THE GEES DEFEAT OUA EAST’S NUMBER ONE TEAM 2-1 ON COUNTRY NIGHT AT MINTO
It was country night at the Minto Sports Complex on Friday, and spectators filled the stands to witness a battle between the two OUA East giants. The third-place Gees hosted the number one Queens Gaels, starting Lauren Mooney in goal for her fourth start of the season against the Gaels, with Emma Tennant making her 14th start as the number one goalie in the OUA.
At half ice, Rebecca Morissette ripped the puck from a Gaels defender, with Alexa Pongo picking it up and dishing it to Gillian Warren for a goal, capitalizing on a fast break two-on-one with less than a quarter of the first period played.
The Gaels responded three minutes later as Melissa Parton got a hold of her own rebound, beating Mooney to tie the game.
Just past the halfway point of the first period, Morissette broke out quickly from the Gees zone after a face-off, playing the puck to herself off the boards. Now on a two-on-one, Morissette faked the pass and sniped it bottom left past Tennant to give the Gees a one-point lead.
The only thing that changed on the scoreboard for the remainder of the game was the time running down. Tennant held off the Gees on both of their power play opportunities, finishing the game with 31 saves on 33 shots—and Mooney did the same, only allowing one goal to slip by on 24 shots.
Morissette was on fire this game with a phenomenal goal and a big-time assist.
For the past five games, the Gaels have been without their number one player, Sophie Hudson, who, despite being out for so long, still leads the OUA in points. Forcing a bigger role onto their second star, Mikayla Cranney whose third in points and second in goals. This match-up was certainly unlike their match-up in late November, as the Gaels took down the Gees 4-2 in a third-period comeback.
Following Friday night’s game against the number one Queens Gaels, the team suffered an unfortunate 4-2 loss against the Windsor Lancers. Leaving them in a fighting spot against the Toronto Varsity Blues for second place in the OUA East, but remaining in playoff contention.
Next weekend, the team will hit the road to face off against the 6-11 Ontario Tech Ridgebacks and the 7-11 Nipissing Lakers.
