ST. CATHARINES, Ont. (January 10, 2010) -
Elizabeth Kench of Gananoque, Ont., played hero on Sunday afternoon as the No. 7 Queen's Gaels came back from a two-goal deficit to shock the Brock Badgers 3-2 in a shootout.
It was a slow start by the Gaels that led to Brock gaining a two-goal lead after the opening period of play. The Badgers outshot the Gaels 16-10 and capitalized on both their powerplay opportunities. First, Shannon McLeod found the back of the net past Gaels goalie
Karissa Savage of Calgary, Atla., before defenceman Melissa Geary fired one home from the point shortly thereafter.
As much as Brock controlled the play in the opening frame, the Gaels did the same in the second period. Kench pulled the Gaels to within a goal just 2 minutes and 43 seconds into the period with a powerplay goal of her own. Queen's would pepper Brock goalie Beth Clause with 14 shots in the period but could only beat her the one time.
The Gaels would maintain their offensive pressure in the third period, desperately trying to tie the contest. Finally, with less than three minutes to play, Kench scored an unassisted marker, her seventh of the season, to force the game into overtime.
When the extra period solved nothing, the two teams went to a shootout. OUA leading scorer
Becky Conroy of Pembroke, Ont., scored on the first shot before Savage turned aside McLeod. The next shooter was Kench, who made no mistake in beating Clause. With the game on the line, Savage stopped Kelly Walker to give the Gaels the come-from-behind victory.
Savage would make 25 saves on the afternoon to pick up her fourth win of the season.
The Gaels improve their record to 12-3-1 and maintain their hold on second place in the OUA, two points ahead of the York Lions.
Queen's will be back on the ice next Saturday afternoon when they take on the aforementioned Lions. It will be the third and final meeting between these two teams, with both Queen's and York winning a game apiece so far. The game could also go a long way in determining who finishes second in the league behind unbeaten Laurier.
