Lakers Athletics recap

Your Nipissing Lakers were in action on the court and on the ice last weekend, read all about it, right here.Game briefs:Men’s HockeyL 6-2 Friday night at Laurier (Brogan Bailey, Lucas McKinley scored)
W 2-1 Saturday night at Waterloo (Brogan Bailey, Conor O’Donnell; Kirk Rafuse30 saves)
Next: Friday night vs. U of Toronto, 7 pm at Memorial Gardens, Saturday night vs. Ryerson, 7 pm at Memorial GardensWomen’s Hockey
W 4-2 at York (Carly Marchment 3 [first ever hat-trick for women’s program], Brittany Cosmo; Sabrina Picard earned the win)
W 1-0 at UOIT (Jade Gauthier; Jackie Rochefort 42 saves for the shutout)
Next: Sunday afternoon vs. Queen’s, 2:30 pm at Memorial GardensMen’s Volleyball
L 3-0 vs. York (Frankie Edgecombe had 8 kills, Hogan Smith had 6 to lead the Lakers)
Next: Friday night vs. McMaster, 8 pm at the Nipissing Athletics CentreWomen’s Volleyball
L 3-1 vs. York (Lindsay Vanderweide had 11 kills, Tracy Hammerton and Brittany Ardron had 4 kills each)
Next: Friday night vs. McMaster, 6 pm at the Nipissing Athletics Centre, Sunday afternoon at U of Ottawa
And now, for some more in-depth analysis, we turn to our Spots Information Clerk, Robb Fenton…Women’s HockeyRochefort outstanding as Lakers blank UOIT
The goal was simple – four points. The results after a pair of road games for the Nipissing Lakers women’s hockey – four points.
The Lakers earned two big wins this past weekend, 4-2 over the York Lions, with Carly Marchment scoring the team’s first ever hat-trick, and they followed that up with a 1-0 win over UOIT Sunday afternoon.
Jackie Rochefort was the star on Sunday, turning aside 42 shots for her second shutout of the year, while Jade Gauthier scored her fifth goal of the season to give the Lakers the win.
The win moves the Lakers to 4-8-0 on the season, which puts them tied for 10th place in the OUA, and just three points out of eighth place.
Rochefort made 12 stops in the first period, 18 in the second and 12 more in the third period, as the Lakers were outshot 12-1 in the final frame.
Gauthier’s goal came on the power play late in the second period, with Brittany Cosmo and Molly Sipprell picking up assists.
Gauthier piled up three points on the weekend on a goal and two assists, joining Marchment as the leading scorers in the two games.
The Lakers will play just one game this weekend, hosting the first-place Queen’s Gaels Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gardens.Men’s HockeyMen make a statement
The Nipissing Lakers men’s hockey team earned a huge win Saturday night, not only in the standings, but in terms of confidence, as they defeated the defending West Division champions, Waterloo Warriors.
The Lakers shut down a high-powered offence and came away with a 2-1 win, bouncing back from a loss Friday night against Laurier.
Conor O’Donnell and Brogan Bailey found the back of the net for the Lakers, who led 2-0 early in the third before the Warriors got one back, and despite being outshot, the Lakers held on for the win.
Kirk Rafuse was solid in net making 30 saves before leaving the game with just over a minute left on the clock. John Chartrand came in and made a save on the only shot he faced to preserve the win.
Lakers head coach Mike McParland said overall, that was the best 60 minutes of hockey his team played.
“The game was without a doubt our best overall effort of the season,” he explained. “We had very good goaltending, our defence played aggressive around our net, and we capitalized on a power play to score a big goal to start the third.”
The Lakers managed to shut down one of the top lines in the league, forcing Justin Larson and Chris Chappell off the scoresheet, which was a focus prior to the game.
“We neutralized their big line of Larson and Chappell,” McParland noted.
The big thing now for the Lakers going forward is to build off this victory and use it to create some momentum heading forward into the final few games of the first half of the season.
“It would be great if we could take this game as a key moment in the development of our young and inexperienced defence and goalies and use this game as an anchor for them to continue their growth, gaining confidence from this experience,” McParland said.
With the win, the Lakers now sit in a tie for eighth place with Laurentian, and only one point behind sixth place Concordia.
The Lakers return home this weekend for a pair of games – Friday vs. the University of Toronto and Saturday against Ryerson. Men’s VolleyballLions take a bite out of Lakers
A week after earning their first victory of the season, the Nipissing Lakers men’s volleyball team didn’t turn in the kind of match they were hoping for.
The Lakers lost in straight sets to the York Lions Saturday afternoon, losing 25-19, 25-13 and 25-21.
The second set really hurt the Lakers as they only managed 13 points, but the first and third they were able to hang with one of the top teams in the OUA.
Unfortunately, the experience of the York team paid off in the end and earned them the victory.
The Lakers will look to rebound next weekend when they host the McMaster Marauders Friday night at 8 p.m.Women’s VolleyballLakers put a scare into York
In the end, the veteran York Lions walked away with the match victory, but the Nipissing Lakers women’s volleyball team gave them a run.
The Lions earned the 3-1 match victory, but the two teams split the first two sets thanks to a great second set by the Lakers who showed some real heart and determination.
The Lakers dropped set one 25-12, but bounced back to earn a 25-22 victory in set two.
Unfortunately, the Lakers couldn’t carry over that momentum and dropped the next two sets, and the match in four.
Lakers head coach Marc LaRochelle said it’s just a matter of finding consistency in his team’s game, and playing every set and every point like they did in set two.
"I like the way we bounced back in the second set, but we have to play that wasy from start to finish, not just in spurts," he said. "But I really liked the girls battle level early in the match."
Lindsay Vanderweide led the Lakers attack with 11 kills while Tracy Hammerton and Brittany Ardron each had four kills.
Brandie Wilkerson of the Lions led the match with 17 kills.
The Lakers are now off until next Friday when they host the McMaster Marauders at home at 6 p.m.