Alouettes, Cardinals tied at 1 each in hockey finals

It should come as no surprise that twins Taylor and Meagan McGaughey, and close friend Mélisa Kingsley, enjoy outstanding chemistry on the ice.

For as long as anyone can remember, the three have often been linemates with the Sudbury Lady Wolves teams with which they have suited up.

And while the trio has learned to operate independently, skating alongside a variety of teammates with the Midget AA squad the past two years, the reunion of the three can often pay immediate dividends.

That was the case on Wednesday for the Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes. With Kingsley and the McGaugheys accounting for three of the four goals, and, perhaps more importantly, completely bottling up the St. Charles College Cardinals in the final 50 seconds of play, CND evened the best of three city finals at a game apiece.

After dropping a 4-3 decision on Tuesday, the Alouettes produced a mirror-image effort, edging the Cardinals 4-3 some 24 hours later. Each member of the top Notre-Dame line scored once, with Kiana Verbiwski adding what would be the eventual game-winner.

Caitlin Olive-Ferguson, Summer Butterfly and Renée Auger countered for the Cards, with that final tally coming with just 52 seconds remaining. At that point, CND coach Denis Piquette immediately threw out the tandem of McGaughey-McGaughey-Kingsley, with the puck never leaving the St Charles zone, until the final buzzer sounded.

"It was more of a team effort today, all the lines were going strong," noted Taylor McGaughey. "Everybody has an important role on the team."

And like most of the competitive female hockey players who find time to merge their commitment to their high school teams with their first priority with the Lady Wolves, McGaughey uses the setting to work on specific parts of her game.

"My game changes a little bit out here," she smiled. "Maybe a little less back-check, more offensive-minded, trying to find the back of the net a little more." After running the table with an unbeaten record, including three regular season wins over St. Charles, some wondered if the Notre-Dame crew might have taken the Cardinals a little too lightly in Game 1 on Tuesday.

"I wouldn't say that we were over-confident," maintained McGaughey. "But we had gotten used to playing teams that are not as strong as St. Charles. It proved to be a little bit more of a challenge, especially yesterday."

The third and deciding game in this series is set for Thursday at 3 p.m. at the Carmichael Arena, though both teams are heading to North Bay next week, fighting it out for the NOSSA AAA/AAAA banner and a trip to Ottawa from March 9-12.