Lakers double Gaels; move into tie for 4th

KINGSTON, ON - The Nipissing Lakers are building momentum at the right time.

The Lakers won their 3rd straight and pulled into a tie for 4th in the OUA East with a 4-2 win over the Queen's Gaels on Saturday night at the Kingston Memorial Centre.

Jason Gray scored the lone goal of the opening frame to stake the Lakers to a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Dorian Peca made it 2-0 on a goal less than a minute into the middle frame.

The Gaels responded less than 30 seconds later to cut the Lakers lead in half.

However, Lakers sniper Vern Cooper notched his 10th of the campaign in the final minute of the 2nd to make it 3-1 after 40.

Tyler Moore scored a power play goal at 7:51 to bring the Gaels within 1.

But the Lakers responded with a key goal from Andrew Marcoux added an insurance marker midway through the 3rd period.

Dan Spence got the win in goal turning away 30 of the 32 shots he faced Saturday night.

Lakers head coach Mike McParland was pleased with the way his squad started - knowing the Gaels would come out fighting in hopes of redemption from a shutout loss last weekend at Memorial Gardens.

"We gave them some momentum taking back to back penalties opened the door for them but we managed to get through," said McParland about the opening 20 minutes.

McParland noted the Marcoux goal was a key Gaels momentum killer.

"It allowed us to play our game that took the momentum from them and we went in with a focus towards 4th place and now we are in a 4th place tie with Toronto

The Lakers 3rd straight win leaves the Lakers in 4th place deadlock with the U of T in the OUA East with a 13-9-2 record. Both teams have 28 points.

McParland is excited about the pair of weekend victories but with only 4 games left in the regular season, he knows next week's games against Concordia and McGill are crucial if they want to gain home ice advantage in the playoffs.

"We are playing harder for the group and its working no question," said McParland about the Lakers recent roll.