Introduction:
The Lancer women's hockey team opened up the 2023 year on Friday night with a 3-1 victory against the Brock Badgers at the Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex. The blue and gold previously played the Badgers on Nov. 12th where they also won the game 4-2.
 
Stats:
The blue and gold's forward, Jessica Gribbon led the way with 2 goals. Defensively, Lancer goalie Kristen Swiatoschik made 21 saves out of 22 shots on net for the win.
The win improves the Lancers' record to 13-8-1 on the season while Brock falls to 5-10-0 overall.
 
Game Flow:
To open up the game, Windsor got off to a quick start to get into the Brock zone and create scoring opportunities. It took only 4 minutes until Jessica Gribbon was able to shoot early and gain the Lancers first lead 1-0. Lancer goaltender, Kristen Swiatoschik, would also face some gritty scoring chances made by Brock's Marisa Freeman and Julianna Parks but was able to easily turn away the puck. After both teams were called for cross checking and slashing penalties, the Lancers would look to gain momentum with the pressure on. At 8:11, Maggie Peterson, Jaden Cherry and Keana McKibbin connected as McKibbin grabbed the blue and gold's second goal of the night. In the last 2 minutes of play in the 1^st period, Elissa Benjamin jumped out in front of Madison Cronkwright to set up Jessica Gribbon for her second goal of the night and Windsor headed into the first intermission with a 3-0 lead.
In the second period, the Lancers looked to remain in control of the game while the Badgers were on the hunt for some more offensive action. A major hit gave the blue and gold a 5-minute powerplay to attempt to get past the Badgers goalie, Kenzie Harmison, yet Windsor could not capitalize on their chances. Back to even strength, neither team could find their way successfully past the goalies and the Lancers once again went into the locker room up 3-0.
The third period had the blue and gold start and the Badgers looking to strike first. With a quick fire off the wrist of Claudia Murphy, she was able to get the better of Swiatoschik for Brock's first goal of the game and shortened the Lancer's gap, now 3-1. As Windsor struggled to make any more shot attempts, the Lancers held on to their lead to limit any further efforts by the Badgers to solidify a 3-1 win and strong start to the new year.
With the win, Windsor will look forward to a rematch against the Brock Badgers when they host the team on Saturday, January 7th at 7:30 pm at the CPRC. The game can be seen live on OUA.tv and tickets can be purchased from goLancers.ca/tickets.