SERIES PREVIEW: Women’s hockey to faceoff against Bishop’s University in bronze medal bracket
The University of Ottawa women's hockey team will host the Bishop's University Gaiters in the first round of the RSEQ consolation bracket, with their eyes set on the bronze medal. The series gets underway Thursday, Mar. 17 at the Minto Sports Complex, before game two from Sherbrooke on Saturday, Mar. 19. If a game three is needed, it would be in the nation's capital on Sunday, Mar. 20.
Tickets for Thursday and Sunday's home games are available at tickets.geegees.ca.
The Gee-Gees find themselves in the race for the bronze after a hard-fought series against McGill that the Martlets won 2-1. McGill took game one of the series, but games two and three were extremely tight, with the Martlets eventually taking the decisive game by a 1-0 score.
Bishop's will need to deal with a hot goaltender, as Mahika Sarrazin was lights out in the semi-final series. The rookie started games two and three, stopping 67 of 68 shots she faced for a .985 save percentage.
Alice Fillion and Ariane Aubin scored the Gee-Gees goals in the first-round matchup.
The Gaiters come into the series after sweeping the Carleton Ravens in the preliminary round. Their playoff wins snapped an eight-game losing streak.
Bishop's University struggled offensively for large parts of the season. They finished tied with Carleton for the worst offence in the conference on mustering 20 goals across their fifteen regular season games. Neleh Vigneau Sargeant, Maude Pépin, and Jessica Bélanger all finished tied on the Gaiters in points with five each in the regular season
The Gee-Gees swept the Gaiters in their season series, scoring 11 goals across the three games. Notably, Christine Deaudelin scored her first career hattrick in the first meeting between these two teams.
"We still have hockey to play," said Gee-Gees head coach Chelsea Grills. "It's a different path than we'd hoped for, but we still have some games coming up here in the next few weeks. We've taken a moment to digest the McGill series and reload. We're now set to get back for the next challenge."
The winner of the series will advance to face the Montreal Carabins in the bronze medal series. The Carabins swept the Carleton Ravens in two games.
Tickets for Thursday and Sunday's games, and all uOttawa varsity events must be purchased beforehand at tickets.geegees.ca. Fans planning on attending an event are encouraged to read the Tickets and Gameday Information document, which includes pertinent health and safety measures. The document can be found HERE.
STREAMING SCHEDULE
Game 1: Gee-Gees YouTube
Game 2: Bishop's Gaiters
Game 3: Gee-Gees YouTube