2008 National Women's Under-18 Championship

DAOUST’S DRAMATIC GOAL SENDS QUEBEC TO GOLD MEDAL GAME

NAPANEE, ON – It doesn’t get much more exciting than that.

Mélodie Daoust (Valleyfield, QC/Selects) scored her second goal of the game when it mattered most - with a trip to the gold medal final on the line.

Daoust jammed in a rebound off a Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, QC/Blues de Dawson) shot at 6:35 of double overtime as Team Quebec beat Ontario Blue 5-4. The win sent Quebec to Sunday’s final of the 2008 National Women’s Under-18 Championship.

“Poulin got a shot on net,” said Daoust after the game. “I drove to the net and took the rebound and quickly got a shot off.”

The goal ended a marathon battle between Quebec and Ontario Blue, which was trying to reach the final of this event one year after finishing in eighth place.

Quebec seemed to be headed for a regulation win after a goal by Vanessa Plante (Rivière-du-Loup, QC/Titans de Limoilou) at 16:19 of the third, which broke a 3-3 tie.

But in the last minute of the game, with its goaltender out of the net, Hannah Armstrong (Sharon, ON/Markham-Stoufville Stars) scored on a goal-mouth scramble, sending the game into extra time.

Audrey Gariépy (Mascouche, QC/Blues de Dawson) opened the scoring at 7:42 of the first period and Quebec led 1-0 after 20 minutes. Taylor Horton (St. Thomas, ON/Bluewater Hawks, PWHL) got Ontario Blue on the board at 17:04. Quebec led 2-1 after two.

Five goals were scored in the third period, beginning with Daoust’s first of the game at 3:01. Just 16 seconds later, Bree Polci (London, ON/Toronto Aeros, PWHL) scored for Ontario Blue to cut Quebec’s lead to one. Armstrong scored her first of two goals for Ontario Blue at 10:15, a shorthanded marker that tied up the game at 3-3.

That set the stage for the dramatic conclusion, with Quebec taking a brief lead, Ontario Blue tying it late, and Daoust ending it to send Quebec to the gold medal final.