WATERLOO, Ont. (February 23, 2011) – Queen's forward Brittany McHaffie of Guelph, Ont., scored the game winning goal just over three minutes into the second overtime frame as the Gaels women's hockey team knocked off the No. 2 Laurier Golden Hawks 2-1 Wednesday night in Game 1 of the OUA best-of-three semifinal series.

McHaffie picked up a loose puck off a face-off to the right of the Golden Hawks goal and found a hole in Laurier goaltender Liz Knox of Stouffville, Ont., to put the Gaels in a position to knock off the seven-time defending OUA Champions Friday night.

From the opening face-off, it was obvious that both teams were going to battle for every inch of available ice. The Gaels, coming into the game riding a seven-game winning streak, had the majority of the chances early on before the Golden Hawks came alive in the second half of the period.

Laurier would open the scoring with just over five minutes to play when Brittany Crago of Stouffville, Ont., finished off a two-on-one with Candice Styles of Orangeville, Ont., to give the Golden Hawks a 1-0 lead through one period.

The Gaels wouldn't wait long to respond in the second as Morgan McHaffie of Guelph, Ont., continued her strong play against the Golden Hawks this year. Morgan took a feed from her twin sister on the face-off dot and ripped a shot past Knox to level the score at one.

Shortly thereafter, the Golden Hawks would gain a two-man advantage but the Gaels penalty killers shut down the Laurier powerplay thanks to strong play from Becky Conroy of Pembroke, Ont., and Kerstin van Bolderen of Medina, Ohio.

Late in the second, OUA Rookie of the Year Laura Brooker of Fergus, Ont., was awarded a penalty shot but her opportunity was kicked aside by Queen's goaltender Mel Dodd-Moher of Stittsville, Ont.

As the game continued into the third, it became apparent that overtime would be needed to solve the opening game of the series as both Dodd-Moher and Laurier's Knox shone between the pipes.

In the first overtime period, the Golden Hawks produced a number of opportunities to win the game, outshooting Queen's 5-1 in the ten minute frame but could not find the back of the net.

Heading to double overtime for the second time in as many games, it was the Gaels who took the play to Laurier, eventually leading to an icing call that set up B. McHaffie's game winner.

Dodd-Moher finished the contest with 40 saves for Queen's while Knox turned aside 28 for the Golden Hawks.

Morgan continued her strong play against Laurier this season, picking up two points to bring her season total against Laurier to five points (3 G, 2 A) in four games.

Queen's will now look to close out the semifinal series Friday night when they host Laurier in Game 2 at the Kingston Memorial Centre. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:30 pm.

NOTES: The victory is the Gaels first win over Laurier since a 2-0 victory on home ice back on Jan. 25, 2008…the win also marks the first time that the Gaels have defeated the Golden Hawks in eight playoff meetings dating back to the 1994-95 season…Queen's has now held their opposition to just a single goal in each of their last eight contests, all victories