The Western Mustang women’s hockey team completed their Ontario University Athletic (OUA) quarter-final sweep of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues last night prevailing by a score of 4-2. Second year forward Alyssa Chiarello lead the way with two goals and an assist, good for three points. She now leads Mustangs in playoff points with five points in two games, already half her regular season output. Third year forward Evra Levesque also lead the way offensively with a goal and assist on the night, giving her three points in two playoff games, good for second on the Mustangs, just behind Chiarello. Rookie Carmen Lasis was solid in net for the Mustangs; she has shown extreme poise and grace in her first year between the pipes as an OUA goalie-tonight was no exception. While not tested overly often, with just 25 shots by the Varsity Blues on the night, she made the saves that she needed to make-- and gave her team the chance to win. Despite giving up two powerplay goals, Western’s defence made Lasis’ job easier as they did an excellent job of keeping the Varsity Blues to the outside and ensuring that they did not have many high-quality scoring chances. In traditional playoff fashion, the game was a chippy affair, with a total of 26 penalty minutes on the night, with Toronto showing their frustration and taking the last three penalties of the game. It is not a surprise that the Mustangs were able to close out the series on the road, as Western was able to find success away from home during the regular season, with a 10-2 road record, compared to their 7-5 record at Thompson Arena; this bodes well for the next round as it is possible that Western will face second seed Guelph Gryphons in the OUA semi-finals (the Mustangs are the third seed in the OUA, thus Guelph would have home ice advantage).
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As mentioned above, Lasis’ strong effort in net fueled the Mustangs win. The same could not be said for the Varsity Blues; however. In a very bizarre decision, Former Team Canada Assistant Captain and three-time Olympic Medallist, Varsity Blues Head Coach Vicky Sunohara elected to start her back-up goalie-- third year Valencia Yordanov who had only started six games all season. Yordanov’s lack of playing time was evident during this game as she appeared nervous and shaky throughout. She was pulled halfway through the second period in relief of game one starter Madeline Albert. Albert shut the door the rest of the way, but it was too little too late for the Varsity Blues by that point. Despite being a rookie, Albert lead the entire OUA with a 947 save percentage on the season in just 16 games. Therefore, is safe to say that had she started the game all along, Toronto may have been able to pull out the win, or at least take the game into overtime.
Alas, Sunohara’s decision proved costly as the team was not able to recover its two-goal deficit and ultimately lost the game, and the series, thus ending their season. Western moves onto the OUA semi-final, and will not know of its semi-final opponent until all of the quarter-final matchups are concluded.
