RECAP: The Gee-Gees hold onto Alerts Cup with 2-1 Colonel By Classic victory, MacKay earns shutout against McGill

The Gee-Gees women's hockey team put together a notably great weekend, earning a shutout against the Martlets before returning to Ottawa and hoisting the Alerts Cup for the second year in a row. 

Heading to Montreal to face McGill for the second time this season, rookie goaltender Lauren MacKay was between the pipes for the Gee-Gees. 

Stopping 31 shots on Saturday afternoon, MacKay logged a shutout against the Martlets.

Béatrice Bilodeau, Alyssa Biesenthal, and Alexe Clavelle were the three goal scorers, contributing to the Gee-Gees first win of the weekend.

On Sunday, the Gee-Gees met the Ravens at TD Place for the 2023-24 edition of the Colonel By Classic. While it was the teams' third meeting of the season, there was a different intensity to the rivalry game with the Alerts Cup on the line, fans of both teams filing into TD Place, and memories of last season's contest going to overtime. 

Katherine Birkby's diving effort late in the opening period put the Gee-Gees on the board first and marking Birkby's first goal of the season.

"The progress from [Birkby] is amazing, going from just being a team member to being a team star," said Co-Coach Greg Bowles.

Birkby now leads the team with seven points, logging six assists throughout their first nine games. 

Shooting the puck low, Arianne Gagnon snuck the puck past the Raven's goaltender to give the Gee-Gees a 2-0 lead. Amélia Laplante and Angelique Proulx earned the assists on Gagnon's powerplay goal.

While the Ravens managed to add a powerplay goal of their own, the Gee-Gees held onto their lead and earned the rights to lift the Alerts Cup again.

The two wins snap the five-game losing streak Ottawa was fighting. Of those losses, the most notable is a double overtime loss to the #1 ranked team in the country, the Concordia Stingers.

"Sometimes scores don't necessarily show everything and there's been some games we haven't been happy with and that's part of the process. We can lose a game to Concordia and not be too upset with it, but then we can win a game against McGill or even Carleton and have some things to work on Monday or Tuesday," Bowles said. "The scores are only an indication of point, not of progress."

The Gee-Gees have another home and away weekend coming up as they hit the road to take on the Bishop's Gaiters on Nov. 24^th before welcoming the Montreal Carabins back to Minto Sports Complex on Nov. 26^th for a 2 p.m. puck drop. Tickets are available at https://teams.geegees.ca/tickets.