The Golden Gaels women’s hockey team wrapped up their regular season Sunday afternoon by defeating the nationally ranked Guelph Gryphons 1-0. The Gryphons outshot Queen’s 30-14, but starting goaltender Melissa John stole the game, recording her second shutout in 16 days.
The Gaels came out of the gates energetically and carried the play offensively in the early part of the game. Neither team scored in the first period, and the Gaels edged the Gryphons by a 5-4 shot margin.
Gaels’ leading point scorer Liz Kench scored the game’s only goal seven minutes into the second period and Becky Conroy chipped in with her team-leading 15th assist.
Kench, last year’s OUA rookie of the year, leads the team with 13 goals and 14 assists in 26 games.
Gaels forward Tory Boeckh said her team let up a bit after the go-ahead goal was scored.
“I thought that we came out strong. In the second we died down a bit after scoring.”
The Gryphons dominated the play in the third period but were stymied by Melissa John’s stellar play between the pipes.
John said she felt that Sunday’s win is a huge boost for the team at just the right time.
“I thought it was a great game. It definitely gave our team a lot of confidence going into the playoffs.”
The win solidifies the Gaels in fourth place in the OUA, giving them the luxury of playing the OUA quarter-final on home turf. Their opponent will be either the Windsor Lancers or the York Lions, depending on how the Lions fare on Tuesday night against Western. If the Lions beat the Mustangs, they will face the Gaels in the quarter-final.
Queen’s holds a 3-0 record this season against York, but a lowly 0-3 record against the Lancers.
Queen’s is looking to improve on last year’s playoffs when they lost to Laurier in the OUA championship game. The Gaels have picked up their play since the New Year, having won nine of their 10 games in 2008.
“We get down on ourselves easily, so we need to stay positive as a team,” Boeckh said. “We’ve had a good record and we need to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
The Gaels will host their OUA quarter-final game Saturday at 8:30 p.m. at the Memorial Centre.
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