TORONTO – The Queen's Gaels opened the floodgates in extra time against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks to score twice and ultimately win by a 3-2 score to advance to the OUA championship in Final Four action on Saturday (Nov. 7).
The Gaels'
Angela Sullivan (Scarborough, Ont.) beat the Laurier goalkeeper in the 13th minute to give her team the lead in extra time, and
Kelli Chamberlain (North Bay, Ont.) would add her second goal of the game in the final minute of the first overtime to put the match out of reach.
With the win, the Gaels advance to face the York Lions for OUA gold on Sunday (Nov. 8). They have also advanced to the CIS championship next weekend at the University of Toronto - this will mark their first appearance in the CIS championship since 2006-07.
Laurier's Sara Houghton (Waterloo, Ont.) made things interesting early in the second OT when she fought off the Queen's defence in close and launched a drifting shot over the goalkeeper to bring her team to within a goal. But it would not be enough.
Chamberlain opened the scoring in the 20th minute. The play began when midfielder
Riley Filion (Alexandria, Ont.) raced in along the right side and sent a trickling shot across the goal line. Chamberlain followed Filion in on the far side and tapped in the loose ball to give her team the lead.
It was a hard-fought physical affair as the referees allowed the full intensity of a playoff game to take over. Bodies tumbled to the pitch, players limped after vicious kicks from opposing players, but the whistles stayed silent.
Sullivan earned herself a yellow card for taking out the feet of Heather Malizia (Burlington, Ont.), while Laurier's Nicole Currie (Aurora, Ont.) drew a yellow card in the 76th minute.
Laurier's Sadie Anderson (Mississauga, Ont.) went down in the 27th minute on a rough hit from behind that looked to have buckled her knee under her. Anderson was down for quite some time, and had to be assisted off the field and back to her bench. Anderson would return to the field for Laurier in the 62nd minute.
After pressing hard for the equalizer in the second half, the Golden Hawks would at last be rewarded for their relentless attack late in the frame. Laurier's Ali McKee (Bracebridge, Ont.) was hauled down in the 80th minute as she broke in on net, and Tania Pedron (Maple, Ont.) made the Gaels pay with a goal in the 81st minute off the free kick. Pedron roofed it up under the crossbar to even the game at one.
The Gaels came into the game ranked third in the CIS Top 10. The Laurier Golden Hawks entered the OUA Final Four ranked 10th, and hoped to defend their OUA championship from last year. Instead, they will contend for the bronze medal against Ottawa on Sunday (Nov. 8) at 11:30am.
The gold medal game will follow at 2pm. Both games will be played at York Stadium.
Courtesy - York Sports Information (Alyson Fisher)
