North Bay, ON – Lakers Women's Hockey scored a successful weekend at home this past weekend, facing off with the Laurier Golden Hawks and Western Mustangs.
On Friday, Feb. 6, the Lakers faced off with the Laurier Golden Hawks.
The only goal of the opening period went to Laurier, who opened the scoring at 17:35 in the first period, taking a 1-0 lead. Nipissing had one power play chance at 15:52 in the first but couldn't convert. Shots were 10-4 Laurier in the period.
In the second, both teams had power play chances but couldn't convert. Nipissing goalie Allie Lehmann stopped all eight Laurier shots in the period. Laurier led 1-0 after 40 minutes of play.
In the third, Laurier had power play chances at 5:09 and 8:02, both thwarted by the Lakers penalty kill and Allie Lehmann. Nipissing had one power play chance at 10:42 that was unsuccessful. The score held at 1-0 all the way until the 19:08 mark when Lana Duriez broke through and scored her fourth goal of the season, tying the game at one. A huge goal for Nipissing, as WHKY forced overtime and collected a valuable point. Shots were 5-5 in the third.
Both sides had chances to end the game in overtime, but both goalies stood tall and the game continued. The extra frame solved nothing, and this game headed for a shootout.
Neither side scored in the first round of the shootout. Both sides scored in the second and third rounds. Then, in round 4, Laurier scored while Nipissing was stopped, giving the extra point and win to the Golden Hawks.
Lakers goalie Allie Lehmann stopped 28 of 29 shots on net in the loss.
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Women's Hockey looked to get back in the win column on Saturday, Feb. 7 with a matchup against the Western Mustangs at 7PM.
In the first, Nipissing's Tahlia Fisher scored 32 seconds into the game and gave the Lakers the early lead. The tally was Fisher's 4th of the season. The Lakers took a penalty at 3:31, and Western then tied the game at one with a goal at 5:10; a power play goal. 1-1 is where things would stay after 20 minutes. Shots were 15-8 for Nipissing.
In the second, Megan Hayhurst of the Lakers scored at 4:43 to give the Lakers a 2-1 lead. Carlie Primomo and Tahlia Fisher picked up assists on Hayhurst's second goal of the season.
Then, at 6:11, it was Tahlia Fisher who scored her second goal of the game and fifth of the season to give the Lakers a 3-1 lead. Assists went to Primomo and Elizabeth Laberge on the tally. The two-goal lead would stand after 40 minutes of play. Shots in the second were 10-7 for the Lakers.
In the third period, the Lakers began like they did in the opening period as Lana Duriez scored under a minute into play. Duriez's goal was a shorthanded tally assisted by Jill Hennessy that got the Lakers to a 4-1 lead.
From here, the Lakers defended their lead well. Western pressed with nine shots in the period, but to no avail. At 17:01, Lakers captain Abby Lunney scored her 13th goal of the season to make it a 5-1 Lakers lead. Jill Hennessy and Grace Roynon picked up assists on the fifth Lakers goal.
5-1 is where this contest would end as the Lakers skated to a huge win and three important points.
Nipissing's Jordan Sladics stopped 23 of 24 Western shots in the win.
This weekend's results move Women's Hockey to a 10-8-4-2 record this season, good for 33 points and 4th in the OUA East, holding a three-point lead over Ontario Tech sitting in 5th place with 30 points. WHKY is 5-3-1-1 in their last 10 games.
The Lakers have just two regular season games left before the postseason begins. Both on the road, the Lakers begin with a faceoff in Windsor against the Lancers on Friday, Feb. 13 at 7:30PM. Then, Saturday, Feb. 14, the Lakers finish their regular season schedule with a 7PM matchup against the Western Mustangs in London.
You do not want to miss these games as WHKY pushes for the playoffs. Catch both live on OUA.tv and follow our socials for in-game updates.
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