A windy day on Sunday wasn’t enough to slow the Gaels women’s soccer team down.
On Oct. 19, Queen’s opened their OUA playoffs with a decisive 1-0 win over the Nipissing University Lakers. The victory came at home against a formidable Nipissing squad, which ranked 10th nationally going into the match.
The game was tightly contested, with both teams consistently neutralizing each other’s chances throughout. It was also extremely physical, which became apparent in the 11th minute after Lily Goss, Kin ’26, was briefly sidelined after a rough foul from Nipissing. In the 12th minute, the Lakers’ Bella Nolte earned a point-blank chance on goal but didn’t get enough power to threaten Gaels goalkeeper Lily Bouvier, ArtSci ’28.
Twenty-one minutes in, Seema Sakran, Kin ’26 earned the Gaels a free kick just outside of the box after a Lakers defender committed a hard foul. Mattson Strickler, ConEd ’26, took the shot, which curled around the wall of Lakers but into the goalkeeper’s arms.
While the game wasn’t filled with chances, it still built suspense for the home crowd. In the 35th minute, the Gaels got a scare after a Nipissing chance bounced between the Queen’s goalkeeper and defence, and the ensuing sequence resulted in two straight Nipissing corner kicks within minutes.
In the 41st minute, a burst of speed from Strickler gave her a great chance against the Nipissing goalkeeper, but her shot sailed wide and high above the goal.
Moving to the second half, the Lakers came out looking to break through the Gaels’ domination, forcing head coach Dave McDowell, ConEd ’87, to make adjustments on the fly. “They came out in a 4-3-3 [second half], and it became a real dogfight,” McDowell said in a post-game interview with The Journal. “We knew there’d be lots of balls behind our defence, but I thought we defended the second phase really well—that was a big emphasis all week.”
Despite some strong efforts from the visitors, Queen’s broke through just five minutes into the second half. A slew of Gaels’ chances bounced around the Nipissing goal area before Strickler took advantage of a Lakers’ goal-line clearance attempt.
Nipissing tried to put the pressure on from there, but were thwarted by the Gaels on each attempt. With a playoff win within grasp, the Gaels played tough, recording a whopping eight fouls after Strickler’s goal, including two yellow cards. Their counter pressure was notable despite the lead, highlighted by another strong Strickler chance, which hit the crossbar in the 67th minute.
In the end, Queen’s came out victorious, with fans erupting and the team jumping in celebration.
The win left the team happy, but the way they got there earned praise from McDowell. “[Nipissing’s] a very good team, one of the more dangerous teams in the OUA. For us to get a win in difficult conditions with the wind today, I’m pleased with the girls and the way they approached things.”
The post-game featured many birthday wishes to Kendra Couto, Sci ’26, and McDowell expressed his excitement for one more playoff run with the fourth-year student-athlete. “Any game we’ve played, she’s been the best player on the field,” he said. “She’s going to be hard to replace next year.”
Going forward, the Gaels are competing without their starting goalkeeper, Ashley Strand, ArtSci ’27, who’s out with a broken finger. Still, the performance of Bouvier in a pinch earned praise from McDowell, saying, “We’re fortunate to have four really good goalies who push each other. Lily had a really good week in training and was very confident back there today.”
The Gaels have dressed all four of their rostered goalkeepers this season due to injury, but the coach highlighted that the strength of their depth has allowed the team to continue their strong run this year.
This win earned the 10-2-1 Gaels a bump to 5th in U Sports this week, as they move on to face the 8th-ranked Guelph University Gryphons in the OUA semifinals. McDowell expects a strong battle, saying, “[Guelph has] some great players, so we’ll have to limit what those good players do and maximize what ours do. We’ve seen them before, and we know they’re excellent. We’ll have to match that excellence.”
The Gaels will travel to Guelph for the game on Oct. 25, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. E.T.
Tags
Gaels, Nipissing University Lakers, soccer, Women's soccer
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