They will be playing for gold in Charlottetown! The Lakers Women’s Hockey team has become the first Nipissing University sports team to advance to a U Sports National Championship gold medal game after taking care of the University of New Brunswick Reds 4-0 on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals.
“The first thing on my mind again is how proud I am of my team and the support we have for each other,” says goaltender Chloe Marshall who stopped all 16 shots she faced and put up a second straight shut out after a 1-0 overtime win over UBC on Thursday evening in which she made 41 saves.
“I didn’t approach things any differently,” says Marshall. “I stuck to the mindset of controlling what I could control and to stay mentally in it, despite the amount of shots. I always remind myself to just have fun with the game no matter the score.”
The Lakers didn’t make Marshall wait long to get the lead this time around. The Lakers opened the scoring at 9:10 when North Bay native Madison Desmarais took the rebound off an Emma Thomas shot and beat goaltender Kendra Woodland with a quick-release shot, for the 1-0 lead.
It was Desmarais’ first goal of the season and she says, “Our line as whole had a good start to the shift and when I saw Emma Thomas get the puck for a shot from the top of the circle, I just knew to go to the net. And when I saw mesh I knew to get off my stick as quick as possible.”
The Lakers took the 1-0 lead into the second period and about five minutes in, Thursday’s overtime hero Madison Solie fired a puck from the blue line that caught Woodland off guard and landed in the back of the net for a 2-0 lead and her second goal of the tournament.
The Lakers added some insurance to that lead at 15:23 of the second when Maggie McKee fed a pass in front of the net to another North Bay native, Malory Dominico who redirected the pass into the net, giving the Lakers a commanding 3-0 lead.
After the game, Dominico said, “I think we’ve been working for this all season, unfortunately we had a setback against Brock but we’re here to show that we are the best team in Canada.”
Dominico also talked about representing her home town university, “North bay is such a small and tight knit community and I know we have all the support back home and that makes me want to win even more,” she says.
“I want to help put both Nipissing and North Bay on the map. It is a surreal experience and I am so thankful to have my teammates, coaches and all the support of Nipissing and North Bay behind us!”
Desmarais added, “It’s a surreal experience. Honestly, a dream come true. It means a lot to play for everyone back at home. It’s awesome to have all the support from not only my family and friends but also the entire city.”
Brianna Gaffney added an empty net goal with five minutes to go in the third period to seal the win.
Mashall says, “We’ll enjoy the moment but we’ll need to bring the focus back to tomorrows game. If we stick to the game plan we will be successful.”
The Lakers will play in the Championship game against the winner of the University of Saskatchewan versus Concordia University semifinal, taking place Saturday evening as well.
*With files from the Nipissing Lakers
