Nipissing takes advantage of overtime giveaway to score game-winning goal
Coming off a tough loss to McGill on home turf last weekend, the Gee-Gees lacrosse club faced the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday night.
Nipissing got off to a hot start, opening the score on a nice goal from Will Craig. The Lakers added to their lead minutes later on a hard shot from Scott Dominey. North Bay native Bo Peltier made it 3-0 moments later for the visitors.
The Gees found the back of the net for the first time with seven minutes left in the first quarter. Tristan Scoffiled found an open Wade Miner who shot from a seemingly non-threatening area on the field for his first goal of the season to put Ottawa on the board.
Late in the quarter, the Lakers reclaimed their three-goal lead thanks to a scrappy goal from Tanner Poole.
Ottawa looked like a different team in the second quarter. Tired of being dominated by Nipissing, the Gees put up four straight goals to tie the game and take the lead. Scoffiled opened the floodgates with a wrap-around goal. Less than a minute later, Miner found an open Zacharie Lefebvre to make it 4-3.
The Gees then added two more goals on the power-play, taking advantage of Nipissing indiscipline. Frederick Hartley tied the game while Teilen Celentano gave Ottawa the lead moments later.
“We were a little shaky at the start, we definitely battled back,” said head coach JP Kealy of his team’s second-quarter comeback “We started picking up our play which is good to see, we were a lot more aggressive offensively and our defence has been solid all year which has given us a chance to be in every game.”
The men in Grey and Garnet added to their lead late in the quarter on a screened shot by Hartley. The Gee-Gees took a 6-4 lead to the half.
Back from the break, Nipissing offence woke up from their quarter-long slumber and scored a minute into the third quarter.
Ottawa replied moments later, as Liam McCory found the back of the net on a miscue from Nipissing goalie Andrew Wood.
Nipissing then tied the game by scoring two goals in a matter of minutes. Dominey and Peltier both scored their second goals of the game to bring the score to seven.
Celentano also scored his second goal of the game, giving Ottawa back the 8-7 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Dominey opened the fourth quarter by tying up the game with his third goal of the game.
The Gees responded in style, with Miner slipping through the Lakers’ defence and beating Woods with a nice cut-in shot. 9-8 Ottawa.
But the Lakers were not done yet and scored the next two goals, taking the lead 10-9 thanks to the valiant efforts of Riley Sloan and Craig.
The Gees tied it in the middle of the quarter thanks to Lefebvre’s second goal and kept Nipissing deep in their zone for most of the last five minutes of regulation time.
The Grey and Garnet continued to dominate in overtime but were unable to score.
In double overtime, Scofilled made a game costing mistake, giving away the ball in the offensive zone to Nipissing’s Jack Drinkwalter, passing to Peltier who found the twine to give his team the win. 11-10 Nipissing
“I was the one who threw it and, I knew I needed to bust my butt back to stop the offensive rush, they got a quick one on us and that’s the way she goes sometimes,” said Scofilled, visibly disappointed after the game.
“It was tough, we made small mistakes, we didn’t move our feet on the perimeter and they telegraphed it a little bit it’s just a small mistake and it happens,” said Kealy. “There’s a lot of mistakes that were made earlier in the game too, so it’s not really one guy’s fault, we win and lose as a team but it was definitely a winnable game”.
The lacrosse team also lost 9-4 on Sunday night in Montreal.
The Gee-Gees lacrosse team will be back in action on Oct. 4 in Peterborough to take on Trent University at 8.p.m. The Gees only have one game left at home this season. The Grey and Garnet will face the Bishop Gaiters on Oct. 18 at 7.p.m at Gee-Gees Field.
Read More:
- Why do some Gee-Gees teams play in the RSEQ while others play in the OUA?
- Panda Game tickets sell-out in record time, sparking frenzied resale market
- Gees lacrosse goes competitive
