IRWIN AND BENDUS BOOST RED TO WIN OVER WHITE IN FIRST PERIOD BLAST

CALGARY, Alta. – Coming off an ankle injury that had her sitting out for Canada’s gold medal win at last season’s world championship in April, Haley Irwin (Thunder Bay, Ont./Montreal, CWHL)  came back to the ice with a spring in her skates to start the 2012-13 season, getting her stick on the puck and the puck into the back of White’s net to open the scoring in Red’s 2-1 win Tuesday night, and at this year’s week-long National Women’s Team September Camp/Fall Festival.

Irwin capitalized on a scramble out front to make it 1-0 at 14:33 in the first, on an assist from first-time senior women’s camp attendee Sarah Lefort (Ormstown, Que./Boston University, HE). That early game energy seemed to be contagious for Red, which jumped on a power-play chance when Vicki Bendus (Wasaga Beach, Ont./Brampton, CWHL) took a pass out front from Gillian Apps (Unionville, Ont./Brampton, CWHL) to snipe it past the White goal line and make it 2-0 in the final sixteen seconds of the period.

But after a stumbling start for White, it was Red turn’s to get into penalty trouble in the second, with two players sent to the box within a minute of a half of each other. Assistant captain Tessa Bonhomme (Sudbury, Ont./Toronto, CWHL) capitalized on opportunity by reading the ice and accepting the puck from fellow blueliner Erin Ambrose (Keswick, Ont./Clarkson University, ECAC) before burying it into the Red net and narrowing the gap to 2-1 at 6:31 in the period.

Both Red and White had shaken the cobwebs of their skates when the puck dropped on the third, for a fast-pace final frame in the first exhibition game of Canada’s National Women’s Team September Camp/Fall Festival, taking place this week at Hockey Canada’s home arena in Calgary.

The two instrasquad teams have less than a day to prepare before hitting the ice again, this time against AAA teams from the Alberta Midget Hockey League, with Red facing off against the UFA Bisons at 5 p.m. MT and White taking on the Red Deer Rebels at 8:15 p.m., both Wednesday at the at the WinSport Canada Athletic & Ice Complex. Follow @HC_TeamCanada for live game updates from the rink.