Varsity Blues women’s hockey team captain Karolina Urban scored the lone goal in a 10-player, sudden death shootout to secure a 4-3 victory over the Western Mustangs on Sunday, January 31 at Thompson Arena.
Urban of Kamloops, B.C. stepped up under pressure and scored her second of the game, snapping a shot over the shoulder of Western goaltender Jessica Ulrich (Keswick, Ont.) to seal the win for Toronto.
With only four regular season games remaining, the Blues improve to 12-9-2 and remain in fifth place, with the Mustangs right behind them in sixth with a 9-11-4 record.
After a back-and-forth opening frame, the Mustangs got on the board when Brittany Buck (Etobicoke, Ont.) scored with just 44 seconds remaining before the first intermission.
Despite running into penalty trouble, the Blues were able to take the lead with two shorthanded tallies in the second period. Urban evened the score off a pass from defenceman Bianca Mirabelli (Oakville, Ont.) at 13:25 mark and Amanda Fawns (Scarborough, Ont.) followed suit just over four minutes later with her first goal of the season.
Fawns extended Toronto’s lead with her second of the game in the opening minutes of the third period, however U of T would again find themselves plagued by penalties and the Mustangs took full advantage.
Second-year forward Katie Dillion (Oshawa, Ont.) tallied a powerplay marker to bring the Mustangs within one 5:05 into the third and London, Ont. native Jamie Carver tied the game on a man-advantage with just over three minutes remaining in regulation.
The overtime period would solve nothing as neither team were able to generate a good scoring opportunity.
Blues goaltender Kendyl Valenta (Brampton, Ont.) earned her sixth win of the season, posting 16 saves and denying all five players she faced in the shootout.
The Varsity Blues return to action next Saturday, February 6 when they host the No. 2 Laurier Golden Hawks in their 3rd annual Think Pink game at Varsity Arena. The puck drops at 4 p.m.
For more information, scores and highlights on your favourite Toronto teams, please visit the home of the Varsity Blues at http://www.varsityblues.ca.
