Étoiles de Laurentides-Lanaudière 3, Fraser Valley Rush 1

• Béatrice Plouffe (Repentigny, Que.) was spectacular in goal for Laurentides-Lanaudière, earning player of the game honours with a 36-save performance.
• Ann-Laurence Dutil (Rosemère, Que.), Loélie Lachapelle (L’Assomption, Que.) and Anaïs Leprohon (Saint-Sauveur, Que.) provided the offence for the Étoiles.

Regina Rebels 7, Northern Selects 3

• Six different skaters scored for the Rebels, including a pair of goals from Greta Henderson (Regina, Sask.), as it secured its second win in as many nights.
• Lily Leblanc (Antigonish, N.S.) chipped in with a pair of assists for the Selects.

Stoney Creek Sabres 6, Prince Albert Bears 1

• Jaela Carter (Niagara Falls, Ont.) turned in a four-point performance (1G, 3A) for the Sabres;
• Holly Vannetten (Simcoe, Ont.) and Caileigh Tiller (St. Catharines, Ont.) chipped in with three points apiece for Stoney Creek.
• Ella Clarke (Saskatoon, Sask.) scored the lone goal for Prince Albert.

Final preliminary round standings:

Next Games (Friday, April 28):

Semifinal #1: Northern Selects vs. Stoney Creek Sabres – 3:30 p.m. MT/5:30 p.m. ET

Semifinal #2: Regina Rebels vs. Fraser Valley Rush – 7 p.m. MT/9 p.m. ET

Both semifinals and the bronze medal game can be live-streamed at HockeyCanada.ca. TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast the gold medal game on April 28 at 4 p.m. MT/6 p.m. ET. To download game highlights from the 2023 Esso Cup, please CLICK HERE.

Quotes:

“It was really special to play in this tournament. Unfortunately, we lost our first two games, but after that we really stepped up our play and were able to win some games. Before the game, I told the team that even if we are not going for [the trophy], we are going all in to win this game and finish the tournament strong. This victory [against Fraser Valley] proved that we can compete with and beat top teams in Canada, and I think we showed how strong we are despite being a young team.”

-      Plouffe on playing at the Esso Cup and the strength of the Étoiles 

“We talked to our team and told them we need some of our players to have break-out games, and they did that today. We need all our players playing their best heading into elimination games. We have a few things we can clean up defensively, but hopefully we have a little more confidence on the offensive side after today’s win.”

-      Regina Rebels head coach Mike Merk (Regina, Sask.) on the mindset heading into the semifinals

“I have been trying to be more confident in myself and take the space on the ice when it is given to me. I wanted to drive wide through the neutral zone and decided I could take [the puck] all the way to the net. I just shot a little backhander and it went in.                 

“Lately we have been a little hard on ourselves, and there has been some stress from being in such a big tournament. I think a game like tonight where we played well and competed hard together was huge for our confidence.”

-      Carter on her goal and finishing the preliminary round with a win

For more information on Hockey Canada and the 2023 Esso Cup, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along through social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and by using #EssoCup.