Lakers Athletics recap January 21

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 HockeyW 4-2 over OttawaWomen’s Hockey
L 8-1 to Brock  
L 6- 0 to GuelphMen’s Volleyball
L 4-1 vs. Guelph
L 4-1 vs. Waterloo
And now, for some more in-depth analysis, we turn to our Sports Information Clerk, Robb Fenton…Men's Hockey
Balanced scoring, great goaltending and an overall impressive effort gave the Nipissing Lakers their first victory of 2014.
The Lakers got two points from Grant Toulmin, Conor O’Donnell, Dorian Peca and Jeff Leaist and goalie Kirk Rafuse made 36 saves as the Lakers topped the Ottawa Gee Gees 4-2  Friday night at Memorial Gardens.
A fast paced and hard hitting game saw the Lakers open the scoring as Tyler Gjurich finished off a pretty passing play and scored the game’s opening goal.
Peca and captain Matt Paton picked up assists as the trio was buzzing around the net all night.
The Gee Gees would answer in the second period, but two goals – including Peca’s game-winner – shortly after put the Lakers in a comfortable position heading into the third period.
Toulmin put the Lakers back in front with a shorthanded goal and Peca score on the power less than four minutes late to give the Lakers a 3-1 lead heading into the final period.
The Gee Gees would score early to cut the lead to one, but Leaist would pick up his second point of the game as he blasted a shot from the point on the power play into the back of the net.
From there Rafuse took over and earned the win.
He didn’t have to be spectacular, but was very good making a number of difficult saves throughout the game.
Lakers head coach Mike McParland talked about offence from the defence and how he’d like to see more, and that’s exactly what he got as the Lakers defencemen picked up three points on the night, including Leaist’ goal.
With the win, the Lakers jump past Laurentian and into eighth place in the East Division and now sit just four points behind both UOIT and Concordia.
The Lakers next action comes on Friday as they host Concordia before taking on McGill Saturday night.
Both games are set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Gardens.Women's Hockey
It was a weekend the Nipissing Lakers women’s hockey team would like to forget as soon as possible, as they dropped a pair of games on the road.
The Lakers were hoping for a big weekend to springboard them into the playoff picture, but unfortunately they weren’t able to pick up any points.
On Saturday, the Lakers were upended by the Brock Badgers 8-1 after a five goal second period did them in.
The teams played an even first period with the Badgers scoring the only goal at the midway point of the period.
Brock also led in the shots department, but only by two, as they held a 14-12 edge.
The second period was where things went downhill for the Lakers, who surrendered five goals and only scored once, while being outshot 16-7.
Janica Vossos found the back of the net for the Lakers, with Jade Gauthier and Katelyn Gilkinson picking up the assists.
The Badgers would add two more goals in the final period as they cruised to the win.
On Sunday, looking to bounce back, the Lakers came up against one of the league’s top teams, and struggled to put together much offence.n Sunday, looking to bounce back, the Lakers came up against one of the league’s top teams, and struggled to put together much offence.
The Lakers were shutout by the Guelph Gryphons and only managed 17 shots on goal.
Currently, the Lakers sit in 11th place with a 5-13-1 record. They are seven points out of eighth place, and just one up on both Ryerson and York.
The Lakers are back in action this weekend, hosting a pair of games – Saturday against UOIT and Sunday against York – both at Memorial Gardens.Men's Volleyball
It goes down in the stats as two losses, but for the Nipissing Lakers men’s volleyball team, it continues to show they can play with any team in the OUA.
The Lakers dropped a pair of matches on the road this past weekend, losing in four sets to both the Guelph Gryphons and Waterloo Warriors, but in the process, continued their strong second half play.
Aside from the opening set against the Warriors, the Lakers hung tough and battled the entire weekend.
In Saturday’s match, the Lakers won the first set 25-20 before Guelph took the final three, with all three scores being no farther than four points apart.
The Gryphons took Set 2 25-21, Set 3 26-24 and closed out the matched with a 25-22 win in the fourth set.
Frankie Edgecombe had 14 kills to lead the way for the Lakers, while Cam Branch added 10 and Mike Ballagh had seven.
On Sunday, the Lakers got off to a slow start losing 25-10 in the opening set, but rebounded to force the second set into extra points, as the Warriors finally ended things at 30-28.
In the third set, the Lakers earned a 25-22 win before dropping the fourth set and the match.
Once again it was Edgecombe and Branch leading the way, but this time Branch led the team with 13 kills and Edgecombe chipped in with 10.
The Lakers return home for a pair of matches this weekend, as they face the Queen’s Gaels Saturday and the RMC Paladins Sunday.