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OVERTIME MAGIC: Women's Hockey wins OUA Championship with 3-2 overtime victory over Guelph
posted by: Jamie Howieson - Sports Information Assistant


KINGSTON, Ont. (March 4, 2011) – After 32 long years, the OUA Women's Hockey Championship is headed back to Queen's as the No. 10 Gaels swept their best-of-three series against the No. 8 Guelph Gryphons with a 3-2 overtime victory Friday night at the Kingston Memorial Centre.

Rookie defenceman Kelly Eustace(#17) of Oakville, Ont., scored the game winner with less than a second remaining in overtime on a goal that can only be described as shocking.

With time winding down in the first overtime period, Eustace picked up a loose puck at the red line and fired the puck towards the net. Guelph goaltender Danielle Skoufranis of Thornhill, Ont., was caught out of position and was helpless to do anything as the puck slid into the empty net with less than a second on the clock to give Queen's their first championship victory since 1978-79.

“I was just trying to dump it in and it happened to be on net,” said an elated Eustace. “We knew we had to get shots…I guess it just happened to be the right one. It was amazing!”

The goal was Eustace's first of the playoffs and first in her career with the Gaels.

The game started off in the exact same fashion as Queen's previous five playoff games as the opposition was able to get on the board first. Just six minutes into the opening period, Kaitlyn Mora of Guelph (#12), Ont., pushed a loose puck past Queen's goaltender Mel Dodd-Moher (#35) of Stittville, Ont., to give the visitors a lead.

Late in the frame, the Gaels were penalized for hooking and although Guelph couldn't score before the period was out, they took advantage of the fresh ice early in the second. Off a face-off to the right of Dodd-Moher, Jenna Lanzarotta (#19) of Mississauga, Ont., fired a shot high over the shoulder of the Gaels goalie to stretch the lead to two and silence the home crowd of more than 600 fans.

Down two goals for the first time during their playoff run, Head Coach Matt Holmberg said he knew he didn't need to give his team a pep talk to get them back in the game. “You know what's amazing about this team, I didn't have to tell them too much,” said the second year head coach. “I knew the girls were still motivated and believed in each other. We rode that.”

With the bench still upbeat, the Gaels veterans stepped up to get them back in the contest. Late in the second period, Kelsey Thomson (#72) of Martintown, Ont., skated over the blueline and wristed a shot up over the shoulder of Skoufranis to cut the Guelph lead to one heading into the third.

Queen's carried the momentum from the goal with them into the third and needed just seven minutes to tie the game up. Off a shot on goal from Elizabeth Kench (#12) of Gananoque, Ont., Game 1 hero Morgan McHaffie (#21) of Guelph, Ont., found a loose puck and flipped it over a sprawling Skoufranis for her third goal of the playoffs.

With the game tied up and the crowd behind them, the Gaels pushed for the game winner in front of the home town fans but the Guelph defence stood tall with excellent position in the lanes and some strong shot blocking.

At the other end, the Gryphons had their fair share of chances to end the contest themselves but Dodd-Moher once again came up big for Queen's, turning aside more than one excellent opportunity for the Guelph forwards.

With the two teams deadlocked at two, the game headed into overtime, the fifth straight game that the Gaels have gone to extra time.

In the extra frame, fatigue began to slip into the play of both teams as a couple of soft passes and clearing attempts lead to opportunities for both clubs. Queen's seemed to carry the majority of the play, buoyed by a boisterous home crowd and late in the game, they would once again find a way to win.

After the a close chance in front by Gaels forward Kristin Smith (#19) of Toronto, the Gryphons dumped the puck out to the neutral zone where the Gaels forced a turnover. The puck eventually fell to Eustace who shot it into the Guelph net to send the Gaels bench into a frenzy.

“It's just proof about shots on net,” said assistant captain Becky Conroy of Pembroke, Ont. “I stepped back out of the play because I was thinking 'let's play it safe'. We can't score at this point, we might as well chip it in. That puck trickled in, it was awesome. Just fire it on net and anything can happen.”

Dodd-Moher finished the game with 25 saves to earn the victory between the pipes and finishes the OUA playoffs with a remarkable 0.75 GAA and a 0.971SV%. Skoufranis turned aside 25 of 28 shots in a losing effort for Guelph.

The only player in the game to finish with multiple points was Kench, who picked up assists on each of the Gaels first two goals.

The Gaels will now head to their first CIS Championship tournament next week, hosted by one of the teams they eliminated from the playoffs, the Laurier Golden Hawks.

When asked what his team needs to do to be successful at their first national championship, Coach Holmberg commented, “just playing the way we play and believing in ourselves. We've beaten some very good teams and earned it.”

The tournament, which begins as a six team round robin format, will kick off Thursday March 10, 2011 at the Waterloo Memorial Recreational Complex in Waterloo.

Stay tuned to www.gogaelsgo.com for up-to-date schedule information as it becomes available.

NOTES: This was the first time in 11 games that the Gaels have allowed their opposition to score more than one goal…Queen's never held a lead during their entire OUA playoff run, having come back from early deficit's in each of their five victories…the Gaels have won 11 consecutive games heading into the CIS Championship…all five of the Gaels wins during the 2010-11 playoff run have come against nationally-ranked opponents…Queen's has now played 13 periods of overtime hockey during their playoff run…seven of the eight games played during the OUA women's hockey playoffs were decided in overtime