CIS Exhibition Match a Display of Skills Between Ottawa and Waterloo

The exhibition match between the Waterloo Warriors of the OUA and host team Ottawa Gee Gees from QSSF was a superb reminder of why Canadian Interuniversity Sport women’s ice hockey continues to improve every season.

With over a dozen recruits, Waterloo used the match to evaluate talent while providing great competition. Freshman recruit Allie Mitchell was between the pipes. The backstop from Ridley College gave a valiant performance and did everything possible to keep Waterloo in the game.

In attendance at the exhibition included Erin Ambrose, a legendary player from the Canadian Under-18 program, and Dominique Thibault, a Clarkson Cup champion with the Montreal Stars. Gee Gees alumni and 2009 Marion Hilliard Award winner Danika Smith was also in attendance.

The ice saw its own share of great stars, too. Ottawa Gee Gees captain Fannie Desforges won the Red Bull Crashed Ice world championships a few months earlier in Quebec City. She nearly opened the scoring in the match as her wrist shot bounced past Mitchell. Waterloo’s Lia Tennant replied in full by nearly scoring on Ottawa netminder Stephanie Mercier.

The contest was nothing short of physical. Ottawa player Carling Chown took a shot off her hand. Despite the physicality, there were still some great skills on display. Fannie Desforges and Asha Kauffeldt put on some great stick-handling displays. Both controlled the puck well throughout the game. Freshman Lindsey O’Neill scored the best goal in the game. On a breakaway, she tripped but still managed to get the puck past Mercier.

Desforges would score on a high wrist shot to give Ottawa a 2-1 lead. A few seconds later, Mitchell allowed another goal as the Warriors faced a 3-1 deficit. The Warriors refused to give up. With family in the stands, the Waterloo players showed great courage. Waterloo alternate captain Kelly MacLean had a great scoring opportunity a few minutes later but was tripped.

Second-year forward for Waterloo Kaitlyn McDonell nearly tied the game after Ottawa took a 4-3 lead. It was alternate captain MacLean who would tie the game at the 14:25 mark of the third period. Once the score was tied, the physicality became evident. Genevieve Legault of the Gee Gees and Kelly Toms of the Warriors knocked each other down. Alicia Blomberg of Ottawa fired a laser of a wrist shot to try and give Ottawa back the lead. Kauffeldt fired a slap shot with 2:17 left in the third, but Mitchell grabbed the rebound. As Fannie Desforges tried to shoot the puck, Lindsey Ceaser of the Warriors knocked her down.

The game became even more dramatic when Warriors captain Sarah Endicott was called for a two-minute roughing penalty with 1:54 left in the third. With Endicott in the penalty box, the Warriors dumped the puck in the Gee Gees' own end several times. Waterloo’s Sarah Wolfe charged after one of the pucks and dived through the air like Bobby Orr did many generations ago but was unable to score on Mercier.

Waterloo’s Kelly Toms also got in the thick of it by knocking Ottawa’s Dominqiue Lefebvre into the boards. With 15.3 seconds left, though, Ottawa’s Carling Chown was called for a penalty.

Overtime became a chess match, as both teams attempted to nullify the other’s offensive attack. The captains, Sarah Endicott and Fannie Desforges, were engaged in a one-on-one attack in which neither wanted to relinquish the puck.

Ottawa’s Elarie Leclair tried to win the game, but her shot was blocked. Warriors skaters Kaitlyn McDonnell and Katie Dods attempted to score but were both denied. The game would end when Waterloo’s crease became crowded and Asha Kauffeldt would tip in the shot to give the Gee Gees the win.

Despite the final score, the importance of the match was the superlative quality of CIS women’s hockey. Yanick Evola, the head coach of the Ottawa Gee Gees, has a great group of people assisting him on his coaching staff, including former Gee Gees stars Erika Pouliot and Mandi Duhamel. Steve Seguin, who played five games for the Los Angeles Kings in 1984-85, is also on Evola’s staff. Former Princeton Tigers goaltender Cassie Seguin serves as the team manager.

The team captain for Waterloo, Sarah Endicott towers over her teammates at 5'11". Her playing style is very reminiscent of Gillian Apps'. The defensive pairing of Bailey Bradt and Lindsey McDonald is impossible not to notice. While Bradt dons No. 94, and McDonald carries No. 97, the two both have long, identical blonde ponytails flowing out of their helmets. The two freshmen garnered a lot of ice time and are poised to be a dynamic duo on the blue line for years to come.