Canadian Women’s Team takes down Italy at the Holiday Cup

(December 19, 2019) – The Canadian women were looking to bounce back after Monday’s loss to the Netherlands. A solid defence combined with a well-rounded offence helped Canada top Italy 9-12 to record its first win at the 2019 Holiday Cup.

Canada came out strong in the opening minutes of the game. Axelle Crevier and Joelle Bekhazi each tallied one, but Italy answered back right away with a goal of its own. Krystina Alogbo and Monika Eggens added singles to help Canada show a 1-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Italians struck back in the second quarter, outscoring the Canadians 4-1 to level the score at 5-5. Kelly McKee was the only scorer on the Canadian side. Elisa Queirolo netted one early in the third quarter to put Italy in front for the first time the match. Eggens answered back with her second of the night to tie the score 6-6. Fournier and Alogbo found the back of the net to give Canada a 6-8 lead at 1:40 of the third. Canada and Italy traded goals in the last minute of the third quarter to give Canada a two-goal advantage of 7-9.

Alogbo com

pleted her hat-trick in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter

, just to see Kyra Christmas convert a penalty to extend the Canadian lead to 7-11. Claudia Marletta took advantage of the power play and netted her second of the night to bring Italy within three (8-11). Shae Fournier scored on the power play to help Canada regain a four-goal advantage. The Canadian defence stepped up in the final minutes of the match, blocking multiple shots and limiting the opportunities for the Italians; Canadian goalkeeper Clara Vulpisi saved her second penalty of the game to help Canada record the 9-12 win.

The Holiday Cup continues on Thursday, with Canada taking on the United States at 7:00 pm local time. Live stream is available at

https://www.facebook.com/USAWP/

Italy 9 -12 Canada (1-4, 4-1, 2-4, 2-3)

Italy : Marletta (2),

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icozzi (2), Cocchiere (1), Bianconi (1), Aiello (1), Queirolo (1), Avegno (1)

Canada : Alogbo (3), Eggens (2), Fournier (2), Crevier, Bekhazi, McKee, Christmas, McKelvey.

Play-by-

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lay & Statistics :

https://www.thefosh.net/livestats.php?gameid=8618