Marquee Matchup: Carr-Harris Cup record crowd of 4,121 watch Gaels double up on RMC

KINGSTON, Ont. (via Queen's Gaels) - The Queen's Gaels (12-12-3) scored two in the third to defeat the RMC Paladins (9-18-1) 4-2 in the 34th Carr-Harris Cup at the Leon's Centre in Kingston.

ATTENDANCE RECORD
The Queen's Gaels and RMC Paladins set a new Carr-Harris Cup record for attendance with 4,121 fans on hand at the Leon's Centre. The total tops the amount from last year that saw 3,888 fill into the arena.

GAME FLOW
Queen's looked to build momentum as the opening period reached the midway mark. They began pressuring RMC goaltender Joey May more and with just under three minutes to go in the first, Jaren Burke was able to make his way to the front of the net but couldn't get a good shot away.

At the other end, Queen's netminder Luke Richardson held his own and in total, shots finished 9-8 in favour of the Gaels.

After the first 20 minutes, the two teams were tied up 0-0.

A tripping penalty by the Gaels halfway through the second would give RMC the game's first powerplay chance of the night for either side.  The Gaels penalty-killing unit controlled the puck for the majority of the advantage to kill it off keeping the game scoreless.

Seconds after the powerplay with 11:44 left to go, Jared Bethune would take a shot on goal that got deflected by May and Luke Edwards followed up by picking up the loose puck and firing it in the net for the game's first goal of the night.

With less than ten minutes left in the second and minutes after the Gaels first score of the night, Bethune and Edwards would trade places with Edwards setting up Bethune for the Gaels second of the night.

The back to back goals sparked RMC to produce some shots on goal late, however it remained a 2-0 lead for Queen's with one more period remaining in the 34th Carr-Harris Cup.

The final period began as Josh Curtis looked to give the Gaels a three-goal lead with a breakaway that would eventually be stopped by May, who was doing his best to keep the score close.

Similar to the game's first goal, RMC would score their first of the night moments after a Gaels man advantage came to an end. With 9:26 left, Liam Stagg set up Marshall Skapski to cut the Queen's lead in half 2-1.

RMC would find themselves with their second 5-on-4 of the night with less than seven minutes to go down by one. The third period would reflect the second with Cameron Lamport giving the puck to Rhett Willcox who found the back of the net and tied things up 2-2.

The tie wouldn't last long as the Gaels answered right back following Rhett's game-tying goal as Brandon Schuldhaus scored his first career U SPORTS marker to put Queen's back in front. Schuldhaus moved past a defender and managed to fire a point shot past May for the goal.

The Gaels fans in attendance began to celebrate as an empty-net goal scored by Josh Curtis would seal the Gaels lead and secure their 21st win over RMC at the Carr-Harris Cup. 
 
The Gaels Schuldhaus and Paladins Skapski were named the MVPs.

FINAL SAY
"You know that's a big goal, that's Schuldhaus' first goal and it couldn't have come at a better time. There's a lot of guys that have won championships here and when they tied it up it could have gone the other way but you go back, draw a penalty and score on the power play and that's what good teams do." - Queen's Head Coach Brett Gibson.

BY THE NUMBERS
134 - For over 100 years, the Gaels and RMC are the world's oldest hockey rivalry
5 - Edwards and Bethune combined for two goals and three assists
21 - This was the Gaels 21st win over RMC since the inaugural game in 1986.
1st - Career U SPORTS goal for Schuldhaus
Triple Crown - The RMC Triple Crowd of a win over Westpoint, a playoff spot and a Carr-Harris Cup victory was denied by the Gaels as RMC had completed the other two feats