Paladins upset No. 7 ranked Gaels to win 31st Carr-Harris Cup

KINGSTON, Ont. (February 2, 2016) - The No.7 Queen's Gaels (17-6-2) were defeated 3-2 by the RMC Paladins (5-18-2) in the 31st Carr-Harris Cup at the Rogers K-Rock Centre. Both schools were well represented in the stands as 3,042 fans packed the arena.

The Gaels found themselves in a tricky situation missing four key players and head coach Brett Gibson who are all with team Canada at the FISU Universiade in Kazakhstan.

GAMEFLOW
The first period saw even action from both teams in the rivalry that dates back 131 years, the oldest continuous rivalry on record in the world. RMC fans were getting very loud as the Paladins were throwing their weight around. Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.) had an excellent chance for the Gaels using his speed down the wing. However, RMC goaltender Matthew Murphy held his ground, keeping the Gaels off the scoreboard.

RMC responded scoring the first goal of the game on an offensive-zone faceoff. After cleanly winning the draw, the Paladins were able to take a quick shot from the point. Seamus Maguire grabbed the rebound in front and beat Gaels goaltender Jacob Brennan (Halifax).

This proved to be the only goal of the period allowing RMC to take a 1-0 lead heading into the second despite being outshot 12-5.

In the second, the Gaels had some bad luck to start off the period. Just thirty seconds into the frame Brennan poke-checked the puck away from a Paladin but it then deflected straight up and over the Gaels goaltender, into the net. The Paladins goal was credited to Deric Boudreau.

After the Gaels penalty kill unit managed to fend off an RMC powerplay, the Gaels got their chance as Michael Keenan headed to the box for tripping. RMC netminder Murphy kept making life difficult for Queen's as he was able to get his right pad across the crease for a big save. RMC killed off the penalty and still held their 2-0 lead.

At the 9:08 mark of the second the Paladins again found themselves in penalty trouble. Aided by some blocked shots and sloppy passing by the Gaels, RMC was once again able to kill it off and hold their 2-0 lead.

In the third period, the Paladins continued with a hard-hitting, aggressive style of play. Queen's had a great chance in the first minute ringing a shot off of the post, but were unable to capitalize.

Later in the period, RMC extended their lead. Mitchell Hewson scored for the Paladins on a quick snapshot from the point. This gave the Paladins a 3-0 lead over the Gaels.

Just when it seemed like the game was over, the Gaels pushed back scoring two late goals. Greenaway scored the Gaels first goal on a backhand snapshot from the slot. This cut the Paladins lead to 3-1. With thirty-seven seconds remaining in the period, Dylan Anderson (Greely, Ont.) scored the Gaels second goal, on a wrist shot from just inside the blueline.

With less than a minute left in the period, the Gaels pulled their goalie. In spite of several close chances, Queen's was unable to score again, allowing the Paladins to take a 3-2 final.

FINAL SAY
"They got to the dirty areas, they scored the goals that they needed to score. That's something we've been harping on our guys all week long, we are going to struggle to score goals and we need to do the right things to score. Our execution was terrible, and has been since the four players have been gone, no excuse for how we played tonight." - Interim Head Coach Tony Cimellaro

BY THE NUMBERS
10 - 10th time that RMC has beaten Queen's in the Carr-Harris Cup
2014 - the last year RMC won the event
18 - Number of shots for RMC
3,024 - Fans in attendance, the third time the game has featured over 3,000 fans

UP NEXT
The Queen's Gaels are back in action this Saturday afternoon when they travel to Oshawa to visit the UOIT Ridgebacks. Puck-drop is set for 3:30pm and it can be seen live on OUA.tv.