Ridgebacks wrap up 2016 with win over Voyageurs
Women's hockey team ends first half of the season with a weekend sweep
The UOIT women’s hockey team have finished the 2016 portion of their season with a 5-4-3 record and a sweep in their final weekend of conference play.
After a 4-3 overtime victory on Nov. 26 at Ryerson, the Ridgebacks returned home to defeat the Laurentian Voyageurs by the same score.
Chelsea Ball scored a pair to finish the weekend with four points, including Sunday’s game-winning goal.
Laurentian had the better start on Sunday at the Campus Ice Centre as Mariah Beckett scored her first OUA goal 11:39 into the first period. It wasn’t pretty, but after being pulled down on a delayed penalty, she slid into UOIT goalie Briar Hughes with the puck under her, with the result being the opening goal of the game.
The next goal didn’t come until Jessica Staats made it a two-goal game with the ice still wet – just 23 seconds into the second period.
Luckily for UOIT, the Voyageurs had Emma Leger take a hooking penalty 5:04 into the second. The Ridgebacks capitalized and started building momentum as Natasha Tymcio
scored her first of the season on a slap shot from the point through the crowd in front of Laura Deller.
Just two minutes later, towards the end of another powerplay, Ball took the puck from centre ice and after beating a pair of Laurentian defenders put the puck top shelf to tie the game 2-2 with 12:50 to go in the second.
The Ridgebacks maintained their momentum after killing off a penalty as Sam Forchielli beat the Laurentian defencemen, cut cross-crease and slide the puck under Deller to give UOIT their first lead of the game.
Neither team scored again until, with Laurentian’s goalie pulled, Ball potted an empty-net goal.
Hughes made 21 saves in the victory for UOIT.
The next action for UOIT won’t be until the new year when they travel north to take on Nipissing on Jan. 7 and Laurentian on Jan. 8.