The playoffs are never a good time for a team to start losing games. Unfortunately for the streaking Golden Gaels women’s hockey team, they lost two in a row this past weekend and left the OUA championships without a medal for the first time in five years.
A 2-1 loss to the U of T Blues in the OUA semifinal on Saturday was followed by a 3-2 loss to the Guelph Gryphons in the bronze medal game on Sunday.
“We were there to win,” said Queen’s rookie goaltender Melissa John. “It just wasn’t in the cards for us.”
Queen’s came into the playoffs as the hottest team in the league, winners of five straight games that propelled them to the second seed in the OUA and a first-round bye. They were also ranked fifth in Canada.
There was much reason for optimism going into the game with Toronto, as the Gaels had taken five out of a possible six points in their three regular-season matchups with the Blues.
Toronto was the team that came out with more spark, however, as they dominated play in the first period, outshooting the Gaels 11-4. Queen’s goaltender Claire Hunt kept her team in the game with the same spectacular play that has led to her to having the nation’s third-best goals against average: a stingy 1.57.
Queen’s opened the scoring in the second period against the flow of play, with third-year player Miranda Costie scoring her seventh goal of the season on a backhand through traffic in front of the net. That goal continued the good fortunes of the line of Costie, Victoria Kaufmann and Cassandra Sparks, a line that had been integral to the recent success of the team. In the Gaels’ last five games the line had combined for 19 points.
The Gaels went into the third period with their 1-0 lead intact, but just over halfway through the period the Blues netted the equalizer on a shorthanded marker from Justine Todd. Toronto completed the comeback with just over three minutes left to play in regulation, as Annie Delguidice scored her eighth goal of the season to put the Blues up 2-1.
Queen’s would not go down without a fight, though, as they continued to press with Hunt pulled. Although Queen’s came close to potting an equalizer, the Gaels’ quest for an OUA championship came to an end as Toronto held on for a 2-1 win.
Despite their heartbreaking loss the day before, the Gaels did not allow themselves a mental letdown in their Sunday bronze-medal matchup against Guelph as they established a 2-0 lead halfway through the first period on goals by Kaufmann and rookie Allison Bagg. The first period was played tentatively by both teams, as they mustered only nine shots combined.
Guelph started their comeback in the second period just as quickly as Queen’s had netted their two goals in the first, tying the game with two tallies of their own midway through the second. Guelph threatened to take the lead on numerous occasions, but the stellar play of John, who got the nod in place of Hunt, kept the game tied at 2-2.
Making what may have been one of the best saves of the year, John robbed Guelph of a sure goal with a huge glove save on a rebound despite being out of position following the first save.
The Gryphons finally broke through with just two minutes to play, however, as Brittany Roberts scored the winner and left Queen’s to settle for a fourth-place finish in Ontario.
John said the team was understandably upset about coming up short, but that the team has a promising future and a wealth of talented young players.
“Obviously we were disappointed because when we went in we had every intention of qualifying for nationals and winning with the team we brought in,” she said. “But we’re really optimistic about next year because we have one of the youngest teams. We had nine rookies.”
John said she doesn’t think that inexperience was the problem. Queen’s led both games, and lost them both on late goals.
“We lost both games in the last three minutes, but I just think it was a couple of bad bounces,” she said. “Really, they could have happened at any point in the game.”
John also said the team is raring to go again next season, and to prove that they are the force they expected to be both in Ontario and on the national stage.
“We have a chip on our shoulder,” she said. “We have that much more of a reason to prove to people that we can win.”
While the team as a whole did not pick up any hardware this season, a few Gaels players brought some individual awards back to Kingston. Kaufmann was named OUA Rookie of the Year, her 11 goals placing her second in league scoring. Defender Amanda Stenson was named a second-team OUA all-star, while blueliner Chantelle Johnson ed Kaufmann on the all-rookie team.
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