Box Score The Varsity Blues women’s hockey team fell 5-2 to the Laurier Golden Hawks on Sunday, October 14 at Varsity Arena.
 
With the loss, the Blues fall to 2-1-1 on the season, while the Golden Hawks improve to 3-1-0, and move past Toronto in the OUA standings.
 
The Blues got goals from team captain Kelly O’Hanlon (Markham, Ont.), and rookie forward Taylor Day (Ilderton, Ont.), who scored her first career goal in the Blue and White.
 
Nicole Kesteris (Aurora, Ont.) stood tall in net. The third-year Blues goaltender made 44 saves and gave the Blues a chance to win the game, despite being outshot 49-25.
 
The Blues had several quality opportunities in the first, including a breakaway from Courtney Tougas (Thunder Bay, Ont.). Tougas fought off a Laurier defender and rifled a shot high off Golden Hawks netminder Erika Thunder’s shoulder. The puck then rolled towards the goal line but was swept away before any Blues player could reach it.
 
The Golden Hawks opened the scoring shortly after, when defenceman Fiona Lester took advantage of a fortunate bounce in the slot and chipped the puck home at 7:20 of the first period.
 
The Blues would get on the board with a powerplay goal in the second frame. With the score 2-0 in favour of the Golden Hawks, O’Hanlon tipped a pass from Toronto native Sonja Weidenfelder that slid underneath Thunder to cut the deficit to one.

They were unable to muster any further offence in the period, however, and with 11:12 left, Hawks forward Laura Brooker broke in alone and roofed a backhand to put Laurier up 3-1.
 
Kesteris kept the game from slipping away in the third, as she turned away 18 shots to hold the score at 4-1. Then, with only 2:57 left in the final frame, Day tipped a point shot from Marlie McLaughlin (Ottawa, Ont.) past Thunder to give the Blues life.

With two minutes remaining, and a faceoff in the Golden Hawks end, Toronto pulled Kesteris for the extra attacker, but was unable to get the puck to the net.

Devon Skeats found the empty net shortly after to seal the win for the Golden Hawks.

The Hawks were led by Laura Brooker, who had two goals and an assist en route to being named the games first star.

The Blues return to action this Friday, October 19, when they host the Western Mustangs at Varsity Arena. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.

The University of Toronto is the proud host of the 2013 CIS women’s hockey championship, March 7-10, at Varsity Arena.
  
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