Women’s hockey stops at four games with loss to Western

By Brandon Buechler

Ryerson’s women’s hockey team (5-5) fell to the University of Western Ontario Mustangs (9-1) 2-0 on Sunday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

The first-place Mustangs quickly dispatched the eighth-place Rams in a brisk two-hour match, extending their win streak to eight games.

The Ram’s own win-streak, however, was halted at four games by Western’s relentless offense.

“Mentally we were a little tired after yesterdays game,” said Ryerson’s head coach Lisa Haley. “But there’s no excuses. We all play the same schedule.”

Western dominated the Rams for much of the first and second periods, outshooting them by a large margin.

Ryerson had four shots in the first, while Western had 15 shots, scoring on one of them.

“We’re all disappointed with our start,” Haley said, “It was a 20 minute effort and it’s certainly going to take all 60 to beat a first-place team.”

Although the Rams took the shot count lead in the second period, 8-7, Western dominated possession and added another goal to their books, courtesy of Stacey Scott.

The goal came on an unfortunate bounce for the Rams, creating a 2-on-1, allowing Scott to fire past Ryerson goalie Ally Sarna.

The third period brought new life to Ryerson’s line, something Haley acknowledged after the game.

“We finally figured out that our backs were to the wall and it was going to take more than what we gave already,” she said. “There was a new urgency to battle, engage and try to win some loose pucks.”

Unfortunately, even with a 16-5 shot count in Ryerson’s favour, the women were unable to find the back of the net thanks to Mustang’s goalie Kelly Campbell.

The women look to bounce back against the Nipissing Lakers this Friday in Toronto at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.