KINGSTON, Ont. (Feb. 22, 2023) - The Queen's Gaels (0-1) will look to even their first round series with the Nipissing Lakers (1-0) on the road after falling by a 3-1 score in Game One at the Memorial Centre.
The Gaels opened the series scoring at 8:40 of the first when
Alicia Juras (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.) poked a rebound past Lakers goaltender Chantelle Sandquist during a scramble in the Nipssing crease. Despite the early advantage, the Lakers found an equalizer 3:53 after Queen's took the lead on a goal from Katie Chomiak, and outshot the Gaels by a 15-9 margin in the opening frame.
"I thought we had a pretty flat first period," said Gaels head coach
Matt Holmberg. "I wouldn't say we were lucky to come out of there tied, but I certainly think we came out a different team and more indicative of our style of play in the second and the third, just couldn't get any puck luck after that in front their net."
The second period saw six power play opportunities between the sides, but neither team mustered a go-ahead goal before the intermission after recording 11 shots apiece.
Nipissing ultimately broke the deadlock in the third period on the power play with a redirection from Kara Den Hoed that found the back of the net at 8:17. Queen's generated a number of a scoring chances down the stretch, earning two power play opportunities and outshooting the Lakers by a 12-7 margin, but were unable to solve Sandquist who stopped 31 of 32 shots on the night. Nipissing sealed the victory with an empty net goal from Chomiak at 19:47 of the third.
As the series now turns to North Bay for games two and three, the Gaels will aim to generate additional offence through chaos in front of the crease.
"Their goalie is solid and if she can see it, chances are she'll get something on it," said Holmberg. "We had some chances to take some shots tonight that didn't really have good net front presence, so I think we've certainly got to do that better and try to generate offence in any way we can."
The second game of the series is set for 7 p.m. on February 24 at the Powassan Sportsplex as the Gaels look to extend their season and continue their quest for the McCaw Cup.
"It will be a character check, but just talking to the team in the dressing room just now, I know they're still confident, they still believe in themselves," said Holmberg. "I've told them, 'Pack enough clothes to stay until Sunday,' because that's the mentality we have to have. Nipissing is a very good team, but sometimes Game Two is the toughest one for a team to put away."
"We'll be desperate, we'll be hungry and we'll be ready to go."
Of Note:
The Series:
- February 22,2023 (Game One): Nipissing 3, Queen's 1
- February 24, 2023 (Game Two): Queen's at Nipissing, 7 p.m., Powassan Sportsplex
- February 26, 2023 (Game Three): Queen's at Nipissing, 2 p.m., Powassan Sportsplex*
*If Necessary
