TORONTO – The theme of 2018 continued for the UOIT women's hockey team as they lost another tight road game falling 3-1 to the Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday night.

This marks their third straight road loss, all of which they entered the third period tied with their opponent.
 
The Ridgebacks opened up scoring in the first period when Katie Heath (Elora, Ont.) scored her second goal of the season as she buried the loose puck after a Chelsea Ball (Maple, Ont.) wrap-around attempt. Ball has five points in her last four games and is now one point shy of 50 in her career.
 
UOIT held Toronto off the board until midway through the second period when veteran Lauren Straatman scored a power play goal.
 
Straatman's goal would be her first point of three on the night as she picked up a pair of third period assists giving the Varsity Blues the two-goal victory. Louie Bieman scored the game-winner seven minutes into the final frame while Cristine Chao sealed the victory with three minutes to go.
 
Celine Tessier (Chapleau, Ont.) looked strong in between the pipes for UOIT making 25 saves in the losing effort. In her third start of the season, Valencia Yordanov stopped 17 of 18 Ridgeback shots on goal for her first win.
 
UOIT's power play struggled going 0-for-4 while Toronto capitalized on two of their five attempts.

The Ridgebacks will look to break out of their three-game slump on Saturday afternoon at home against the nationally ranked Brock Badgers. Brock is coming off a 3-0 shutout loss to Queen's on Friday night. Puck drop at the Campus Ice Centre is 3:30 p.m.
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 5-15-2
Conference Record: 5-8-2
 
Next Game: Jan. 13 vs. Brock (3:30 PM – Oshawa, Ont.)