The Queens move on to the finals, will face the NAIT Ooks

Lloydminster, March 11, 2023 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens will be moving on to the championship final after sweeping the Lakeland College Rustlers with a 3-1 win tonight in Lloydminster.

Due to some technical difficulties with ACACTV, this recap will be relatively brief with most of the game not being live streamed.

The Queens would open the scoring 45 seconds in with a goal from forward Tasha Barsby (Bachelor of Science).

Red Deer would extend their lead to two before the period would end with a powerplay goal from defense Kaedence Mollin (Bachelor of Science in Nursing), which ended up being the game-winning goal on the night.

But the Rustlers would fight back as they would draw first blood in the second period, cutting the Queens lead in half.

However, the Polytechnic would strike again on the powerplay. Forward Jailyn Bablitz (Bachelor of Education) would score her first of the playoffs and her teammate Avery Lajeunnesse (Bachelor of Education) picked up her second assist in the game.

With the third period going scoreless, the Queens would defeat the Rustlers and move on to the championship final with a 3-1 win.

Head Coach Kelly Coulter explained the team played very well in front of their goaltender Izzy Palumbo (Bachelor of Commerce).

"It was a back-and-forth game with them outshooting us again tonight. We were able to keep their shots to the outside and limit their scoring chances. Izzy had a good game and the team defended well."

The Queens will be back in action next week Friday against the NAIT Ooks as they swept the Olds College Broncos in the other semi-final match. The time is still to be determined but the Ooks earned themselves home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs as they finished first which means the next game will be in Edmonton.