The women’s hockey team felt a hiccup en route to first place in the OUA.

After 65 minutes and five rounds of a shoot-out, Queen’s fell short 2-1 against the Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday night. The Gaels put 41 shots on net but were only able to score once in regulation.

“We had our chances and we didn’t bury them,” head coach Matt Holmberg said.

The Gaels scored their only goal 10 minutes into the first period, when winger Chantal Morais potted a power play goal. Despite 10 more Toronto penalties, Queen’s OUA-leading power play was unable to capitalize further.

The Gaels penalty kill made up for the woeful power play by killing off all six straight Gaels penalties. Queen’s goaltender Mel Dodd-Moher was a big part of the penalty kill stopping 27 of the shots she faced.

“If we had to take a positive away from the game [our penalty kill] would be the biggest one for me,” Holmberg said.

Dodd-Moher made a game-changing stop in the second period where she lost both her stick and her blocker while making a save.

“I thought [Dodd-Moher] played outstanding,” Holmberg said. “She kept us in there and was a big reason why we got that point.”

The Gaels had a goal disallowed in the second period for a crease violation. The ruling proved costly, as the Blues scored with 40 seconds remaining in the third to force overtime.

“I certainly would think that going into the third period up 2-0 probably would have made it a much, much different game,” Holmberg said. “I guess he saw someone that was in the crease, and I guess he was there to call it.”

Varsity Blues’ netminder Nicole Kesteris backstopped the Varsity Blues to their second shoot-out victory over the Gaels this season.

The Gaels go on the road this weekend to face the Guelph Gryphons and Brock Badgers. The Gaels are trailing the second-place Gryphons by two points.

“For us to come away with four points on the road next week, we better be ready,” Holmberg said.