To say the Nipissing Lakers women's hockey team left everything they had on the ice Sunday would be an unbelievable understatement.
Just when you though the Lakers had given it their all, they did it again for another period – and then for another – and finally for a third overtime period before their second round OUA Playoff series was settled.
The Lakers came up short in one of the best hockey games you'll see, losing 1-0 in triple overtime to the defending OUA/CIS champions, the Western Mustangs, who won their semi-final series 2-1.
The Lakers, who won Game 1 4-2 and lost Game 2 4-2, deserved a better fate and were likely the better team in four of the six periods, with Western being the aggressor early on and another period being almost 50-50.
It took over 110 minutes for the deciding goal to be scored, in what is now the longest game in the history of the Lakers women's hockey program, surpassing their Game 1 win over Queens in Round 1 of the playoffs.
The teams traded chances all night, paid a physical toll, blocked shots, dove for loose pucks, sacrificed themselves to give their team the advantage and in every sense of the term, laid it all on the line for themselves, their teammates and their program.
The winning goal came on a nice individual effort by Western's Lyndsay Kirkham who scooped up a loose puck and slid the puck into the back of the net in the sixth period of play.
The final shots were 46-40 Lakers and while those are high enough, the pressure, the excitement and chances surpassed the actual shot total.
Nipissing had a number of chances to win the game, but the puck didn't cooperate and rolled off their stick, hit a rut, or in many cases, was stopped by Mustangs goalie Kelly Campbell.
Jackie Rochefort was stellar for the Lakers, making 39 saves, including countless highlight reel stops.
All in all, the Lakers have nothing to hang their heads about, as they put together one of the best women's hockey games the OUA has seen and an epic effort.
The Lakers will now focus on next season, where they will look to improve for a fourth straight campaign – from missing the post-season, to qualifying as the eighth seed, to advancing to the second round and being one goal away from an OUA Championship game and a berth in the CIS Nationals.
