WHKY | Voyageurs Defeat Golden Hawks
January 18, 2020
The Laurentian Voyageurs women's hockey team played their final game of the weekend against the Laurier Golden Hawks, this afternoon at Countryside Arena.
After a close game ending with a loss for the Voyageurs to the Waterloo Warriors, the Vees had an opportunity to split the weekend with a win against the Golden Hawks. The Golden Hawks had a record of 4-9-4 on the season and were ranked 10th in the OUA, one spot and four points under Laurentian. The Voyageurs won the first meeting 2-0 October 29th thanks to Shanna Dolighan's 29-save shutout.
The Voyageurs offence would start early with an unassisted goal from the Voyageur co-captain, Morgan McCann. After an unfortunate turnover out front of Cohen Myers, McCann used her slot opportunity to pot a top corner shot on Myers for her fourth goal of the season and open the scoring for the Vees, for a 1-0 lead.
The second goal would come from Michelle Weaver-Vitale as she was holding down the offensive blue line for the Vees on the powerplay after she pinched on a loose puck and was able to beat Myers short side from the top of the circle for her second goal on the season. Jaimee MacDonald would get the assist.
The Voyageurs would score yet another goal after Hannah Skrinar would take a shot on net that would be deflected beyond Myers for her first goal of her OUA season and as well the second unassisted goal of the game.
The Voyageurs' Shanna Dolighan would hold a shutout until just two minutes left in the third the Golden Hawks would pull their goalie for an extra attacker which would pay off. Chloe Saxton would score her first goal of the season, but the only goal for the Hawks. Dolighan finished the night with 31 saves, while Myers stopped 26 of the Voyageurs' 29 shots. Discipline was a bit of an issue as both teams took several penalties. The Voyageurs converted once on 5 powerplay opportunities, while their penalty killers had to kill 6 chances for the Golden Hawks.
The Voyageurs would take this match with a score of 3-1 and will take on Western and Windsor next weekend. Western is currently in the 8th and final playoff spot, 7 points ahead of the Voyageurs. Windsor is last in the league but should not be taken lightly. Next weekend will have massive playoff implications for the Voyageurs, and fans will be able to watch all the action on oua.tv.
Sam Brooks