North Bay, Ontario – Nipissing Lakers Women's Hockey picked up two wins on home ice this past weekend at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
Friday, Oct. 30, the Queen's Gaels were the opponent for a 7PM puck drop.
In the first, Queen's scored two goals early to take a 2-0 lead. Nipissing battled back and gained momentum as the period progressed. Then, at 19:30, it was
Sarah Verbeek that scored for Nipissing to cut the Gaels' lead to just one. 2-1 was the score after one period of play.
Queen's again struck early in the second period to take another two-goal lead, 3-1.
Nipissing responded with 3 straight goals to take a 4-3 lead.
Sara Stefanic scored at 2:33, assisted by
Jill Hennessy and Ava Dacosta. Hennessy would scored her own goal at 7:48, assisted by
Abby Lunney and
Lana Duriez. Then,
Anna Snyder potted Nipissing's fourth goal of the evening at 9:29, assisted by
Ella Vande Sompel.
Nipissing would manage most of the period with the one-goal lead, but it was Queen's who tied the game with under two minutes remaining in the period. 4-4 was the score after 40 minutes.
Nipissing took a 5-4 lead under two minutes into the third period as
Tahlia Fisher scored at 1:46.
Sarah Verbeek picked up the assist on the goal for her second point of the night.
The Lakers battled hard to maintain their one-goal advantage over Queen's as the Gaels pressed to tie the game. Nipissing would ultimate score an empty-net goal, courtesy of
Melissa Svienson at 19:58 to take a 6-4 win on home ice.
Nipissing's Claire Cheon recorded the win, making 29 saves for the Lakers.
Queen's outshot Nipissing 33-20.
Then, on Saturday, Oct. 31, the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks made their way to Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens for a 7PM matchup with Nipissing.
In the first, it was
Sara Stefanic who got the Lakers on the board at 10:35. Assists on the goal were
Anna Snyder and
Ella Vande Sompel.
Ontario Tech would tie the game at 16:23 and take a 2-1 lead at 18:06. The Lakers trailed by one after 20 minutes of play.
The second period saw Tech jump to a 3-1 lead at 4:38 of the period. Shortly thereafter, the Lakers would get moving in the right direction as
Lauren Dabrowski would find the back of the net at 5:57. Tech would lead 3-2 after 40 minutes of action.
In the third, Nipissing would hold Tech's attach at bay and press to find an equalizer. Lakers Captain
Abby Lunney scored the game-tying goal at 18:42 to knot this contest at 3-3. 60 minutes wouldn't be enough to decide a winner, and overtime was necessary.
In extra time, it was
Lana Duriez who found the back of the net not 20 seconds into play to give the Lakers a dramatic 4-3 comeback overtime victory.
Lakers goalie
Jordan Sladics recorded 9 saves in the victory. Nipissing outshot Tech 36-12 overall.
The two wins move Nipissing Women's Hockey to a 5-2-0-0 record in seven games played, and a 4-1 record on home ice. Nipissing ranks 1
st in the OUA's East division.
The Lakers are back in action this Friday, Nov. 6 at 7:00PM when the York Lions are the visitors.
Tickets are
available here or at the Memorial Gardens Box Office. The game will be streamed live on OUA.TV.
