Game Story
Markham, ONT – The Worcester Blades made their regular season debut on Saturday against the Markham Thunder at the Thornhill Community Centre in Markham, Ontario.
In the first of two matchups this weekend, the Blades had a difficult time keeping up with the Markham Thunder. The Thunder, who are coming off a very successful 2018 Clarkson Cup playoff run, shutout the Blades 6-0. The Thunder would go on to score sets of 2 power play, shorthanded, and regular strength goals.
It didn’t take long for Markham to get on the board in this game, scoring the only goal of the first period on the power play by Victoria Bach at 6:54. The Thunder outshot the Blades 15-8 in the first twenty minutes and having the only penalty of the period.
Jess Jones would pick up her first of two goals early in the second period after catching a pass from Laura Stacey, just seconds after exiting the penalty box. Jones would break away from the Blades defense and maneuver a deke to sneak the puck past Blades netminder Mariah Fujimagari. Minutes later, Laura Stacey scored her first goal of the season, shorthanded at 5:40 in the second.
Lauren Dahm was put into the game midway through the second period after the Thunder’s third goal. Dahm would go on to make 23 saves in a period and a half and allow three goals in the game’s final frame.
In the third period, Markham doubled their score to six with goals from Allish Forfar, Jess Jones (PP), and Nicole Brown (SH). Worcester made 8 shots in each period; Thunder made 15, 11, and 17 shots in each period, respectively.
The Three Stars of the Game Were:
- Diana Simmonds (MAR) – 0 goals, 0 assists
- Laura Fortino (MAR) – 0 goals, 4 assists
- Jess Jones (MAR) – 2 goals, 0 assists
Next: The Blades and Thunder face-off again on Sunday at 12:30 EST.
Box Score
| Scoring | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcester Blades | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Markham Thunder | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Shots | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcester Blades | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 |
| Markham Thunder | 15 | 11 | 17 | 43 |
Notes
- Blades Scratches: Jess Coventry, Alexis Miller, Carrie Atkinson
- Thunder Scratches: Alexis Woloschuk, Kelly Gribbons
- For those that missed the game or want to re-watch the game, it can be found here.
- Mariah Fujimagari was in net for the Blades on Saturday. This alone isn’t anything to take note of, but she was drafted this summer by the Markham Thunder and joined the Blades prior to the game and wore #30 which is assigned to netminder Jess Convery (Fujimagari is assigned #1 on the official roster). Fujimagari was named to the Blades opening roster earlier this month, so this was likely a spur of the moment change.