Queens win a rodeo of a game against the Rustlers
Red Deer, October 7, 2023 – In their home opener, the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens defeated the Lakeland College Rustlers to make it back-to-back victories to start their year off as they look to defend their championship title. This was the Rustlers first game of their 2023/2024 season.
The Queens would open up the scoring as forward Molly Flynn (Bachelor of Nursing) jumped on a puck in front of the net that came off the boards and onto her stick. She was able to release it quickly and it beat the Rustlers goaltender to give the Queens the early lead.
But the Rustlers answered back with a beautiful toe-drag release goal from forward Hailey Carothers (University Transfer) at the top of the face-off circle in the Polytechnic's defensive zone.
The Queens had the slight lead in shots with nine at the end of the period with the Rustlers firing seven on goaltender Izzy Palumbo (Bachelor of Commerce).
As the second period opened up, Lakeland College was really pressuring the Polytechnic for their first lead of the game but Palumbo came up big on a few occasions to keep it deadlocked at one.
On a powerplay eight minutes into the second, Carothers finished a slick move before passing it over to her teammate for a one-on-one opportunity in point-blank range with the Queens goaltender, but Palumbo was able to get her glove on it to steer it aside.
The Queens would take the lead as they capitalized on a powerplay opportunity after it was all Rustlers for the majority of the second period. Forward Avery Lajeunesse (Bachelor of Education) teed up defense Jessica Bouffard at the point, who blasted the puck past the Rustlers goaltender.
Moments later, the home team was looking for an insurance goal on a breakaway but Lakeland's goaltender Mackenzie Dojahn (Bachelor of Arts) came up big to keep her team within one goal.
After being outshot in the second period, Queens forward Arilyn Toews (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) wristed one into the back of the net to give her team some insurance early on in the third period. Forward Jenna Sellen (Bachelor of Education) would pick up her second point in the ACAC with Bouffard earning her second point of the game on the goal.
But the Rustlers would answer back on the powerplay with a goal from forward Janay Williams (University Transfer – Elementary) which sneaked through the five-hole of the Queens goaltender to put Lakeland back within one.
Late in the final frame of the game, Sellen was given back-to-back chances but Dojahn robbed the Queens rookie to keep it a one-goal game as she steered aside two consecutive point-blank shots.
With two minutes left to play, the Rustlers pulled their goaltender and paid the price as the Queens secured the victory with an empty-net goal from forward Julie Wagner (Bachelor of Arts in Communications).
Head Coach Kelly Coulter explained Bouffard was rewarded for her efforts in practice with a goal that definitely brought back some energy into the group after being outplayed in the second period.
"Jess was rewarded for things that we have been working on in practice so it is always nice to see when they execute the things from practice on gameday and get rewarded for it. It definitely brought a spark to the girls but the Rustlers will push you for 60 solid minutes and that is what we expected."
Defense Madelyn Mann (Bachelor of Science) finished the game with two points and was awarded the player of the game for the Rustlers with defense Jessica Bouffard of the Queens taking home the honours with her two-point performance.
These two teams will be back at it for a home-and-home series next weekend with Red Deer heading out to Lloydminster for the first game. They will be back at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre on Saturday for a 7 pm puck drop.