The Windsor Lancer women's hockey team hosted the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday afternoon at the Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex.  The visiting Blues were able to seize the day with a 6-2 victory over the Lancers spoiling the blue and gold's final regular season game.
 
Prior to the game the Lancers honoured their graduating seniors, Aubrey Lefler and Mia DiNardo.  
 
STATS
Emily Eikelboom scored her third goal of the season with assists that came from Jessica Gribbon and the recognized graduating senior Lefler. 
 
KayCyn Hernandez scored her first OUA goal in the second period where Maggi DeWolf-Russ picked up an assist on the mid-game marker. 
 
Kristin Swiatoschik made 14 saves in the loss to the Blues. 
 
Toronto had three of their goals scored by Kaitlyn McKnight who netted a hattrick performance to lead the way in Windsor.  Abby Howland, Taylor Trussler, and Nikki McDonald also scored for the Blues who were wearing white while on the road.
 
Amherstburg's own Erica Fryer stopped 10 shots faced between the Toronto net's pipes helping her team win with an impressive individual performance in front of her local area fans and the hometown crowd.
 
GAME FLOW
There was no scoring in the first period as both goaltenders turned aside all shots faced in their crease to keep the game deadlocked at nil-nil after a scoreless 20 minutes of play. 
 
The second period is when the goals started to come out as Eikelboom lit the lamp first in favour of Windsor to go up 1-0 just out of the first intermission at 1:16 of the second frame.  The Varsity Blues would respond almost immediately as at 2:35 Howland found the back of the net while shorthanded dishing a shot past Swiatoschik to tie the game back up at one goal apiece.
 
Toronto would then find more scoring at 8:23 when McKnight began her scoring run netting her first of the game on the powerplay to give her team a 2-1 lead.
 
The trailing Lancers determined not to fail in their final outing of the regular season managed to blow off the brief Toronto lead at the exact 9-minute mark is when Hernandez scored her first career OUA goal to bring her squad's spirits back up knotted up at 2-2.
 
Things began to unravel for the Lancers after that however when Trussler scored a go-ahead goal at 14:11 of the second period to regain the lead for her group who then went up 3-2.
 
With a one-goal lead intact coming out of the second intermission, the Blues wasted no time getting the scoring going again as at the 24 second mark of the third McKnight buried her second powerplay goal of the game to take a 4-2 lead.
 
With the Lancers down by double, they needed to find an answer if they were to complete a comeback on Senior's Day.  But that was not the case for them as McKnight would put away her third powerplay marker completing the hat trick at 11:16 to deflate the hopes of the Lancer ladies who were now down 5-2 to Toronto.
 
With McKnight doing damage on the powerplay the Lancers were unable to find the scoreboard again despite pulling their goalie for an extra attacker which resulted in an additional goal for the Blues when McDonald got her tally at 13:17 into the empty net while shorthanded to all but seal the deal at 6-2 Blues.
 
The clock would expire after 60 minutes of hockey played with the Blues ultimately handing the four-goal loss to the Lancers who end their regular season with a record of 15-11-1 seeded third in the OUA West standings heading into the post-season where they will now shift their focus towards their playoff opponent.
 
UP NEXT
Playoff information will be posted at goLancers.ca as soon as it becomes available. Stay tuned for more info.