They were hosting the finals but in the end the Nipissing Lakers would not be hoisting the McCaw Cup Championship after a valiant effort fell just short in a 2-1 loss at home to the Brock Badgers on Saturday night at Memorial Gardens.
“We got beat by a better team,” says Lakers Head Coach Darren Turcotte.
“We played a team that was gritty and in good position and feisty and got a couple of goals on the power play.”
It was the first time in the Lakers Women’s Hockey program history that they would be the home team in the winner take all OUA championship game, but it was the second time they would see their season end without claiming the cup as they also lost in the final game against the Guelph Gryphons in 2017.
After a back-and-forth opening period that produced no goals. The Badgers took advantage of four straight power plays, resulting in two goals on the advantage to hold a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes.
The team, and league's top goal scorer, Cassidy Maplethorpe got her third goal of the post-season at 5:28 and four minutes later, Paige Cohoon (1) put the visiting side ahead by a pair with another power play goal at 9:07.
The Lakers came looked to be re-energized coming out in the third period as just 40 seconds into the final frame, Brianna Gaffney (4) slid a puck from the glove side post under the pads of goaltender Tiffany Hsu to get Nipissing on the board.
But the comeback was halted there with Hsu making 19 of 20 saves in the championship victory.
“We tried to battle back in the third, but as I told the players at this time of the year, everybody wants to win and everybody is going to lay it on the line,” says Turcotte.
“If you’re not ready to battle and compete for 60 minutes, even if its 59 minutes, that one minute could be the one that kills you.”
The Lakers went 0/3 on their power play opportunities but went almost half an hour of game time between their first and second player advantage which book ended four straight Brock power plays.
“They got the first two goals, and we just weren’t able to battle back,” says Turcotte.
While the result is a disappointing one for the Lakers who went pinto the game as the team with the better record, and coming off a game where they defeated the top team in the country, the U of T Varsity Blues, in the East Final, the season isn’t over just yet.
By defeating U of T earlier in the week, the Lakers qualified for the U Sports National Championship for the first time in their eight-year history.
“It’s not over yet, we want to use this experience and learn from it,” says Turcotte.
“We were on the wrong end of it tonight, but this is just the second Lakers team that’s gotten to this point and we hosted a game for the first time so overall, this season has gone well. It could always go better though,” says Turcotte.
“The last time we went to the McCaw Cup finals, only one team went to nationals and it wasn’t us. So, we can wake up tomorrow and realize we’ve got a brand-new life here and it's what they do with it that will tell the tale on the end of the season.”
The National Championship gets started on Thursday, March 24th with quarterfinal action in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
