HOCKEY
- Gee-Gees: That must have been some prep work that Ottawa, 3-2 winners in overtime over Toronto in the decisive Game 3 of their first-round series on Sunday, did for the Varsity Blues' penalty kill. Including Colin Bowie's series-winner 43 seconds into OT, Ottawa got six of their seven goals against Toronto with the extra skater.
Toronto's Joe Rand was whistled for slashing with three seconds left in regulation to give the Gee-Gees the chance to start overtime with a power play. Not having had the ability to watch it live (health and technology were both wanting), let's just say that's a tough, tough way for Toronto's season to end, but discipline is a big part of winning in the playoffs.
Ottawa should be opening their second-round series at Trois-Rivieres on Wednesday. They split their games in that building during the regular season, with the win coming in a shootout. - Gaels: The men's hockey Gaels open the second round at home against McGill on Wednesday. Queen's and McGill haven't faced off in a post-season hockey series since 1910 and I think we know how that one turned out.
Our man A.B. covered off the Tricolour women's 2-0 shutout over York in the first round of the OUA playoffs down in the comments below.
Melissa John pitched the shutout and Liz Kench scored the only goal Queen's needed. The Gaels draw Laurier in the semi-final. Laurier is head-and-shoulders above everyone else in a 10-team league, but they have to play the game, right? (As A.B. points out, Queen's beat Laurier in the regular season.) - Ravens: Those Carleton-McGill matchups from here on will be fun to watch. The Redmen beat the Ravens five out of six times this season, meaning they might be the measuring stick for Carleton.
Again, Carleton coach Fred Parker should get some OUA coach-of-the-year consideration for putting together a playoff team in the very first full season back in the league.
- Ravens: Only Carleton could get eight offensive rebounds from a guard -- Stu Turnbull was all over the offensive glass on his way to game highs of 27 points, 12 rebounds in the 75-73 win over Ottawa that closed out the regular season. Chasing down those misses -- twice Turnbull did it off his own missed free throw -- probably shortened the game by a few possessions. Ottawa, which was running a half-court offence, needed every possession it could get.
Carleton seems to have a pattern of maybe not hitting on all cylinders in the first couple weeks of February and then doing what they need to in the post-season, when it counts. Tonight was more about the Gee-Gees' effort than any indication the Ravens are vulnerable.
Hats are off to Tanya Perry (28 points), Kelly Killoran (11 points, including a couple big threes), coach Taffe Charles and the rest of the women's hoops Ravens for pulling off a 67-58 playoff win over Queen's on Saturday.
Fortunately for everyone, Wayne Kondro from the Citizen knew that it was the team's first ever Tier 1 playoff win and only its second ever. Suffice to say, the program won't have to wait another 29 years for its next playoff victory. - Gee-Gees: The glass-half-full take is losing by two to Carleton showed the Gee-Gees how tough they should be in next Wednesday's OUA East quarter-final vs. Ryerson and in a potential semi-final at Toronto next Saturday. They might still be playing if the ball goes to Donnie Gibson for the final shot instead of being passed outside for a three from the corner.
Inexperience -- missed free throws, the Ravens being able to get too many offensive boards -- cost Ottawa dearly, but they were in this all the way. Gibson was clutch, making three lead-changing shots in the final five minutes. For one half, Sean Peter was the best player in the OUA, scoring 18 of his 22 before the break. Between those two and Dax Dessureault, there's a clearer picture of how competitive the Gee-Gees can be without Josh Gibson-Bascombe.
Last, but not least, the ol' high school is finally getting a football team, all these years later. How quickly will they he holding tryouts for the role of "overzealous booster?"
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4 comments:
Carleton's women's b-ball win over Queen's was very impressive. I was covering it for the Journal, but we don't have a print issue until the 29th, so the story's already on the web . Basically, the first quarter made the difference: Carleton came out on fire, and the nine-point lead they piled up there was the eventual margin of victory. They also hit 55 per cent of their threes in the first half. What impressed me most was the depth though: Queen's shut down Kelly Lyons really well, so Perry promptly stepped up and scored 28. She did so somewhat anonymously too: she was wearing #4 instead of the #13 the program had her listed as, so it was a bit tough for those unfamiliar with Carleton's team to figure out who was lighting the Gaels up.
On the women's hockey front: that was a pretty cool game too (story's also on our website). Not sure if any of the CFRC guys were there: I didn't see them, but I only made the second half of the game (ran over after men's volleyball). It was pretty physical throughout, and I was a bit worried when Gaels' captain Cassie Sparks got leveled: she turned out to be all right though. The Queen's - Laurier showdown should be great: the Gaels are one of only two teams (Guelph's the other) to knock off the Hawks this year, in a 41-save performance from Melissa John that earned her the CIS athlete of the week nod. Thus, I'd say the Gaels certainly have a shot at pulling off another win, even if Laurier will be overwhelming favorites.
I'd say if the girls hockey team want to win against laurier, maybe they should start practicing their 5 on 3's.... THey had 4 chances in the game against York and had zero goals.
Yeah, that would be a good idea... fyi, Big V, it's a university team, there are no girls, only wimmins.
Indeed, the power play's a bit of a concern... Coach Lalonde said he was going to be working on that this week. They at least got 30 shots, though, which is pretty good for this team.
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