KINGSTON, Ont. (October 24, 2015) - The Queen's Gaels women's soccer team notched a significant victory on a windy Saturday afternoon in their next-to-last game of the season, defeating the Nipissing Lakers by a score of 3-1 and setting themselves up for a late playoff push with one game remaining in the regular season.
 
The Gaels (7-2-6) currently sit fifth in the OUA East division, but are just one point back of the fourth-place Toronto Varsity Blues and two points away from UOIT and Laurentian, who are tied for second-place.
 
A victory tomorrow afternoon against Laurentian would guarantee that the women leapfrog Toronto, who concluded their regular season on Saturday, as well as the Voyageurs and into third-place. Queen's could also overtake the Ridgebacks, whose final game is against the undefeated division-leading Ottawa, and into second-place behind the Gee-Gees.
 
A second-place finish clinches a first-round bye as well as a home game in the divisional semi-finals, while finishing third and fourth means the Gaels would host their divisional playoff match next week.
 
GAME FLOW
With the wind at their backs throughout the opening half, the Gaels controlled possession and the play for the first 45 minutes. After earning a couple of corner kicks just 10 minutes into the match, Tara Bartram headed home her fifth goal of the season off a strong cross from about 30 yards out on the right side of the field. The Vancouver native's header looped over the keeper into the top right-hand corner of the goal to put the home side up 1-0.
 
Queen's continued their offensive push in the first half, attempting numerous, threatening thru-balls that were either a bit long with the extra kick from the wind, or which were thwarted by the offside flag. The score, thus, remain unchanged heading into halftime.
 
Bartram looked to add to her goal total early in the second half, taking a pass deep in the Lakers box, but was unable to get both the initial shot and the rebound attempt passed Laker's keeper Kelly Dunk. Brittany Almeida (Kingston) also tried to double the Gael lead, but had her rocket of a shot ring off the crossbar.
 
The near-miss looked to prove costly, as moments later Selena Innamorati headed home the tying marker for the Lakers off a broken down corner kick, finding the low right corner from a sharp angle in the 74th minute.
 
The Gaels, however, quickly responded with the go-ahead goal just one minute later. Laura Callender (Ottawa) picked up her third goal of the season, and perhaps her most important of the fall, swinging the ball into the lower right corner off a ground-cross from the left side. North Vancouver, B.C. native Jessie de Boer picked up a late insurance marker in injury time to help the Gaels extend their unbeaten streak to seven games heading into their final regular season match on Sunday.
 
FINAL SAY
"Tough conditions with the wind for both teams and I thought Nipissing was really good," said Head Coach Dave McDowell. "We could be more efficient with our finishing, however I thought we responded quite well when they scored. Hopefully we can now take three points against Laurentian, who is a very good team and see where that sets us up in terms of the playoffs."
 
BY THE NUMBERS           
7- The number of games Queen's has gone unbeaten
27- The point total for Queen's heading into their final game of the season
0- The number of cards handed out in today's match
 
UP NEXT
The women host the Voyageurs (9-4-2) on Sunday afternoon at Miklas-McCarney Field. Kick-off is set for 12:00 p.m.