Queen’s Gaels advance in Ontario university women’s hockey playoffs

The Queen’s Lady Gaels will advance to play the Nipissing Lakers in the second round of the Ontario University Association women’s hockey playoffs.

Stephanie Pascal stopped 19 shots in blanking the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday night. 4-0. The Gaels won the OUA quarter-final series, two games to one.

Scoring the goals for Queen’s were Amber Sealy, Katrina Manoukarakis, Michele Knecht and Brooklyn Bastarche.

“I’m speechless. We’re so fired up right now,” said Gaels captain Jessica Wakefield.

Get breaking National news

Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won't miss a trending story.

Sign up for breaking National newsletter Get Started

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The fifth-year senior from Lucan, Ont., was thrilled for her teammates, who won their first playoff series in four years.

“We were relentless. Our fore-check was unstoppable. Waterloo didn’t know what to do. We’ve worked on our fore-check all season long and tonight it really paid off,” she said Saturday.

The Warriors had beaten the Gaels twice in the regular season. Wakefield said there was no way she and her teammates would let the Waterloo team beat Queen’s twice in the playoffs. “Simple Queen’s Gaels hockey got us through it.”

Wakefield says the play of goaltender Stephanie Pascal has been a key to the team’s success this season — a big reason they finished in first place in the league standings.

“Steph’s a wall. It’s hard to describe. She’ll do anything to stop that puck and she’s so humble. Every time there’s an accolade thrown her way, she thanks her teammates for helping her out.”

The Gaels will now play the Nipissing Lakers in the league semi-finals. Game one is Wednesday night at the North Bay Gardens. The series will shift to Kingston for game two and, if necessary, game three, this weekend at the Kingston Memorial Centre.

The other semi-final pits the Western Mustangs against the Guelph Gryphons. The two winners will face-off for the McCaw Cup and the right to represent the OUA at the nationals next month, March 15-18 in London, Ont.