal for our program is big I think we got a little boost in energy this morning (despite the quick turnaround) in our women's basketball team winning a bronze at their national tournament."
The Huskies were led by forward Caitlyn Manning, who put home the game winner and picked up an assist on the Huskies third goal. Shots were exchanged back and fourth throughout the game, Valerie Lamenta stopped 20 of 22 fired her way, while Rebecca Clark turned away 28 of 29.
Saint Mary's opened the scoring just over a minute into the first period when Nicole Blanche beat Lamenta on a pass from Caitlyn Schell. The Huskies scored a reassurance goal late in the third period off of the stick of Caitlyn Manning, one minute later Guelph cut into Saint Mary's lead when Christine Grant beat Clark with a high wrist shot. Saint Mary's held on to the win with a empty netter.
"It's disappointing for our girls that they couldn't come away with a win today," explained Gryphons head coach Rachel Flanagan. "We gave our best effort. We knew we were in for a tough game against a tough team. It's exciting in women's hockey the parody in our league across the country now is unbelievable."
Leigh Shilton received the player of the game for the Gryphons, while Huskies goaltender Clark was awarded the player of the game for her 28 save game.
SCORING SUMMARY
FIRST PERIOD
1.SMU Nicole Blanche (1) (Caitlyn Schell), 1:49
PENALTIES:
Polak (SMU) tripping, 6:41;
Harrietha (SMU) hooking, 17:22.
SECOND PERIOD
PENALTIES:
Shilton (GUE) delay of game, 4:18;
Worndl (SMU) slashing, 11:39;
Grant (GUE) roughing, 11:39;
Gribbons (GUE) bodychecking, 12:49.
THIRD PERIOD
2.SMU Caitlyn Manning (1) (Mary Worndl, Beatrice Harrietha), 15:21
1.GUE Christine Grant (1) (Leigh Shilton, Carly Gray), 16:35
3.SMU Breanna Lanceleve (1) (Caitlyn Manning, Carly Gray), 19:36
PENALTIES:
Lanceleve (SMU) interference, 2:01;
Shilton (GUE) hooking, 10:55.
GOALS (by period)
GUE 0-0-1: 1
SMU 1-0-2: 3
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
GUE 11-8-10: 29
SMU 7-10-6: 23
POWER PLAY:
GUE 0-3
SMU 0-3
GOALTENDERS
GUE – Valerie Lamenta (L, 1-1, 22 shots, 20 saves, 2 GA, 59:03)
SMU – Rebecca Clark (W, 2-1, 29 shots, 28 saves, 1 GA, 60:00)
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
GUE: Leigh Shilton
SMU: Rebecca Clark
ATTENDANCE: 472
REFEREE: Vanessa Stratton
LINESMEN: Jacquie Fitz, Kaylah Kreiger
START: 8:44
END: 10:244
LENGTH: 2:00
SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times MOUNTAIN TIME)
Thursday,March 17
11:00 Quarter-final 1: Guelph 3, St. Thomas 0
15:00 Quarter-final 2: UBC 4, McGill 2
Friday, March 18
11:00 Consolation 1: St. Thomas 2, McGill 1
15:00 Quarter-final 3: Saint Mary's 1 Western 0
19:00 Quarter-final 4: Calgary 0, Montreal 4
Saturday, March 19
10:00 Consolation 2: Western 1, Calgary 3
14:00 Semifinal 1: Guelph1, UBC 2
17:30 Semifinal 2: Saint Mary's 2, Montreal 3
Sunday, March 20
8:45 Bronze Guelph 1, Saint Mary's 3
9:00 5th-place game: Calgary 4, St. Thomas 0
12:30 Final No. 4 UBC vs. No. 2 Montreal (Sportsnet 360 & TVA Sports 2 / www.CIS-SIC.tv) *