Gaels one win away from first Queen's Cup appearance since 1981

MONTREAL (March 1, 2017) - The No.7 Queen's Gaels stole a 2-1 win in Montreal at the No.3 McGill Redmen in game one of the OUA East final best-of-three series in Montreal at McConnell Arena. Queen's is now just one win away from their first Queen's Cup appearance since 1981.

GAME FLOW
It took the Gaels just 24 seconds into the opening period to get the games first goal as McGill got caught pinching and Slater Doggett (Oakville, Ont.) took advantage for his first goal of the playoffs. Doggett broke in on a two-on-one with Eric Ming (Williamstown, Ont.) who fed Doggett for an easy tap-in past Philip-Louis Guindon.
 
McGill pushed the pace from there looking to beat Gaels goaltender Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) but were not able to get one past the OUA male athlete of the week who shut down all nine attempts from the Redmen.

The second period saw the home side waste no time evening up the score. Just 51 seconds into the second, a pass from behind the net to the right of Bailie went to Alexandre Sills who put a shot past the blocker of the Gaels goalie and into the net.

The two teams traded late powerplays in the second but the game remained tied up at 1-1 heading into the third.

McGill continued to pressure the Gaels, firing a total of 21 shots on goal in the final frame which was three more than Queen's had all game long. Bailie continued to stymie the Redmen stopping all 21 and 40 of 41 in the game.

With only 3:46 left in the third period the Gaels caught the break they were looking for, Henry Thompson (Oshawa, Ont.) broke in on the left wing against Guindon and pushed past a McGill defender to the front of the net. Thompson then reached across the goal to the far post and tucked the puck away past the Redmen goaltender for his first of the playoffs. 

McGill couldn't find an equalizer with a costly penalty in the final minutes negating any chance they may have had.

FINAL SAY
"We figured out a way to win tonight. We had a good start and great second period but chased the entire third period, but Kevin Bailie was fantastic. New guys each night are stepping up and scoring big goals. Friday we will need to be hungry and desperate to obtain a goal we made at the start of the season. " - Head Coach Brett Gibson.

BY THE NUMBERS
1 - Win away from the Gaels first Queen's Cup appearance since 1981 and their first national championship appearance since 1981
40 - Saves for Bailie on 41 shots faced
5 - Wins for Queen's in Montreal this season including playoffs and no losses

UP NEXT
The Gaels will look to sweep the series this Friday night at 7:30 pm when they host McGill at the Kingston Memorial Centre. For tickets visit www.gogaelsgo.com/tickets.

Source: Queen's Gaels