KINGSTON, Ont. (February 13, 2016)- Rookie forward Katrina Manoukarakis tallied a natural hat-trick, and the Queen's Gaels women's hockey team picked up a 5-2 victory over the Ryerson Rams on Saturday afternoon at the Invista Centre.
 
Manoukarakis earned her second hat-trick of the regular season, and now sits second in conference scoring with 14 goals thus far in conference play. Her linemates Taryn Pilon and Courtenay Jacklin each picked up three assists, helping the Gaels pick up their 10th regulation victory of the year to keep pace in the OUA playoff race.


 
GAME FLOW
Manoukarakis opened the scoring in the first period with a pair of goals just over seven minutes apart. After Pilon (Peterborough, Ont.) made a nice deke move one-on-one with the Rams defender to get the puck on net after a rush down the right wing, Manoukarakis was able to get her stick on the rebound at the goal mouth off the left post, and tucked in her 12th goal of the season at the 9:38 mark of the first.  
 
The Scarborough, Ont. native picked up her second of the period and team-leading 13th of the year at 16:48, batting the puck in out of the air at just under knee height after the rebound popped to her just off the right post off of an in-close shot from Jacklin (Regina, Sask.). The Gaels looked to have full command of the game, but a Rams power-play shifted the momentum in the final minutes of the first period.
 
After the visitors connected on a point shot that was tipped in by Melissa Wronzberg to cut the lead in half at the 18:15 mark, Michelle Evagelou came down on a rush on the Rams next shift and beat Caitlyn Lahonen (Saskatoon, Sask.) through the five-hole 52 seconds later, evening the contest at 2-2 by the end of the first period.
 
Queen's rebounded from their late first period slump to re-double their advantage in the middle frame. Addi Halladay (North Augusta, Ont.) picked up a pass in the slot from Clare McKellar (London, Ont.) and tallied her third of the season with a hard low shot past Rams goaltender Sydney Authier just before the midway point of the period.
 
The Gaels picked up their fourth goal after Danielle Bishoff (Calgary, Alta.) did some good work along the side boards to grab the puck and find defensive partner Amber Sealey at the blue-line. Sealey (Elora, Ont.) wristed a shot that seemed to have eyes, going through a couple of bodies in front and past Authier at 12:49 of the second, and the 4-2 score would remain the same through to the second intermission.
 
The Gaels maintained their lead throughout the final period, and Manoukarakis polished off her hat-trick after receiving a great feed from Pilon, who took the puck around the back of the net before sending it across the crease to the first-year star, who put the contest on ice with a one-timer past Authier for her 14th.
 
The victory means the Gaels (10-2-8-2) move into a tie for fourthplace with the Western Mustangs and move a single point ahead of the Waterloo Warriors. The Gaels hold a game in-hand over Waterloo and will have two games in-hand over the Mustangs, who play later on Saturday.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
4- Manoukarakis sits fourth in the conference with 23 points in 21 games played
7- Manoukarakis also has seven goals in the last four games
24- Lahonen stopped 24 of 26 shots for her 13th victory (including regulation, overtime, shootout wins) of the season
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels will look for their third-straight win on Sunday afternoon when they hit the Invista Centre ice to host the CIS No. 4 ranked Toronto Varsity Blues. Puck-drop is set for 3:30 p.m.