The Waterloo Warriors women's hockey team probably deserved a better fate in the first half of their weekend double-bill against the Windsor Lancers on Friday night. But the black and gold proved that they wouldn't be deterred, bouncing back for a big victory in their final home game of the regular season.
The Warriors fell 3-2 in a shootout on Friday night, as Lancers goaltender Kristen Swiatoschik stole the show with a 63-save performance to hand Waterloo their second straight defeat. But a day later, the Warriors erupted for three goals in the final frame to skate away with a 5-3 victory on senior day at the Columbia Icefield Arena.
With four of a possible six points this weekend, the Warriors remain in top spot of the OUA west division with just one week of action remaining. The sixth-ranked team in the nation pushed their record to 20-5-1, as the Warriors sit with 55 points – five clear of the second-place Guelph Gryphons.
Windsor 3, Waterloo 2 (SO)
Waterloo piled up the shots early and often in the opener of the weekend double-bill, but Swiatoschik kept the hosts at bay early in the contest. Late in the first period, Windsor's Maggie Peterson made a gorgeous move and then roofed a backhander off the crossbar and in behind Waterloo keeper Carley Molnar (London) to give the Lancers a 1-0 lead.
Peterson doubled Windsor's lead in the second, after taking a long lead pass from Swiatoschik, and potting her own rebound past Molnar. But midway through the middle frame, the Warriors cut the lead in half when Keiara Raitt (Ancaster, ON/) tipped home a Trisha Cho (Mississauga, ON/) point shot on the power play, making it 2-1 after 40 minutes of play.
The Warriors' domination in zone time, shots, and scoring opportunities exploded in the third period. The Lancers were able to kill off six near-consecutive minutes of Waterloo power play time, but the dam finally burst in a goalmouth scramble when Leah Herrfort (Palmerston, ON/) batted home the equalizer for her league-leading 31st point on the season. Late in the third, Herrfort won a series of consecutive offensive zone faceoffs, but despite 20 shots on goal in the third period, the Warriors couldn't break the tie in regulation.
Waterloo continued to dominate in the 3-on-3 overtime session, and Carley Olivier (Sudbury, ON/) hit the post with a rocket point shot on a Waterloo power play. But despite 12 more shots in the extra frame, the game headed to a shootout. Jessica Gribon and Keanna McKibbin both scored for Windsor, while Swiaotschik surrendered just one goal to Olivier, giving the Lancers the win.
Windsor 3, Waterloo 5
A day later, the Warriors honoured graduating seniors Olivier, Emma Cheeseman (Waterloo, ON/), and Megan Fergusson (Kitchener, ON/) before their final home game of the season. The hosts used the ceremonies for an emotional boost, and it paid dividends in the closing seconds of the first period – with just 8 seconds left in the frame, Jessie Fennell (Fonthill, ON/) one-timed a beautiful cross-crease pass from Herrfort on the power play to give Waterloo a 1-0 lead after one period.
The Lancers responded early in the second, when Peterson whacked a rebound home off the pad of Waterloo goalie Kara Mark (New Hamburg, ON/) for her third goal of the weekend. Then, after a pair of Warriors penalties put the hosts down two skaters, Gribbon zipped home a power play marker to give Windsor a 2-1 lead.
The advantage was short-lived though, as Olivier – skating alongside Herrfort as a winger because of a rash of injuries to Waterloo forwards – took a puck to the goal mouth and made a pretty move to the backhand, shoveling her own rebound past Windsor keeper Holly Borrett to even the score at 2-2.
The score remained tied into a chippy third period, as the patience wore thin between the two clubs in what was their third meeting in just over a week. With the teams skating at 4-on-4, Brooklyn Cole (Kitchener, ON/) poked the puck ahead and tracked it down with blazing speed, before turning Borrett inside-out with a highlight-reel move to put Waterloo up 3-0. Later in the third, Carley Orth ripped an outrageous wrister top shelf from a sharp angle to give Waterloo a 4-2 lead, only to see Elissa Benjamin respond for Windsor with their goalie pulled, just before the 17-minute mark of the third.
Down 4-3, the Lancers once again pulled Borrett for the extra attacker, but Cole's speed and skill once again was a difference, as she neatly cleared her own zone and then fed Orth for the empty-netter to salt it away.
Cole finished the night with a goal and three helpers, including three points in the third period. Olivier and Fennell each added two-point nights for Waterloo, as Kara Mark (New Hamburg, ON/) made 20 saves for the victory.
The Warriors will now look to wrap up first place in the OUA West as they finish the season with a trip to North Bay to face the Nipissing Lakers on Friday, February 17 at 5pm. With one point against Nipissing, or if Guelph drops one of their remaining sox points available, Waterloo will sew up the top seed in the division.
