Gee-Gees earn SO win

Mar 9, 2008 - The #4 ranked StFX X-Women were left playing for bragging rights at the CIS women's hockey championship Monday morning in Ottawa as they faced the host team and #6 ranked Ottawa Gee Gee's in the fifth place game. Although the X-Women built up a 6-1 second period league, they saw that lead slowly disintegrate as the Gee Gee's fought back to tie the game and eventually earn a 7-6 shootout victory.

The X-Women opened the game with an early first period goal. Jacinta Sullivan jumped on a loose puck in the Ottawa crease and put X on the board first with a goal at 2:14. Brayden Ferguson and Christina Davis assisted on the play. The X-Women kept pressure on Gee Gee's netminder Melissa DiPetta throughout the first period and out shot the host team 15-5. X-Women goaltender Crystal Stewart wasn't tested often, Ottawa's Kim Kerr had their best chance with a shot late in the first period but was turned aside buy Stewart. Anna Barrett had a quick hard shot for the X-Women with just under a minute left but was denied by DiPetta, leaving the score at 1-0 in favor of the blue and white after one period of play.

The game was broken wide open in the second period when the X-Women scored four consecutive goals within a six minute time frame. Catie Gavin opened the scoring for the X-Women just 45 seconds into the second frame as she jumped on a rebound in front of the Ottawa crease. Marilynn Hay and Amanda Church assisted on the play. Brayden Ferguson scored the X-Women's third goal of the game at 2:28 with assists from linemates Christina Davis and Jessica Shanahan. About a minute and a half later, Lindsay Brown and Anna Barrett came up ice and converted on a two-on-one opportunity as Brown netted X's fourth goal at 3:54 on the nice pass in front by Barrett. The Gee Gee's changed up goaltenders shortly after bringing Jessika Audet into the game to deal with the 4-1 deficit early in the second period.

The Gee Gee's had a 5-on-3 opportunity but were unable to convert. Shortly thereafter X-Women leading scorer and CIS Player of the Year Brayden Ferguson jumped a loose puck to score her second goal of the game, with assists going to Laura Grant and Lindsay Brown. The Gee Gee's finally got on the board at the 7:08 mark of the second period, just six seconds down ice after the Ferguson goal as Kim Kerr converted on a pass from Kayla Hottot to beat Stewart high over her left shoulder. Amanda Church scored her second goal of the tournament for StFX at 9:12, banging in the puck after a goal crease scramble. Assists went to Carolyn Campbell and Catie Gavin on the play, giving the X-Women a commanding 6-1 lead in the game. The Gee Gee's scored the next two goals in the game as Kerr broke away to score an unassisted short handed goal at 10:49, followed by Christine Allen at 16:29 (from Kerr and Audet) who was able to push the puck past X-Women goalie Crystal Stewart. The flurry of offensive activity in the second period resulted in a 6-3 StFX lead after two and a 13-9 margin in shots.

The Gee Gee's were the only team to find the back of the net in the third period as Ottawa scored three unanswered goals to tie the game at 6-6 after regulation play. Amber Foster opened the scoring with a powerplay goal just 46 seconds in, with the assist going to Hottot. The two teams exchanged scoring opportunities throughout the period with the Gee Gee's next goals coming late in the period at 17:06 by Joelle Charlebois and just 20 seconds later at 17:26 when Kerr scored her third of the game, as Ottawa fought back to force overtime.

The teams exchanged powerplays in the overtime frame and Ottawa was pressuring the X net for the final few minutes but the score remained deadlocked at six goals a piece after the ten minute sudden death period. The game was then decided by a shoot-out, something that had haunted the X-Women since their bronze medal shoot-out loss to McGill at the 2006 nationals. The shoot-out format consists of five shooters a side with the home team X-Women electing to shoot second. Gee Gee's forward Pouliot led off the shoot-out with a goal on StFX goaltender Stewart. Suzanne Fenerty then missed for X, followed by Kerr for Ottawa who had a hat trick in the game but failed to convert one-on-one in the shootout. X-Women captain Ferguson was denied by Gee Gee's netminder Jessika Audet, then Mandi Duhamel scored for Ottawa, giving them a two-goal edge. Freshman forward Catie Gavin failed to score for the X-Women, as did Hottot for the Gee Gee's. Christina Davis, the fourth shooter for X was unable to convert, sealing the 7-6 win for the host Gee Gee's.