Tommies Make History with 2-1 Win Over McGill at National Championships
The St. Thomas Tommies earned their first-ever win at a national championship after edging the fifth seeded McGill Martlets 2-1 in the consolation semifinal of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's hockey championships Friday in Calgary.
The Martlets were without star forward Melodie Daoust, who suffered a tournament-ending injury in the team's 4-2 loss to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the quarterfinals.
After the game, Tommies head coach Peter Murphy said this was a special win for his team.
"It's huge. I told the girls that it's something that can never be taken away from them and it's something that the players who aren't back next year are leaving to the program," he said.
"Peter Smith runs one of the best programs in the country and we're very proud of our girls for getting a win against McGill."
The teams traded chances early in the first, but it was the Martlets who opened the scoring with Gabrielle Davidson tipping the puck past the Tommies' Taylor Cook at 15:40 for a 1-0 lead.
The Tommies didn't take long to respond, though. Just over two minutes later, Kelty Apperson buried a rebound on the power play to even things up at one apiece.
Shots on goal after the opening frame were 12-8 in favour of the Martlets.
"I think we played more of our game than what you saw yesterday," Murphy said. "I thought the ice was better today. It was a little bit colder and it allowed for a faster pace."
The Tommies came out strong in the second and dominated possession for the first three minutes. Apperson had a golden opportunity to give the Tommies the lead at 4:20, breaking in one-on-one and shaking the McGill defender, but Martlets netminder Taylor Hough shut the door.
Not that Cook wasn't busy between the pipes for the Tommies—the momentum swung in the Martlets direction late in the frame and they were able to generate some good looks in front, but Cook turned away all 14 of their shots.
"When McGill brings it, it's pretty tough," Murphy said. "But at the same time, our girls bleed green and gold. They will drop in front of pucks, take pucks in the head, and yet they still finish out their shift. It's just kind of the way we are, so when we get into a situation like that we know what they're going to bring."
It was back and forth in the third, but it was the Tommies that eventually scored. After making a few strong plays around the net, Lauren Henman found the puck in the crease and tucked it past Hough to give the Tommies a 2-1 lead with 11:44 to go.
"That was a huge goal," Murphy said of the game-winner. "Henman gets a determined look in her eye sometimes, and that shift you could see there was a couple chances and then all of a sudden Henman got in close. She scores that kind of goal quite often."
The Martlets upped their pressure and created some solid scoring chances throughout the rest of the period, but weren't able to find the equalizer.
Following the game, Apperson—who tallied a goal and an assist in the win—was named the Tommies player of the game. Olivia Sutter was given the honours for the Martlets.
With the win, the Tommies advance to the consolation final on Sunday at 12:00 pm (AST).