2012 National Women's Under-18 Championship

GIGUÈRE HAS HAT TRICK TO HELP QUEBEC TOP ALBERTA 5-1 AT NATIONALS

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. – Elizabeth Giguère (Quebec City, Que.) opened and closed the scoring for Quebec, collecting a hat trick Thursday morning en route to her team’s first victory at the 2012 National Women’s Under-18 Championship, an impressive 5-1 win over Alberta.

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Giguère’s first goal came at 15:52 in the first, sending the Quebec bench into a massive celebration, and quickly turning disappointment from yesterday’s tough 4-2 loss to Ontario Blue into excitement for what’s to come this week in Dawson Creek.

From then on out, it was a fast-paced affair on the ice at the EnCana Events Centre, with a colourful crowd joining in on team cheering as the puck flew back and forth, whistles were blown and buzzers sounded.

Although Alberta couldn’t find the back of the Quebec net by the time the clock ticked down on the period, Eden Murray (Medicine Hat, Alta.) was able to feed the puck to Hannah Oleynk (Cochrane, Alta.) just 30 seconds into the period to even the score at one-apiece.

The arena buzzed with excitement throughout the middle frame, as Quebec and Alberta both battled hard to break the tie, and created solid chances in their offensive zones. But it was defenceman Catherine Daoust (Île-Bizard, Que.) to put the puck past the goal line first, making it 2-1 in the final two minutes of the period.

After Quebec gained the edged, they worked hard to keep it, with Giguère getting her second goal of the game on a power-play at 2:44 in the third, and team captain Catherine Dubois (Quebec City, Que.) putting her team up by three at 15:33 in the period.

Giguère’s third and final goal came in the last 44 seconds of the game, with Quebec players all smiles as the clock ticked down to make their first win in Dawson Creek.

Quebec takes on Manitoba at 10 a.m. on Friday, while Alberta faces off against Ontario Blue on Day 3 of this year’s national championship. Can’t make it to Dawson Creek to see the under-18 female action in person' Check out FASTHockey at www.hockeycanada.fasthockey.com to find out how to watch the game live from the comfort of your home.

Penalties:
   10:52 QC 27 Marie-Pascale Bernier (Roughing)
   18:16 QC 18 Emile Breton (Bodychecking)

Penalties:
   12:43 QC 20 Melina Roy (Slashing)

Penalties:
   01:28 AB 15 Caitlin Fyten (Interference)
   16:26 QC 25 Stéphanie Lalancette (Roughing)
   19:53 AB 9 Kathleen Cahoon (Bodychecking)