RDP Queens put on defensive clinic in home win over NAIT Ooks

Red Deer, AB - The Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) Queens continue to demonstrate their commitment to team defence.

On Friday, the RDP Queens limited the NAIT Ooks to a single tally and received goals from four different student-athletes en route to a 4-1 victory at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.

"It was a 20 person effort, so I was really satisfied with everyone's energy and execution tonight," said Kelly Coulter, Queens Hockey Head Coach. "As we prepped for the game, we identified things that we wanted to focus on and the girls did a really good job of that. I'm very proud of how they played tonight."

Playing sound defence has been one of the Queens' priorities and they had another outstanding effort in their own zone. The RDP Queens have only allowed 1.11 goals against per game, which is the best in Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Women's Hockey.

"Defending is something that we take pride in," noted Coulter. "The girls enjoy the one-on-one battles and it gets them into the game."

Perhaps it was fitting that one of the Queens' steady defenders opened the scoring.

At 8:39 of the first period, a hard point shot from Glendon's Brooke Skrypichayko (Bachelor of Education Elementary) eluded NAIT's netminder Aurora Van Wormer to lift the Queens ahead 1-0.

"The puck just squirted out on the blueline and I pulled it, stepped to the middle and shot. It went off a stick and into the net," said Skrypichayko. "It was a really nice reward for how hard everyone had been working."

NAIT's Tayler Premak evened the contest less than six minutes later. The third-year forward was stationed to the left of Queens goaltender Izzy Palumbo (Bachelor of Commerce) and found space high on the short side.

Only 35 seconds into the middle stanza, Queens captain Avery Lajeunesse (Bachelor of Education Elementary) scored her 10th goal of the season with a low shot past Van Wormer's glove to give the home team a 2-1 edge.

The RDP Queens went up by a pair of goals nine minutes later. First-year Hayley Kolosky (Bachelor of Arts in Psychology) picked up her own rebound and shoveled it into the net.

The Queens' 3-1 margin held up until late in the third period. With Van Wormer pulled for the extra skater, RDP forward Julie Wagner (Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences) hit the empty net at 18:35 of the final frame. The RDP Queens solidified a 4-1 home victory.

"We definitely stuck to our system. We worked really hard and our forecheck was really good tonight," said Skrypichayko, who was named the North Star Sports Queens Player of the Game. "Everybody was really going and we had good goaltending, as always."

Palumbo made 25 saves and recorded a 0.962 save percentage in her 10th victory of the season. RDP goalies Tora Ward (0.91) and Palumbo (1.20) are first and second in ACAC Women's Hockey with the lowest goals against average.

Van Wormer turned aside 23 shots (0.885).

Coulter commended Skrypichayko's play and contributions to Queens Hockey.

"It's her first ACAC goal. Brooke has shown perseverance, does anything for the team and has been a fantastic leader on and off the ice," he noted. "The coaching staff was ecstatic for her."

Premak received the Player of the Game for the NAIT Ooks.

The top ranked RDP Queens' penalty kill (92.5%) stopped all three of the Ooks' power plays. The Queens couldn't convert on three power play opportunities.

The second place Red Deer Polytechnic Queens (18-5) will play the third seed NAIT Ooks (16-6) in Edmonton on Saturday, February 17 at 6 pm.

"NAIT is a very good team, so we know they will bounce back," added Coulter. "We are in control of how we play and hopefully we can be successful again tomorrow."

Then the Queens have one game remaining against the Olds College Broncos to wrap up the regular season.

Currently, the RDP Queens don't know who their opponent will be in the opening round of the playoffs, but the team isn't focusing on that.

"The biggest thing is to concentrate on what is within our control – our habits, our attention to details, our preparation," said Coulter. "Seeding is always nice to get home ice advantage, but it's more important that those fine details are being taken care of and that the girls are buying in and executing at a consistent rate."

The Queens (54 points), Ooks (49 points) and first place Lakeland College Rustlers (57 points) have already qualified for the postseason.

In the semi-finals, the first place team will face the fourth seed, which will either be the SAIT Trojans or Olds College Broncos. The second and third place squads will battle to see who advances to the ACAC Championship final.