“it could have went the other way if it was another inch”
Sometimes, hockey is poetic. Sometimes, it is unfair. Usually, it’s a treat to watch. And once in a while, it’s all of the above and more. The Gee-Gees had their chances on Friday night’s game against the nationally ranked Nipissing Lakers, but ultimately left a point on the table as they were defeated by an Abby Lunney overtime winner.
17 minutes into an otherwise quiet opening period, second-year forward Molly Heighington rang a shot off the crossbar behind Lakers goalie Chantelle Sandquist’s back. For the first of three periods in a row, the teams would head into their dressing rooms at intermission with the score tied.
The second period saw both teams trading rush opportunities and finally, a goal from third-year forward Beatrice Bilodeau who somehow found room between Sandquist’s pad and the post following an offensive zone faceoff win to give the Gee-Gees the lead on just their fifth shot of the game.
Lakers defender Elizabeth Laberge would answer back just a couple of minutes later on a similarly weak-looking opportunity directly off of a faceoff that found its way past Gee-Gees netminder Clara Genier’s glove.
The teams would continue trading high-danger scoring chances including breakaways and rebounds throughout the rest of the second frame, but Sandquist and Genier would hold firm, weathering every storm brought their way. At the end of two, the shots read 25 for Nipissing and 12 for the Gee-Gees.
The Lakers would continue their onslaught on Genier in the third, and after the rookie netminder made an incredible breakaway save she would be beat on a Jill Hennessy rebound just minutes later.
The Gees, despite being outshot, were still getting quality chances. Bilodeau would nab her second goal from a dirty area when she whacked home an Alyssa Biesenthal rebound and the game began to tighten up.
But once again, the game script called for a response from Nipissing. Veteran Lakers winger Maggie McKee would put the Lakers up 3-2 with just four minutes left in the final frame, taking the wind out of the otherwise boisterous Gee-Gees crowd — at least for a few moments.
Gee-Gees head coach Ali Domenico pulled Genier with over two-and-a-half minutes to go, and the crowd was right back in it, hanging onto every move of the Gee-Gees who kept puck possession in the Nipissing end.
“We liked how we were playing,” Domenico said of the decision to pull the goalie that early, noting that the team was controlling the play and driving possession at that point in the game. It didn’t take long for the easier-in-hindsight decision to look genius.
Rookie Gee-Gees defender Tori Evans, entrusted with manning the point, fired a hard wrister from the point just under 30 seconds after the pull that deked its way around shinpads and found its way past Sandquist’s right pad. It was the Strathmore, A.B. native’s first collegiate goal.
“She’s been great,” Domenico said of the trust to have the rookie out in a late-game situation. “She’s a good skater for us and she just keeps developing so [early] into her career … you want to give her that opportunity and it was great to see her put it in and get her first as a Gee-Gee.”
The goal sent the teams to a decisive and somehow even more fast paced overtime. Once again, both teams were trading high danger chances, but the Gees were controlling play, resulting in an opportunity for second-year Gee-Gees defender Maëlle Laplante to beat her check and drive to the net.
Laplante was taken down by Lakers forward Madison Desmarais in what looked like a clear-cut tripping penalty — to everyone except the two officials. Laplante almost got the last laugh just a couple minutes later when she collected a stretch pass and came in on Sandquist two-on-zero. Laplante beat Sandquist, but not the post, which continued the theme of ringing posts and crossbars that Heighington began in the all-but-distant first period.
And of course, that meant it was time for Nipissing to respond, and that they did, as Lunney found the more-friendly side of the Genier’s left post on a two-on-one soon after. The Gee-Gees would pick up one out of two possible points against the Lakers, though the 4-3 overtime loss quite easily could have gone the other way.
“We really liked our game,” said Domenico. “We thought we deserved a better outcome than our fate, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. It was great to see us not give up until the end and get one late to tie it. Again, I think we had a couple posts, a crossbar, it could have went another way if it was another inch.”
The Gee-Gees were back in action Saturday afternoon when they shutout the York Lions 3-0, earning Mireille Kingsley her second shutout as a Gee-Gee.
