Lakers women’s hockey earn pre-season win

The Nipissing University Lakers women’s hockey team is rounding into form as they prepare for their inaugural season in the OUA.The Lakers earned a 5-0 shutout victory over UMass-Amherst this past Saturday night in pre-season action at the West Ferris Arena.
Laura McKenzie found the back of the net twice, while Stacie Vink, Brooklyn Irwin and Mariah Fell all added singles.
The goaltending duties were split by Sabrina Picard and Jackie Rochefort who combined to make 15 saves.
Lakers head coach Darren Turcotte was happy with the way his team played. “We competed much more like the way we want to compete once the regular season starts,” he said.
The Lakers scored twice in the first period and led 2-0 before the five minute mark of the opening period.
Vink and McKenzie had the first period tallies, as the Lakers outshot UMass-Amherst 17-8.
The Lakers added two more goals in the middle frame thanks to Irwin’s first of the game and a second by McKenzie.
Fell added the lone goal in the third period.
“It has been a tough couple of weeks getting everyone together for practice due to the construction at Memorial Gardens, so we used this game to start implementing some systems that we would like to use once the season begins,” said Turcotte.
Turcotte knows there is still a lot of work to do before the season kicks off in a few weeks and he plans on having his team ready when puck drops for real in early October. He noted that some girls have already made an impact, but there are some he’s expecting more from and hopes to see that when the season begins.
“We are really happy with the way some of the girls have responded to university level hockey, but at the same time we have to expect more from some of the players,” he explained. “As a coaching staff, we have given them time to adjust, but now it is time to really get down to the work ethic that we are looking for.”
The Lakers will continue to prepare for their season opening, which takes place October 5 at home, as they host Brock. The following day, the Lakers will take on Guelph here in North Bay.