In the extremely competitive East Division of the OUA, every point is crucial, so the Nipissing Lakers men's hockey team to earn a split on a tough road trip can't be overlooked.
The Lakers wrapped up the first semester of play this past Friday and Saturday, facing the Carleton Ravens Friday and Concordia Stingers Saturday.
Things got off to a rocky start for Nipissing, as the powerful Ravens opened up a 3-0 lead Friday night and cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Lakers.
The Ravens scored in each of the three period, leading 1-0 after 20 minutes of play, 3-0 after two periods and while the teams exchanged goals in the final frame, it wasn't enough for the Lakers.
Colin Campbell scored the lone Lakers goal, tallying on the power play with
Guillaume Naud and
Mackenzie Keirstead picking up assists.
Lakers goalie
Kirk Rafuse was extremely busy, making 46 saves in the loss.
Saturday, thanks to a very impressive team effort, the Lakers managed to come away with a weekend split, as they topped Concordia 3-1.
A goal each period and some timely saves from
Domenic Graham led Nipissing to their eighth win of the season.
Campbell scored for the second game in a row and for the eighth time this season, to tie the game at one after the Stingers opened the scoring in the first period.
Naud picked up another point with an assist and
Chad Thibodeau grabbed his first of two points on the game.
In the second, with just under three minutes to go, Thibodeau fired home an unassisted goal to give the Lakers the lead and in the third,
Jacob Conrad picked up an empty-netter to seal the victory.
Graham made 21 saves for the victory for Nipissing, who finishes the first semester of play with a record of 8-6-3.
Currently, the Lakers sit sixth in the division, but are only five points out of third place.
With almost exactly a month in between games for the Christmas break, the Lakers will now regroup and prepare for a very important second half of the year.
They kick things off on home ice versus McGill on Jan. 9 at Memorial Gardens.
