Loss and win for Gaels

Women’s hockey escapes weekend with three points

Last weekend, the women’s hockey team beat the Guelph Gryphons 2-1 on Saturday and lost to the Brock Badgers 5-4 in a shootout on Sunday. The Gaels now hold a 4-3-1 record and sit fifth in the OUA.

“There were a lot of improvements over last weekend,” said head coach Matthew Holmberg. “[However, we aren’t] all the way back to where we want to be.

The game against the Gryphons was exciting, especially the last three minutes when the Gaels successfully defended their narrow one point lead. The game against the Badgers featured a high point total and a close shootout.

“Brock is a good team,” Holmberg said. “But I think that if we had played a little better defensively, we would have come away with [a win].”

Despite the weekend’s disappointing finish, rookie forward Alex Cieslowski ended the game with a memorable achievement, netting her first goal as a Gael.

“I was excited,” said Cieslowski. “It was a new experience.”

Goalie Mel Dodd-Moher had an impressive game on Saturday, recording 27 saves. Dodd-Moher is currently the OUA leading goaltender in goals against average, save percentage and shutouts.

With two tight games, forward Kelsey Thomson said the games offered the Gaels a chance to bounce back from their tough weekend against UOIT.

“Brock and Guelph are both very good teams,” she said. “I think that they’re both really aggressive on us, which is what we needed to get back to our regular play. Again, we were kind of playing down to their calibre, and then we found ourselves behind a lot. I think [the weekend’s] games definitely helped us to work towards playing our game.”

The Gaels made significant strides on offence; the team recorded six goals against the Gryphons and the Badgers, almost as many as their seven goals going into the weekend.

“It’s good to see that we’re finally reaching the back of the net,” said Thomson, who had one goal this weekend and is the Gael’s top scorer. “We’re going to need to score a lot more still, but we’re definitely making improvements.”

This weekend, the Gaels play the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday and the York Lions on Sunday. The Varsity Blues sit just behind the Gaels at sixth in the OUA, while the Lions are last in OUA.

“I think we’re feeling good,” Thomson said. “This weekend was definitely a confidence booster to get us back up and I think Toronto and York are both good teams. We should be good to go.”

The Gaels travel to Toronto this weekend to face the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at 4 p.m. on Saturday and the York Lions at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

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