The No. 9 nationally-ranked Varsity Blues women's hockey team defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks 4-0 on Saturday (Jan. 6) night at Varsity Arena.
 
The Blues had their legs moving from the moment the puck was dropped and were rewarded for it by drawing a penalty in the opening three minutes of the game. Seconds after the powerplay expired a scramble in front of Laurier's net led to second-year forward Kailtyn McKnight's fifth goal of the season to give the Blues a 1-0 lead in the opening five minutes of the game.
 
As the period continued the Blues and Golden Hawks exchanged qualities chances but goaltenders Erica Fryer and Acadia Carlson put up strong performances in their respective creases to keep the score at 1-0 until the late stages of the period. In the final minutes of the period, McKnight won a puck battle along the boards giving it to captain Taylor Trussler who dished it back to McKnight for her second goal of the opening frame.
 
The Blues kept their momentum going throughout the game despite a scoreless second period. Midway through the final frame, third-year forward Katy McKenna sprinted down the ice to beat a Laurier defender to the puck while the Blues were on the penalty kill, setting up a lurking Nikki McDonald who shot the puck top shelf to give the Blues a 3-0 lead. 
 
As the Blues continued to apply pressure in the offensive zone, Trussler redirected a pass from third-year defender Olivia Hilton into the back of the net and put Toronto up by four.
 
The Blues continued to play a strong defensive game as the rest of the third went on as Fryer finished the game with 19 saves to pick up her second shutout of the weekend.
 
After picking up the win at home, the Blues will now turn their attention to Friday (Jan. 12) night when they head to Waterloo to take on the Warriors. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on oua.tv.