OUA ALL STARS EDGE CANADA WITH SHOOTOUT VICTORY IN CAMP FINALE

MORGAN BELL

HAMILTON, Ont. – Ryleigh Houston (Winnipeg, Man./Balmoral Hall School, JWHL) scored for the second game in a row and Canada took a one-goal lead to the third period before dropping a 5-4 decision to the OUA All-Stars on Sunday in the second of two games at Canada’s National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp.

The difference was a pair of shootouts, held after the first period and overtime, with goals counting towards the final score; the OUA scored three times, while the Canadians converted just once.

Elizabeth Giguère (Quebec City, Que./Limoilou, CEGEP) and Micah Hart (Saanichton, B.C./Okanagan Hockey Academy, JWHL) also scored in regulation time for the Canadians, while Valérie Audet (St-Bruno-de-Montarville, Que./Dawson College, CEGEP) added a goal in the first shootout.

Katelyn Gosling and Taryn Pilon had third-period goals for the OUA All-Stars, which got two shootout goals from Jessica Fickle –one in each – and one from Laura Brooker to earn the win.

Houston’s unassisted effort, her third goal in two games, was the lone marker of the first period, although the game went into the first intermission tied 2-2 thanks to Fickle and Brooker.

Giguère restored the Canadian lead just short of the five-minute mark of the second period, taking a pass from Lindsay Agnew (Oakville, Ont./Mississauga, PWHL) and snapping a shot past OUA goaltender Nicole Kesteris for a 3-2 advantage.

The lead would last until the 7:26 mark of the third; Gosling’s shot from the point bounced off a Canadian defender and found the back of the net past Carly Jackson (Amherst, N.S./Cumberland County, NSJHL) at 7:26, but Hart answered at 13:56, going five-hole on Kesteris to make it 4-3.

The OUA replied exactly three minutes after Hart’s goal, with Pilon beating Jackson to force overtime.

A goalless extra five minutes gave way to a shootout, with Jackson and Kesteris combining to stop the first five shooters before Fickle netted the game-winner on the OUA’s third attempt.

Kesteris earned the win in goal for the CIS, making 29 saves in regulation and overtime, while Kristen Campbell (Brandon, Man./Shaftesbury Academy, CAHS) turned away all 15 shots she faced in regulation before being replaced by Jackson, who stopped 12 of 14.

Following the selection camp, 23 players will be selected to represent Canada at the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship, Jan. 5-12 in Buffalo, N.Y., where the Canadians will go after their fourth consecutive world title.