NORTH BAY, Ont. (February 24, 2016) - The fourth seed Queen's Gaels (0-1) dropped the opening game of their OUA quarter-final matchup to the Nipissing Lakers (1-0) 2-1 in overtime on Wednesday afternoon at the Memorial Gardens.

Click here for tickets to game two in Kingston on Friday night. If necessary, the Gaels will host a deciding game three of the series on Saturday night. Both of those games are slated for 7:30pm puck drops at the Memorial Centre and will be streamed live on OUA.tv.

GAME FLOW
The two teams started off by sizing one another up in the opening period, neither team looking to make the first mistake. The season series was split with the home team winning by just one goal margins in the OUA regular season and the Gaels taking their game in overtime. The first period finished as it started with a 0-0 scoreline and both Caitlyn Lahonen (Saskatoon, Sask.) of the Gaels and Jacqueline Rochefort of the Lakers turned aside all nine shots faced each.

In the second period it took just 56 seconds for the tie to be broken as the home team opened up the scoring. Ava Keis notched her first of the post-season with Molly Sipprell picking up the lone assist on the play. At the 2:35 mark of the second the Gaels got the games first power play opportunity after Natalie Graham was sent off for checking to the head. Queen's didn't convert within the two minute power play chance but just a second after the penalty expired they were able to tie the game up at 1-1. A shot from Courtenay Jacklin (Regina) was nicely deflected past Rochefort by Addi Halladay (North Augusta, Ont.) who got her first career playoff marker. 

The Gaels penalty kill went to work for the rest of the second and late in the third but Queen's was able to kill off three successive penalties to keep the score tied at 1-1. Lahonen recorded 26 saves and Rochefort 28 as the game went into overtime.

In the overtime period the Gaels had a chance early but couldn't get the puck past Rochefort. At the 8:38 mark of the period the Lakers sealed the game as Bronwyn Bolduc scored an unassisted goal to give the home team the 2-1 win and a 1-0 lead in the series.
 

That close to finishing. @queensgaels @nulakers pic.twitter.com/Z9xotlT4Jd

— Joey Slattery (@joeyslatteryCTV) February 24, 2016

Lahonen finished with 27 saves for Queen's while Rochefort stopped 29 for the win.

BY THE NUMBERS
1st - Career playoff goal for Halladay
1 - Shot difference between the two teams in favour of the Gaels
3 - 1 goal games this season
2 - Games between the teams this year that have needed overtime

UP NEXT
The Gaels will host the Lakers this Friday night at the Memorial Centre in Kingston as the series shifts to the Limestone City for the final two games. Puck drop is set for 7:30pm and tickets can be purchased online or at the door.