KINGSTON, Ont. (January 23, 2016)- The Queen's Gaels women's hockey team snapped its three-game losing streak on Saturday evening at the Memorial Centre, using three first period goals, two of which came on the power-play, to defeat the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 5-2.
 
GAME FLOW
It was the visitors who struck first early in the opening period, as Jessica Prevette picked up a loose puck behind the Gaels net and did a quick wrap-around before Caitlyn Lahonen (Saskatoon, Sask.) could get her pad to the post, putting the Golden Hawks up 1-0. Unfortunately for the visitors, the marker seemed to spark a Queen's offence that had been somewhat dormant of late after notching just four goals in as many games coming into Saturday's contest.
 

MUST SEE- Call this one tic-tac-toe drag as the PP goes to work @TarynPilon gives WHKY a 3-1 lead #GoGaelsGo pic.twitter.com/V3UbrYblTT

— Queen's Gaels (@queensgaels) January 24, 2016

The women nearly equaled that total, scoring three goals in the opening twenty minutes of the game. It was the second time that the Gaels had tallied three markers in one period of play, and the scoring began with a wrist-shot goal by Kyla Crouse (Mount Brydges, Ont.), who picked up the puck along the half-boards to the right of netminder Lauren Webber. The third-year forward ripped the shot past Webber for her third goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1 less than five minutes into the first.
 
The Gaels power-play found its stride soon after, as Katrina Manoukarakis jumped on the puck after a hard, low slap-shot from Mary Coughlin (Amherstburg, Ont.) produced a juicy rebound off the pads of Webber. The Scarborough, Ont. native buried her seventh of the year to give the home side its first lead of the game.
 
Queen's made the Golden Hawks pay for another penalty just minutes later, as a great passing play down low in the face-off circle that saw three Gaels touch the puck ended with the disc on the blade of Taryn Pilon (Peterborough, Ont.), who deked out Webber for her fifth to double the Gael lead. Manoukarakis and Courtenay Jacklin (Regina, Sask.) picked up assists on the tricolour's second power-play marker of the period, which was one more than Queen's had in 16 attempts over the previous four games.
 
The Gael tide continued throughout much of the second period, and the women had outshot the visitors 27-16 after two periods of play. Amanda Smith shut the door for the first 19 minutes of the middle stanza after coming in relief of Webber, and her play initially paid off as Katia Piccoli picked up a loose puck that took a strange bounce off Lahonen and tucked it inside the left post to cut the deficit down to a goal at the 18:25 mark.
 
The hosts responded just over a minute later, however, as Micaela Smith (Cobourg, Ont.) zipped a low shot through Smith's five-hole from inside the left point to restore the two goal advantage heading into the final period of play.
 
The Golden Hawks couldn't muster a significant comeback bid in the final 10 minutes, and when they did put together a scoring chance, Lahonen was up to the task, stopping 24 of 26 shots to earn her 10th win of the season.
 
The Gaels (9-1-4-2) pick up their ninth win of the season, while Laurier (7-1-7-2) dips back down to the .500 mark.
 
FINAL SAY
"I give a lot of credit to our veterans," said Head Coach Matt Holmberg. "They all stepped up in many ways to help the team to victory tonight. Getting a couple of power-play goals in the first period was also very important. That was the big difference between last night and tonight, getting our power-play going. We'll have a good week of practice in preparation for Guelph next weekend. We also have our senior night next weekend so there will be a lot of emotion and energy already. So we are looking forward to testing ourselves against the best in the country."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
5- The Gaels scored 5 goals on Saturday, matching their highest single-game goal total of the regular season
3- Taryn Pilon tallied her third game-winning goal of the season, a team-high
13- The Gaels have allowed two goals or less in 13 regular season games
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels finish their homestand next weekend when they welcome the CIS No. 1 ranked Guelph Gryphons and UOIT Ridgebacks to the Memorial Centre on Saturday and Sunday respectively.