Top-ranked Gryphons, No. 4 Martlets open CIS women’s hockey tournament with wins

CALGARY – Averi Nooren scored twice to lift the top-ranked Guelph Gryphons to a 3-0 quarter-final win over St. Thomas at the CIS women’s hockey championship Thursday.

Katherine Bailey assisted on both goals while Marcie Landman also scored for Guelph. Jessica Pellegrino added a pair of assists.

UBC beat McGill 4-2 in the second quarter-final later Thursday.

In the opener, Valerie Lamenta made 18 saves in the shutout while Tommies goaltender Taylor Cook stopped 26 shots.

The Gryphons are gunning for their first CIS women’s hockey crown after enjoying their best season in program history.

“It’s nice to get a win, I’m not sure the last time a Guelph team actually won a game at Nationals,” said Gryphons head coach Rachel Flanagan. “We learned a lot from the experience last year. We felt like after the first period we had some chances and we came away with no score. For us it was just a matter of sticking with the process and trust that it’s going to come.”

The Gryphons finished atop the CIS this season with a 21-2-1 record. They captured their first conference banner since 1998 with five wins in six playoff games.

In the second game, Kathleen Cahoon scored twice to lead No. 4 UBC over No. 5 McGill.

Hannah Clayton-Carroll and Logan Boyd also scored for the Thunderbirds, while Danielle Dube made 32 saves.

Gabrielle Davidson and Melodie Daoust scored for McGill. Taylor Hough stopped 17 shots.

The quarter-finals wrap Friday with No. 6 Western versus No. 3 Saint Mary’s andNo. 7 Calgary versus No. 2 Montreal.