Last Saturday, the men’s hockey team beat the RMC Paladins for the second time this season, coming away with a 7-2 win on home ice. 

 

Well-rested for their lone game of the weekend, the Gaels rushed out of the locker room with flying colours, nailing a 4-0 lead just after the halfway mark of the first period.

 

Forwards Slater Doggett, Luke Bertolucci, and Owen Stout, as well as defencemen Nevin Guy, each came away with a goal. 

 

While RMC returned the favour during the second frame—scoring one at the beginning of the period and another near its end—the Gaels held a 5-2 lead heading into the third after a power-play goal from forward Luke Edwards. Francesco Vilardi and Duncan Campbell sealed the game in the closing period and added another win to Queen’s current 11-3-0 record. 

 

Head Coach Brett Gibson credited his team’s strong play to the extra time they were given to game plan for the Paladins.

 

Queen’s was scheduled for a matchup against the UOIT Ridgebacks the Thursday prior, but the game was postponed due to traffic on the 401, impeding the Gaels’ road trip to Oshawa.

 

“When you only have to prepare for one game, you get the full attention of your team—it was a great advantage for us and the perfect storm for RMC,” he said in an interview with The Journal. 

 

Queen’s remains third in the OUA East despite the win, just behind the first place UOttawa Gee-Gee’s (11-1-2) and second Carleton Ravens (10-2-3), who they play this coming weekend. Nationally, the Gee-Gee’s are ranked fourth and the Ravens tenth. Queen’s, wedged between the two, sits in eighth.  

 

The Gaels were handed two losses the last time they visited Ottawa in early November, losing to Carleton 6-3 and UOttawa 4-2. However, Queen’s was without Gibson during that road trip, as he was coaching team Canada at the under-17 World Championships. 

 

“I can’t wait,” Gibson said about facing the Ottawa duo. “I’ve been preparing and waiting for these games for a long time.” 

 

Gibson will rejoin Assistant Coaches Ben Munroe and Kevin Bailie behind the bench this time, who’ve already experienced the Ravens and Gee-Gee’s in action just a couple weeks ago.

 

“For us, strategically, I think out team dropped a bit of our game plan,” Bailie told The Journal. “But I learned a lot about myself during those weeks […] I think I’m better equipped now.”

 

Headed into their final two games of the fall term, the Gaels are just over halfway through the OUA regular season. Gibson recognizes his team’s coming games will be decisive moving forward and will lay the groundwork before the playoffs gear up in February.  

 

“It’s a great way to end off the first half of the season and see where we stand as a team,” he said. 

 

Queen’s will host Carleton on Friday and UOttawa on Saturday, and they’ll return to regular season action on Jan. 4 against UOIT in Oshawa.