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Nipissing Lakers moving onto second round after 2-1 Game Three victory over Laurentian

The Nipissing Lakers women’s hockey team prevailed 2-1 over the Laurentian Voyageurs in a game that came right down to the wire. Forward Jade Gauthier led the way yesterday with two goals, and goalie Jackie Rochefort made 25 saves in Game 3 to dispatch Laurentian in their Round 1 OUA Playoff series. After a 5-2 win in Game 1, the Lakers lost 4-3 on the road in Game 2, but bounced back with their best game of the series at the most important time to advance to Round 2.

Gauthier opening the scoring near the midway point of the opening frame, after Sam Strassburger stole the puck in her own end, flew down the wing and made a great centering pass to Gauthier who slid the puck underneath Voyageurs goalie Karen Collins and into the back of the net. Gauthier was something of a Voyageur killer this season, as she was the only Laker to score in each of the two regular season games against Laurentian and she had a point in all three games this series.

After killing off a lengthy 5on3 power play in the second period, Gauthier made it 2-0 when she buried a rebound in front of Collins after a good set up by defenders Taylor McManus and Alexane Papineau. The Lakers took a 2-0 lead into the third, and looked to close the game out and advance but the Voyageurs had different plans. Jessica Staats scored to cut the Vees deficit to one with her goal late in the third. The Voyageurs pushed hard for the equalizer, but Rochefort stood tall and the Lakers managed to hold on.

The Lakers will move onto Round 2 where they will take on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. Game 1 will be Wednesday at 7:00pm in Toronto, and the series will shift to North Bay for Game 2 on Friday night at 7:00pm at Memorial Gardens. If necessary, Game 3 will also be at Memorial Gardens on Saturday night.

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