The Concordia Stingers are Canadian champions. They defeated the North Bay Nipissing University Lakers 4-0 on Sunday night in the final of the U Sports Women’s Hockey Championship.
Posted at 7:30 p.m.
Before the final, neither of the two goaltenders, Alice Philbert at the Stingers and Chloe Marshall at the Lakers, had allowed a goal since the start of the tournament.
The match didn’t start very well for Julie Chu’s troupe, who were playing nervously. She could, however, count on Philbert, who made sure to do the job in front of his goal. It took eight minutes before the Quebecers headed a first puck to Marshall. They seemed to come to their senses afterwards.
After 20 minutes, it was tied 0-0 and the Stingers had managed to defend themselves against two penalty kills.
In the second period, the Concordia University players were much more threatening than their opponents. With less than two minutes left in the kickoff, Maria Manaroli pounced on a puck in front of the net to register her third of the tournament and give the Stingers a 1-0 lead. Stephanie Lemelin and Rosalie Begin-Cyr got assists on the streak.
At the start of the third period, the ending Stéphanie Lalancette, Concordia’s leading scorer this season, intercepted a Lakers zone out. His wrist shot ended up behind Marshall, making it 2-0.
With just under eight minutes to go, Audrey Belzile widened the gap to 3-0 on the breakaway. Lalancette came to nail Nipissing University’s coffin with his second of the game a few minutes later. She was also named the Championship’s Most Valuable Player.
It’s the first national title since 1999 for the Stingers.