Plays Of The Week: How Did They DO That??

There’s a lot of women’s hockey that deserves to be showcased, and we want to highlight the very best every week.

Each week, we’ll ask for you to send us the top plays you see in women’s hockey, whether they be from college games, pro games, international contests or anything in-between using the hashtag #TIGTop4 (It helps us a lot if you include pictures or GIFs of the play).

From the picks you send us, we’ll select our top four, and then it’s up to you to vote for the best women’s hockey play of the week on our Twitter. Here are the top plays after this week’s vote:

4. Sonja van der Bliek’s save

Listen. I know that when we put the vote in the fans’ hands, there may be some good plays that don’t finish in the top spot. We get that.

But it is a CRIME that this save got the fourth spot in the poll this week. ROBBERY. In fact, it’s the same kind of robbery that van der Bliek committed when she made this incredible save on Jess Jones during Saturday’s game. Jones got a beautiful pass from Rebecca Vint that left her wide open in the slot, and van der Bliek made a huge glove save while doing the splits.

3. Kessler’s shutout

With 18 percent of the vote (and just two percent behind the second place vote) was van der Bliek’s teammate, Christina Kessler, who recorded her first shut out of the season against the Brampton Thunder in the second game of a home-and-home series.

Kessler made 25 stops in a 5-0 blowout, made especially impressive since Brampton swept Toronto in all of their games last season.

Kessler has always been Toronto’s No. 1 netminder, but she reaffirmed her status as one of the most underrated goalies in the game with the shutout.

2. Welsh’s late game heroics

Robert Morris University is 6-1-3 on the season so far, but their stellar record isn’t always easy to come by. During their last weekend of play, the Colonials waited to score the go-ahead with less than two minutes remaining in the third period, but what a game-winner it was.

Kirsten Welsh sent home a bomb of a slap shot thanks to a nice pass from her teammate that beat the opposing goaltender and gave them a 2-1 win, the first of two late goals that sent them home with a perfect weekend.

1. Lonergan’s WOW THAT WAS A PRETTY GOAL

But if we want to talk about incredible one-woman performances, THIS is the goal to beat for this week. Caitrin Lonergan, a FRESHMAN at BC who was recently named the Hockey East Rookie of the Month, put on a show in BC’s contest against UConn, running away with 54 percent of the vote.

After picking the puck up at center ice, Lonergan carried it into the zone, past two defenders and made one more little deke before tucking the puck behind the opposing goaltender, Bobby Orr-style.

We’ll probably be watching this goal until next week’s top plays post...in the meantime, if you see a play that deserves to be in next week’s #TIGTop4, tweet it at us!