KINGSTON, Ont. (February 24, 2018) – The No. 8 Queen's Gaels avenged their Friday night loss to the Waterloo Warriors with a dominating 4-0 triumph on Saturday night at the Memorial Centre to close out their OUA quarter-final playoff series. The Gaels dominated from start to finish, outshooting the Warriors 38-19 on the way to their series-clinching victory.
Stephanie Pascal (Sudbury, Ont.) turned aside all 19 shots she faced for her second shutout of the series. Queen's now advances to the OUA semifinals, which begin later this week. The Gaels will face the winner of the Ryerson and Nipissing series. They will decide a series winner tomorrow night in North Bay.
GAME FLOW
Queen's came out in the first period with a purpose as they controlled play in the early parts of the game with strong cycling in the offensive zone. They were rewarded for their hard work with a power play just over three minutes into the game.
Amber Sealey (Elora, Ont.) had the Gaels best chance of the power play when her point shot beat Warriors goalie Stephanie Sluys but hit the post.
Addi Halladay (North Augusta, Ont.) had the best scoring chance of the period when she to dragged past a Warriors defender to give herself a breakaway before being stopped by the blocker of Sluys.
Clare McKellar (London, Ont.) also had a breakaway chance but was turned aside by Sluys as well.
Despite the great opportunities and outshooting the Warriors 13-8 in the period, the two teams would enter the second period tied 0-0.
Halladay was once again a focal point of the Gaels offence in the second period, as she opened the scoring for the Gaels at 3:13 with her first of the playoffs. She jumped on a loose puck on the Gaels blueline and outskated a Warriors defender for a partial breakaway before blasting a snapshot behind Sluys for the game's first goal.
The Warriors appeared to answer back near the midway point of the period when the puck ended up in the Gaels net. The goal was waved off however after the net was dislodged, and the Gaels would hold onto their 1-0 advantage heading into the third and final frame.
Katrina Manoukarakis (Scarborough, Ont.) extended the Gaels lead to 2-0 early in the third period as she was able to beat Sluys with a wrist shot to the top part of the net after a mad scramble in front of the Warriors net. Halladay and Sealey drew the assists on the goal.
The Gaels were unable to keep the momentum going though, as they followed up their goal with a penalty. Pascal stood tall in net for Queen's on the penalty kill, making two crucial saves to preserve the lead.
After the Warriors power play, the Gaels got back to their offensive ways and controlled play. The Warriors tried one last effort with Sluys pulled from the net, but Queen's was able to add two late empty netters to seal the victory.
Michele Knecht (North York, Ont.) and
Brooklyn Bastarache (Courtice, Ont.) both scored their first goals of the playoffs into the empty cage.
Pascal earned her second shutout of the playoffs for the Gaels while Sluys took the loss in net for the Warriors, making 34 saves.
BY THE NUMBERS
2 - Shutouts in this series by Pascal
3 - All three games in this series ended in shutouts, two for Queen's and one for Waterloo
1st - Career U SPORTS goal for Bastarache is a playoff tally
FINAL SAY
"It's been four years since we won a playoff series and we just knew this was the year. Going into this playoff round, even though Waterloo beat us twice in the regular season, there was no way they were going to beat us two more times, and we proved that tonight. Playing Gaels hockey got us the win." -Queen's Captain
Jessica Wakefield
UP NEXT
The Gaels will be back in action for the OUA semifinals next week against either Ryerson or Nipissing. Details of the game are still TBD, stay tuned to gogaelsgo.com for more details.
