OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT women's hockey team shutout the Waterloo Warriors 1-0 on Friday at the Campus Ice Centre in their second last home game of the season.
 
Although the playoffs are narrowly within reach with the victory, the major positive on the night was this was the first time the Ridgebacks have swept the Warriors in a regular season series in program history. In 2010 they came close, but finished 2-0-1, with their only loss to Waterloo coming in a shootout.
 
The Warriors outshot the Ridgebacks 28-23, but they were shut down by the Ridgebacks strong defensive play.
 
Briar Hughes (Thornton, Ont.) stole the show in net, stopping all 28 shots that came her way and recording her third shutout of the year – the fourth of her career. She also got the shutout win when the Ridgebacks last met the Warriors in October, also a 1-0 win.
 
Both teams had trouble staying out of the penalty box throughout the game, but the Ridgebacks penalty kill unit proved to be stronger keeping the Warriors off the scoreboard.
 
The same cannot be said for the Warriors as the lone goal for the Ridgebacks came on a power play when Chelsea Ball (Maple, Ont.) banked home a rebound at 3:20 in the second period.
 
The Ridgebacks only have three games left in their regular season and will play their last home game Saturday afternoon when they take on the Laurier Golden Hawks. Puck drop is set for 3:30 p.m. at Campus Ice Centre.

UOIT sits two spots out of a playoff spot and will need some help, plus some wins to sneak into the eighth spot currently held by Laurentian. They play Laurier twice and Ryerson once to wrap up conference play. 
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 7-19-2
Conference Record: 7-12-2
 
Next Game: Saturday, Feb. 3 vs. Laurier Golden Hawks (3:30 p.m. – Campus Ice Centre)