Lakers advance to semifinals with 3-2 win over Gaels

(Photo: Jason Scourse)

KINGSTON, Ont. (February 26, 2016) - Queen's (0-2) fell to Nipissing (2-0) in Game 2 of their first round series 3-2, coming just short of a comeback losing the series 2-0.

Wednesday's game in North Bay ended in a 2-1 win for Nipissing. It was the second time in three games this year that the two teams went to extra time. Addi Halladay (North Augusta, Ont.) had the lone marker for Queen's while Bronwyn Bolduc was the OT hero for the Lakers.

Game Flow
The first period opened up with a great chance for the Gaels to jump out ahead. Less than a minute in the Lakers took a tripping penalty, giving the home team an early man advantage. Nipissing was able to turn away the pressure and kill off the two minutes, but the Gaels continued to press through the entire period. Queen's had two more powerplays in the opening frame, but were unable to convert. The majority of the pressure came from the Gaels as well, but the Lakers and goaltender Jacqueline Rochefort turned away all the shots they faced. The game remained scoreless at the end of 20 minutes.

Early on in the second, the Lakers took over most of the pressure, changing the tides after the majority of the chance came form the Gaels in the opening period. Caitlyn Lahonen (Saskatoon, Sask.) was her usual self in the game, stopping tough chances by the visiting team and keeping the game scoreless.

Just a few minutes later, the momentum continued to swing the Lakers way. They opened the scoring, beating Lahonen on a 2-on-1 rush, getting the ever-important first goal of the game. Just over three minutes later, Nipissing was at it again and scored their second to take a 2-0 lead. After killing off another penalty, Nipissing used that momentum to take a commanding three goal lead in the middle frame. Kaitlyn Marchment scored her second of the game, netting a third unanswered goal in just 4:17. Queen's wouldn't let the three goal deficit keep them down though, they got on the board less than two minutes later. Nadia Larocca (Mississauga, Ont.) tipped in a point shot from Kaylie Dennis (London, Ont.) to get her team on the board. In the final minute, the Lakers took their fifth penalty of the game, with 1:43 carrying over into the third period.

Queen's wasn't able to convert on their fifth powerplay of the game, as their deficit remained at two. Seconds later they took a four minute double minor penalty, killing it off and even having some offensive chances of their own shorthanded. The Gaels got a four minute powerplay chance of their own shortly after. Mary Coughlin (Amherstburg, Ont.) fired a shot from Alisha Sealey (Elora, Ont.) to cut their deficit to one with just 11 minutes remaining in the period. It was the Gaels first powerplay goal of the game on six chances.

In the final 12 minutes of the game, Queen's continued to press and find the equalizer. A big breakaway chance by Jessica Wakefield (Lucan, Ont.) was their best chance. Queen's wasn;t able to knot things up, and fell to the Nipissing Lakers 3-2 in Game 2 of the series, ending their 2015-16 OUA season.

By the Numbers
3 - Gaels outshot the Lakers in each of the three periods
16 - penalty minutes tallied by the Lakers in the game
6 - different Queen's skaters record a point in the two playoff games
25 - points in the regular season for Katrina Manoukarakis (Scarborough, Ont.) to lead the team
15 - points for Mary Coughlin, leading all defence on the team, tied for 5th in the OUA
2 - Caitlyn Lahonen ranked 2nd in the league in both GAA and SV%, and was first in saves in the OUA

Final Say
"Give Nipissing credit, they were only one point behind us in the standings and are a very good team… Our girls, I'm proud of them. They represented our school very well all season, played their hardest, and should be proud of themselves. It's obviously not the result we wanted, but I'm proud of the staff and girls on the ice and they're just all great people." - Matt Holmberg, Head Coach

Source: Queen's Gaels