(06/10/24) - Kingston, ON. In a back-and-forth battle on home turf of Richardson Stadium, the Queen's Women's Soccer team are defeated by the Nipissing Lakers 2-1, losing hold of a five game win streak.
The Lakers showed their dominance early on in the game, captivating the turf, though the Gaels fought back keeping up a fight. The first goal is scored by the Lakers halfway through the first half, which was just out of the reach of Gaels goalkeeper, no. 1
Kirstin Tynan, where to no fault of her own, the ball bounces off the crossbar downward into her reaching hand, and falling backwards into the net. This is only the third goal to get past Tynan this season, and the Gaels must quickly respond to a scenario not so familiar.
With the score sitting at a one goal difference, the Gaels push back against the Lakers attempting to create space in front of the net for themselves, although the South-wind conditions work against the Gaels on the field, causing many popped up balls to catch mid-air and break speed.
The Gaels demonstrate tactical plays during the first half, although need to pick up speed to keep up with the quick Lakers.
The Gaels return to the field for the second half with new confidence in their play, strategically attacking the ball quicker than in the first. This pressure employed by the Gaels causes the Lakers to further their attack for the worst, seemingly getting into their heads, as they are written a total of three yellow cards throughout the second. Unfortunately, this was not enough to keep the score down one as the Lakers score in the 58th minute of the game on a penalty kick. Again, Tynan never letting a goal get behind her easily, she guesses correctly extending as far as possible, but the ball is skillfully kicked deep into the back-left corner of the net just out of her reach.
With some catching up to do, the Gaels battle not only to maintain strength within the game, but as well in the OUA standings. With playoffs not far away, the Gaels look to win in order to uphold control on the OUA standings. With a loss, the Gaels will grant the Lakers second seat, bumping themselves down to third in the league. The standings will then be a teeter totter between their upcoming games against Trent Excalibur and the Ottawa Gee-gee's, and how Nipissing performs in their matches against the TMU Bold and UofT Varisty Blues.
The Gaels find momentum in the last 10 minutes of the match, finding gaps in the Lakers defensive line to create scoring attempts. With two minutes left in the match, midfielder, no. 8
Seema Sakran (Kinesiology) denies the Lakers a shutout with a goal assisted by forward, no. 11
Mattson Strickler (Con-Ed, Biology), making the score a close 2-1.
Two minutes of regulation and four minutes of additional time in the match sees the Gaels take shot after shot at the Lakers net, attempting to capitalize once again on Lakers goaltender Madison Heeley's forward playing style. In a frustrating end, the Gaels leave the match defeated 2-1 by the Lakers.
The Gaels next game can be caught at Richardson Stadium as they take on the Trent Excalibur, who currently sit eighth in OUA standings with a season record of 2-7. The Gaels now sit third in the standings not far off from the Nipissing Lakers with a record of 7-2-1.
