Skip to content

Voyageurs celebrate a weekend sweep

Women's hockey team earns wins over Ryerson and U of T
voyageurs
In a season of peaks and valleys, the Laurentian Voyageurs women's hockey team will head into yet another key matchup riding a high. The local squad picked up six big points over the weekend, sweeping past the Ryerson Rams (1-0) and University of Toronto Blues (4-1). File photo.

In a season of peaks and valleys, the Laurentian Voyageurs women's hockey team will head into yet another key matchup riding a high.

The local squad picked up six big points over the weekend, sweeping past the Ryerson Rams (1-0) and University of Toronto Blues (4-1), as goaltender Karen Collins was recognized as OUA Female Athlete of the Week.

The 5-10 sophomore stopped all 24 shots that she faced on Saturday, and was rewarded late in the game as Morgan McCann broke a scoreless tie with a power-play marker with just 3:16 showing on the clock.

Ellery Veerman and Taylor Weber drew assists on the goal, which settled what was an exciting defensive battle, with Ryerson netminder Sydney Authier taking the loss despite a 30-save effort.

Still, the Voyageurs found themselves behind the eight ball early on Sunday, as Taylor Day jammed home a puck on the short side, 36 seconds into the game, giving the Blues an early 1-0 lead.

That was the only one of the 21 shots fired her way that would elude Collins, as Laurentian gradually clawed their way back. McCann pulled the home side even with the only goal of period two, completing a three-way feed from Weber and Brooklyn Davis.

The game-winner would come courtesy of defenceman Marie-Pierre Pelissou, who jumped deep into the zone to bury the rebound of a shot from Elissa Bertuzzi, giving the Voyageurs the lead at the 2:48 mark of the third period.

With just under five minutes to play, Jessica Staats added a key insurance tally, taking a pretty feed from Veerman behind the net, with Maggie Brennan closing things off into an empty net at 18:33.

"The key was playing all three periods," acknowledged Staats, who drilled home her second goal of the year and 19th, overall, over the course of her four years at L.U.

"We usually drop a little bit in the second period in most of our games. That's when other teams step over us and finish on their plays and take advantage of our little mistakes. I think these past two games, we played all sixty minutes, we've come out strong every single time and are pressuring them in all the right spots."

Traditionally ranked among the lower scoring teams in the OUA over the past few years, the Voyageurs have now found the back of the net 51 teams, behind only Guelph, Windsor and Western.

The additional offensive punch, along with a positive mindset, has allowed the team to overcome an early deficit on more than one occasion this year. "We come together on the bench, as a whole, when they score a goal first," noted Staats.

"We know we have to keep our energy high on the bench, to make sure people don't get their heads down. If that happens, people make small mistakes and then they keep scoring."

The weekend of success bettered the Laurentian record to 9-0-8-1, good for 28 points and a hold of the eighth and final playoff spot in the 13-team loop. But with Toronto (32), Windsor (31), Queen's (30), Waterloo (29) and Western (29) all bunched so closely together, a significant move up the standings is certainly possible, especially with three points on the line for a win in regulation.

"One win can change everything," Staats agreed. "I don't know how else to put it. If we keep playing the way that we can, I think we can get points in every single game that we have left. We need to stay strong, because it is so close."

The Voyageurs have six games remaining on their schedule, beginning this Friday night with a trip to Kingston to face the Gaels. Queen's spotted L.U. a one goal deficit back on January 7th, but exploded for four second period goals before hanging on as coach Stacey Colarossi's charges pressed relentlessly in the third, the Gaels edging the Voyageurs 4-3.

The team then returns home on February 4th and 5th, hosting the struggling Laurier Hawks (2-1-10-3) and the suddenly slumping Waterloo Warriors (8-2-7-1).


Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.