Queens narrowly defeat the Ooks while the Kings were held scoreless in Edmonton
Edmonton and Red Deer, November 3, 2023 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens continued their dominance over the NAIT Ooks which goes back to last season's championship final as the Queens defeat the Ooks on Friday night. But it was a different story in Edmonton as the Kings were held scoreless in a 7-0 loss to the Ooks.
See below for more information regarding each game.
Women's Hockey – NAIT Ooks 1 at Queens 2
In a rematch of last season's championship, the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens continued their winning ways over the NAIT Ooks as the Queens narrowly defeated the Ooks 2-1 on Friday night.
No goals were scored in the first period and it was very much a close game with the Queens outshooting the Ooks by one after the opening 20 minutes.
But nine minutes into the second period, the Polytechnic would open the scoring on the powerplay with a goal from forward Alli Soyko (Bachelor of Education), assisted by forward Camryn Ward (Bachelor of Kinesiology) and forward Rylee Mepham (Bachelor of Education).
At the end of the second period, the Queens outshot the Ooks 20-16.
Five minutes into the third, forward Chloe Belter would score her first in the ACAC which ultimately was the game-winning goal. Belter was later awarded the player of the game for the Queens.
But the Ooks pushed in the third period as they outshot the Polytechnic 13-7. Ooks Hanna Paquette (Bachelor of Business Administration) managed to squeak one by goaltender Izzy Palumbo (Bachelor of Business Administration) to come within one but despite a hard press in the final two minutes of the game, NAIT fell short and would fall 2-1. Paquette was named the player of the game for the Ooks for her one-goal performance. Palumbo stopped 27 of 28 shots on the way to her fourth win of the season.
Head Coach Kelly Coulter explained that the Queens really executed what the team has been working on over the past eight weeks.
"The goal that Chloe Belter scored was a textbook goal as she filled the slot, received the pass, looked up and fired it home for the game-winner. NAIT is a team that constantly pushes so we had to defend well and we did. Overall, I am happy with the effort and everyone's contribution tonight. I was quite impressed with their work ethic tonight."
At the end of the game, NAIT outshot the Queens 29-27.
These two teams will be back at it tomorrow night in Edmonton with a 7 pm puck drop.
Men's Hockey – Kings 0 at NAIT Ooks 7
It just was not the Kings night as they were held scoreless in their first meeting against the Ooks since the championship final last March.
However, the Polytechnic just allowed one goal in the first 20 minutes of the game and were outshooting NAIT 13-12.
But on 15 shots in the second, goaltender Arik Weersink (Kinesiology and Sport Studies) allowed five goals and finished the night on the bench in the third period. Goaltender Evan Fradette (Open Studies) came in relief in the final 20 minutes and stopped four out of five shots.
The Kings powerplay went zero-for-four with their penalty kill giving up two goals on seven opportunities.
At the end of the 60 minutes, the Ooks outshot the Kings 32-28 with NAIT's goaltender Ryland Osland (Business Administration) standing on his head for his third win and first shutout of the season.
The Kings player of the game was awarded to defenceman Layne Toder (Management Certificate Skywing).
The Polytechnic will look to get back in the win column tomorrow night as they face the Ooks in a rematch. The puck will drop at 7 pm at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.