GRANADA, Spain – Brittney Fouracres, a McGill defenceman who hails from Calgary, Alta., scored once and Western rearguard Katelyn Gosling recorded four assists as Canada skated to a decisive 7-1 victory over Kazakhstan during the women's hockey opener of the 2015 FISU World University Games at the Mulhacen Pavilion in Granada, Spain, on Wednesday.
 
Seven different players found the back of the net for Canada in the first-ever game between the two teams at the Winter Universiade, and the Canucks have now earned a berth into a semi-final. Canada currently sits atop the Pool B standings with a 1-0 record, but with only two games within the pool before the medal round begins, the three-time defending champs have already guaranteed themselves a semi-final appearance.
 
Other goal scorers for Canada were Morgan McHaffie of Guelph, Ont,, Bree Polci of London, Ont., Jessica Fickel of Fort Erie, Ont., Ariane Barker of Napierville, Que., Daley Odd of Cranbrook, B.C., and Breanna Lanceleve from Lower Sackville, N.S., while team captain Laura Brooker of Fergus, Ont., added a pair of assists.
 
"We came into this game looking for the 'W', and we played the way we needed to in order to get it," said Brooker, a fifth-year forward for the defending OUA champion Laurier Golden Hawks. "It was good to finally get out there and compete, shake the rust off and start developing chemistry. Practice is one thing, but there is only so much you can do in a practice, so we needed this game tonight, we needed to play well, and we did and we got the win."
 
"Yeah, I felt good out there tonight, but I can't take too much credit because I'm not the one putting the puck into the back of the net," said Gosling, a native of London, Ont., who was selected for the previous Games in 2013 but was unable to play. "I was happy to play a part in some of our scoring tonight but it really was a team effort and my teammates deserve just as much credit."
 
Team Canada outshot Kazakhstan 58-10 in the contest, including 19-2 in the third period. Canadian goalies Nicole Kesteris (Aurora, Ont.) of the Toronto Varsity Blues and Elodie Sirois-Rousseau (Pohenegamook, Que.) of the Montreal Carabins split the game. Kesteris started and earned the win after stopping all eight shots she faced before being replaced at 30:16.
 
McHaffie, a forward from the Queen's Golden Gaels, opened the scoring for Canada when she beat Kazakhstan goaltender Aizhan Raushanova at the 2:44 mark of the first period. Polci, from the Windsor Lancers, and Fickel, of the Brock Badgers, gave Canada a 3-0 lead heading into the second period.
 
The only goal of the middle stanza was scored by Montreal's Barker, and then Kazakhstan broke Canada's shutout bid early in the third when Meruyert Ryspek beat Sirois-Rousseau just 50 seconds into the final frame. Canada, however, added three more markers as Oddy from St.FX, Lanceleve of Saint Mary's and Fouracres, a member of Canada's national development team, all found the back of the net.
 
"This team is really built from the back end out," said Canadian and Manitoba Bisons head coach Jon Rempel. "It starts with our excellent goaltending, and continues with our great defencemen. We've got a lot of really great skaters and puck-movers in our back end and that was on display. Gosling is a pretty high level player and it showed. That was a big difference for us. I think we really wore Kazakhstan down as the game went on, because we moved the puck so well, we were always on the attack."
 
Canada will close out pool play with a game against Russia on Sunday, Feb. 8 at 8:30 p.m. local time (12:30 p.m. EST)
 
NOTES: Canada has captured gold at all three FISU tournaments since women's hockey was added to the Winter Universiade program in 2009, going 21-0 overall in the process... In gold medal finals, the Canadians defeated China 3-1 (2009), Finland 4-1 (2011) and Russia 5-0 (2013)... Four members of the 2015 team return from the 2013 championship squad, including Rousseau-Sirois, Fouracres, Brooker and Alex Normore from StFX.
 
Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/winter/2015/index                    
Granada 2015 website: http://www.granada2015.org/en/  
                                                                                                                                   

TEAM CANADA SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times local / 6 hours ahead of EST)

 
Wednesday, Feb. 4 (20:30): Canada 7, Kazakhstan 1
Sunday, Feb. 8 (20:30): Canada vs. Russia
Wednesday, Feb. 11 (TBD): Semi-finals
Thursday, Feb. 12 (17:00): Bronze (www.fisu.tv)
Thursday, Feb. 12 (20:30): Final (www.fisu.tv)
 
SCORING SUMMARY
 
Official Boxscore
 
Canada 7, Kazakhstan 1
 
FIRST PERIOD
 
SCORING:
 
1. CAN Morgan McHaffie (1) (Daley Oddy), 2:44
2. CAN Bree Polci (1) (Katelyn Gosling), 7:54
3. CAN Jessica Fickel (1) (Laura Brooker, Sarah Casorso), 12:29
 
PENALTIES:
 
Bree Polci (CAN) hooking, 18:45.
 
SECOND PERIOD
 
SCORING:
 
4. CAN Ariane Barker (1) (Katelyn Gosling, Laura Brooker) 37:00
 
PENALTIES:
 
Meruyert Ryspek (KAZ) slashing, 29:03;
Azhar Khamimuldinova (KAZ) illegal hit, 37:38.
 
THIRD PERIOD
 
SCORING:
 
5. KAZ Meruyert Ryspek (1) (Alena Fux), 40:50
6. CAN Daley Oddy (1) (Katelyn Gosling, Maggie Medd-Litchfield), 45:47 PP
7. CAN Breanna Lanceleve (1) (Katelyn Gosling, Bree Polci), 49:33
8. CAN Brittney Fouraces (1) (unassisted), 54:57
 
PENALTIES:
 
Zarina Tukhtiyeva (KAZ) holding, 45:40;
Morgan McHaffie (CAN) slashing, 58:48.
 
GOALS (by period)
CAN: 3-1-3: 7
KAZ: 0-0-1: 1
 
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
CAN: 19-17-19: 55
KAZ: 4-4-2: 10
 
POWER PLAY:
CAN: 1-3
KAZ: 0-2
 
GOALTENDERS
CAN – Nicole Kesteris (W, 1-0, 8 shots, 8 saves, 30:16)
CAN – Elodie Sirois-Rousseau (2 shots, 1 save, 29:44)
KAZ – Aizhan Raushanova (L, 0-1, 55 shots, 48 saves, 60:00)
 
REFEREE: Elise Harbitz-Rasmussen (NOR)
 
LINESMEN: Marine Dinant (BEL), Caroline Sauer (GER)
 
ATTENDANCE: 115
 
START: 20:30
END: 22:24
LENGTH: 1:54
 
POOL STANDINGS
 
Pool A
TEAM             GP         W       OTW    OTL     L          GF       GA       PTS
1. ESP              0          0          0          0          0          0          0          0
1. USA              0          0          0          0          0          0          0          0
1. CHN              0          0          0          0          0          0          0          0
1. JPN               0          0          0          0          0          0          0          0
 
Pool B
1. CAN             1          1          0          0          0          7          1          3
2. RUS             0          0          0          0          0          0          0          0
3. KAZ             1          0          0          0          1          1          7          0
 
Scoring system:
3 points for a win in regulation
2 points for a win in overtime or shootout
1 point for a loss in overtime or shootout
 
Legend: W (win), OTW (OT win), OTL (OT loss), L (loss)
 
 
Official website: www.granada2015.org
 
 
For more information contact:
 
Ben Matchett
Communications Manager
Team Canada, 2015 Winter Universiade
Cell in Granada: (011) 34-693-816-090
ben.matchett@ucalgary.ca
 
Matt Gutsch
Communications Officer
Team Canada, 2015 Winter Universiade
Cell in Granada: (011) 34-693-806-291
mgutsch@ualberta.ca
 
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
McGill University Athletics & Recreation
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
E-MAIL: earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca