AGOSTA-MARCIANO OPENS SCORING, WHITE OPENS NATIONAL WOMEN’S PROGRAM SERIES WITH WIN

CALGARY, Alta. – The country’s top 40 female hockey players took to the ice Wednesday evening in what was the opening intrasquad game of Canada’s National Women’s Program Red-White Series, with Meghan Agosta-Marciano (Ruthven, Ont./Montreal, CWHL) scoring the first goal and White taking the first win on the ice at the Markin MacPhail Centre, Hockey Canada’s home arena at Canada Olympic Park.

Thirteen players who attended Canada’s National Women’s Development Team selection camp earlier this month here in Calgary were selected to join the 27 players who are currently centralized with Canada’s National Women’s Team in the Stampede City to train for the upcoming 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, for the unique exhibition series that splits the talented players up into Red and White teams for what will be three exciting and intense match-ups this week.

Agosta-Marciano’s marker came on a power play in the last 12 seconds of the first, after the puck flew up and down the ice through much of the period. But what was their fourth penalty of the period ended up costing Red that opening series goal.

But Red came out in the second with a more disciplined attitude on the ice, and Rebecca Johnston (Sudbury, Ont./Toronto, CWHL) was able to even it up with an unassisted marker at 7:21 in the period.

Despite White being the team to be sent to the box more in the latter half of the game, with five penalties in the middle frame alone, they were still able to keep up enough offensive pressure to take back the lead. Vicki Bendus (Wasaga Beach, Ont./Brampton, CWHL) made it 2-1 at 17:06 on assists from Caroline Ouellette (Montreal, Que./Montreal, CWHL) and Sarah Edney (Mississauga, Ont./Harvard University, ECAC).

Red pulled Shannon Szabados (Edmonton, Alta./Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, ACAC) in the dying seconds of the game in an attempt to equal it up, but White’s Gillian Apps (Unionville, Ont./Brampton, CWHL) took advantage of the empty net, notching her goal in the final four seconds of the game for the 3-1 win.

Szabados shared Red’s netminding duties with Charline Labonte (Boisbriand, Que./Montreal, CWHL), who made a combined 19 saves on the game, while White’s Genevieve Lacasse (Kingston, Ont./Boston, CWHL) stopped 32 shots over all three periods.

Red will have its chance for vengeance, however, when they take on White again Thursday, Aug. 22, again at Markin MacPhail Centre, with the puck once again dropping at 7 p.m. MT. Follow live game updates at www.Twitter.com/HC_Women.