KINGSTON, Ont. (November 3, 2017) – The No. 10 Queen's Gaels (5-0-0-1) grinded their way to a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Nipissing Lakers (2-0-2-0) at the Memorial Centre in Kingston on Friday night. The Gaels trailed twice in the game but kept battling and pulled out a crucial win against a tough opponent. The Gaels remain undefeated in regulation time this season.
 
GAME FLOW
The Gaels found themselves behind early as Nipissing struck first. Lakers forward Marilyn Fortin came in all alone on a breakaway against Stephanie Pascal (Sudbury, Ont.) and made no mistake with a strong wrist shot to give Nipissing the 1-0 lead at 3:35. Queen's battled back and were able to even the score at 8:17 when Taylor Hicks (Whitby, Ont.) chipped a puck past Lakers' goaltender Danika Ranger on the power play. Nipissing regained the lead with just over a minute remaining in the period when captain Kaley Teinhaara beat Pascal over her glove hand.
 
Michele Knecht (North York, Ont.) would tie the game at 6:14 of the second period with her first of the season. Knecht was able to beat Ranger with a well-placed shot, with Abby Lafreniere (Kirkland Lake, Ont.) drawing the lone assist. As the period neared an end, Queen's would head to a 5 on 3 power play. With just six seconds remaining in the period, Jessica Wakefield (Lucan, Ont.) would find herself wide open in front of the net with plenty of time and made no mistake by wiring a wrist shot to the top corner of the net to give the Gaels a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.
 
The third period would remain extremely close as neither team wanted to give up an inch to the other. The Lakers would pull Ranger with 1:22 remaining to mount one final push, but were unable to solve Pascal as she turned aside Nipissing to preserve the 3-2 victory for the Gaels.
 
Pascal picked up the win in net while recording 25 saves while Ranger was charged with the loss, making 28 saves of her own.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
4 - Tonight marked Stephanie Pascal's fourth win of the season
17 - Minor penalties called in this penalty filled affair
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels are back in action again tomorrow night when the Laurentian Voyageurs pay a visit to the Memorial Centre in Kingston. Puck drop is set for 7:30pm.