OUA all-stars defeat Canada under-18 team

TORONTO – Canada's National Women's Under-18 Team kicked off its pre-world championship schedule on Tuesday night, falling 4-2 to a team of Ontario University Athletics all-stars in the first of two pre-tournament games at the Mastercard Centre.

Christine Bestland (Brunkild, Man./Pursuit of Excellence, Midget AAA) and Jillian Saulnier (Halifax, N.S./Toronto, PWHL) scored the goals for the Canadians, who got into penalty trouble in the second period and saw a 1-0 lead turn into a 3-1 deficit.

Canada came out firing in the first period, and was rewarded just 4:20 in when Bestland followed her shot to the net and tucked a rebound around OUA goaltender Liz Knox. But that was all the Canadians could muster in the opening 20 minutes against Knox, a former member of the National Women's Under-22 Team.

The OUA pulled even on the power play just 1:46 into the second period, as Manon Davis buried a rebound past Canadian netminder Erica Howe (Orleans, Ont./Ottawa, PWHL), and took its first lead at 15:25 when Alison Bagg's point shot beat a screened Carmen MacDonald (Pictou, N.S./Westminster School, U.S. Prep), who had replaced Howe just minutes earlier.

The lead became two just over two minutes later when a shot from Ellie Seedhouse banked off the skate of Brenly Jorgenson and past MacDonald to make it 3-1 on another OUA man advantage, but Saulnier reduced the deficit to one with a solo effort in the dying seconds of the middle frame.

Candice Styles, a member of last year's National Women's Under-18 Team, wrapped up the scoring just shy of the seven-minute mark of the third period, depositing an Andrea Ironside rebound past MacDonald.

Despite a 5-on-3 for 67 seconds in the middle of the period, Canada could get no closer than two goals.

The Canadians wrap up pre-tournament play on Wednesday night at the Mastercard Centre, taking on a team of Ontario Women's Hockey Association all-stars at 6:30 p.m. ET, before departing for Chicago and the 2010 IIHF World Women's Under-18 Championship on Thursday.

BOXSCORE

Source: Hockey Canada