Canada staved off a four game sweep of the Rivalry Series using a big performance from Ann-Renee Desbiens and timely scoring to take a 3-2 in in Sarnia, Ontario.
Canada staved off a four game sweep of the Rivalry Series using a big performance from Ann-Renee Desbiens and timely scoring to take a 3-2 in in Sarnia, Ontario.
SARNIA, ON - Canada showed signs of life Saturday in Sarnia, Ontario earning their first win of the 2023-2024 Rivalry Series, staving off a four game sweep at the hands of Team USA with a 3-2 shootout win.
"We stuck with it," said head coach Troy Ryan after the game. "[Ann-Renee Desbiens] gave us the time to sort some things out offensively, any time you get goaltedning like that, you're going to have a chance to win.
Desbiens stopped 24 shots in regulation and all five shooters in the shootout. It was only her third game this season after returning from injury.
In the opening frame, USA and Canada were both stymied by the spectacular netminding of Nicole Hensley for the USA and Ann-Renee Desbiens for Canada.
To open the scoring in the second, USA jumped on a puck shorthanded with Kelly Pannek carrying the length of the ice and finding Megan Keller who joined the play to beat Desbiens.
Early in the third, Alex Carpenter redirected a Cayla Barnes saucer pass with one hand out of mid air that alluded Desbiens to give USA a 2-0 lead, but Canada was not done.
Outracing USA's defenders, Danielle Serdachny found the back of the net chipping a puck over Nicole Hensley. Just over two minutes later the puck landed on Ella Shelton's stick who made no mistake beating Hensley high glove side to tie the game 2-2. If not for Desbiens' play in net, Canada may not have had the opportunity to storm back.
"Obviously the more I play the better I feel," Desbiens said. "We needed a win today so I was just trying to keep the team in and then we found a way to score two big goals at the end."
In the shootout, only Marie-Philip Poulin was able to score beating Hensley on her backhand. Desbiens turned away all five shooters she faced from Team USA to lift Canada to the win.
USA now leads the 2023-2024 Rivalry Series 3-1.