Weekend Preview: Women's hockey closes out fall semester with home game versus Gaels

This Sunday afternoon two powerhouse programs in the OUA renew their acquaintances to close out the fall semester in style. In an Old Four rivalry matchup the Western Mustangs face the first place Queen’s Gaels in what has the making to be an instant classic.

Queen’s currently sits at the top of the OUA and ranks fourth in the CIS with a 13-1-1 record with their only regular season loss coming at the hands of the Mustangs on November 4 in Kingston. Western is fourth in the OUA with 11-3-1 mark listed in eighth in the latest CIS Top 10.

The Mustangs enter Sunday’s matchup riding a three game winning streak that’ highlighted by a 2-1 overtime victory over last year’s OUA Champs and the perennial powerhouse Laurier Golden Hawks. Western is only four points behind Queen’s and a win will tighten the gap even further as they head into final exams.

The Gaels come in as one of the best teams in all the CIS. They have started the season hot and after the loss to Western early in November Queen’s has gone on a five game winning streak. Queen’s comes into the game sporting an impressive plus 39 goal differential combining their explosive scoring with stingy defence. Scoring for the Gaels has come from a bevy of players including Morgan McHaffie with nine goals and 14 assists and Taryn Pilon with nine goals and eight assists to lead the high powered attack.

Their goaltending duo of Karissa Savage and Melanie Dodd-Moher have been lights out earning seven shutouts between the two while both having saving percentage north of .940 with their goals against average both hovering very near the 1.00 mark. If Western looks to notch another victory they will need to find a way to get the puck behind these two standout goaltenders.

The Mustangs come into this game sitting fourth in the OUA only four points behind division leading Queen’s. Leading the Western offence are the trio of Kryshandra Green, Katelyn Gosling and Stacey Scott, with Green talling 15 points while Gosling and Scott come in with 14 points respectively.

Defensively, Western has relied on the goaltending of Kelly Campbell for the majority of the season and she sports a 1.88 goals against average and a .947 save percentage including three shutouts. When she hasn’t been on the ice Olivia Ross has been up to the task in her four appearances sporting a .941 save percentage and a 1.93 goals against average. No matter who is between the pipes goaltending will be a key factor in Sunday’s contest.

The clash between these two hockey Titans can be seen Sunday, December 2 at 4:00 p.m. at Thompson Arena. The game will be live streamed on MustangsTV on the SSN Canada website.

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