Canadian women come out strong with 3-1 pre-competition win over Gatineau

PETAWAWA, Ont. – Military families filled the stands at Silver Dart Arena to watch Canada’s National Women’s Team top the Gatineau Junior B Mustangs 3-1 in pre-competition action Thursday at CFB Petawawa.

For the past three days, Team Canada’s red and white have mixed with army shades of green at this military base situated in the Ottawa Valley, as the top female players across the country train for the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship, coming to the nation’s capital starting next Tuesday.

That training included Thursday night’s exhibition game against the Junior B boys from Gatineau, which drew in an excited crowd into the rink on base, despite the chilly temperatures inside, including starry-eyed autograph seekers. Young and old hockey fans alike watched eagerly as the Canadian women’s hockey stars flew up and down the ice, not just keeping pace with the boys, but in the end beating them 3-1 on the scoreboard.

Meghan Agosta-Marciano (Ruthven, Ont./Montreal, CWHL) opened the scoring at 15:49 in the first, putting a pretty goal into the Gatineau net after accepting a pass out front from Bailey Bram (Ste-Anne, Man./Brampton, CWHL). Haley Irwin (Thunder Bay, Ont./Montreal, CWHL) also assisted.

Gatineau managed to even it up at 1:46 in the second, with Joey Mazerolle putting it past Charline Labonté (Boisbriand, Que./Montreal, CWHL), but that’s all she and her Canadian teammates would allow for the remainder of the game.

Agosta and Irwin combined for another goal just over a minute later, with Agosta feeding it to Tessa Bonhomme (Sudbury, Ont./Toronto, CWHL), who put it out front to Irwin for the game-winner. The Canadian women kept it out of their zone and played a strong penalty kill throughout, holding off Gatineau through the rest of the second and the third.

Jayna Hefford (Kingston, Ont./Brampton, CWHL) sealed the deal in the final 42 seconds on the clock, with an unassisted marker for the 3-1 final score.

Canada’s next pre-world championship exhibition game is Saturday, March 30 at Pembroke Memorial Centre in Pembroke, Ont. The puck drops at 7 p.m. ET. Follow @HC_Women on Twitter for live updates from the game.