By Ian S. Wassink
The first official game of Nipissing University OUA hockey is now in the books.
The Nipissing Lakers men’s hockey team played an amazing come from behind game Friday night against the Queen’s Golden Gaels. After a sluggish first period and being down 1-0, the Lakers found themselves quickly down 4-0 at the end of the second period. With four unanswered goals in the third period, the Lakers struck back and outplayed the Gaels to tie the game. After a four on four overtime period that lasted five minutes, there was still no decision. A shootout followed with Ryan Maunu and Matt Lahey failing to score. Queen’s won the shoot out 2-0 and resulted in a 5-4 game. Both teams get a point for the tie and Queen’s gets the extra point for the win.
Despite downing the home opener in a shoot out, the Lakers had many chances to seal the fate of the Gaels. Two good chances occurred for the Lakers at the start of the second period. After bobbling to the right side of Queen’s goaltender Mackenzie Ball, the puck was quickly shot away. A quick pass by Lakers centre Nathan Hewitt to Josh McKinnon prompted a hard shot by the defenseman that resulted in a glove save by Ball.
However, the Lakers started to see the game pull away from them when a short-handed goal was scored by Queen’s forward Jonathon Lawrance in the last half of the second period. Another two goals, separated by 21 seconds, were put past Lakers goaltender Kyle Cantlon with three minutes left in the period. It seemed that something would have to happen in the Lakers dressing room to bring the game back to life. For newly appointed Lakers captain and right-winger Matt Lahey, that is exactly what happened.
“We talked about the second period in the dressing room and we figured this game wasn’t over until the final buzzer rang.” Lahey is a former draft pick and player from the Ottawa ‘67s (OHL) and the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL). “Mike [head coach] talked to us and figured if we could score one goal every five minutes then we would be back into the hockey game and force overtime.”
The Lakers answered that call and scored four goals in the third period including one short-handed and one powerplay. With no goals scored in overtime, a shootout ensued. The Lakers did not earn the extra point despite the efforts of Lakers shooters Maunu and Lahey. Despite taking the loss in extra time, the Lakers deserve to be applauded.
“We really have a special group of guys,” notes Lakers coach Mike McParland. “We came out in the third period with an outstanding job and we had Queen’s so far back on their heels I don’t think they could look forward anymore.”
The Lakers head to the University of Quebec Trois-Rivieres for their next regular season game on Friday, October 9. The next home game for the Lakers is Friday, October 16 against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at 7:00pm in Memorial Gardens.
