KINGSTON, Ont. (January 6, 2010) - Steele De Fazio of Georgetown, Ont., turned aside 32 shots to post his first win as a Gael as Queen's came from behind to defeat the RMC Paladins 5-2 on Wednesday night.

De Fazio, who missed the first half of the season for eligibility reasons, was particularly strong in the third period, stopping 13 shots, when the Paladins were trying to get back into the game.

Despite the victory, the game did not start off well for the Gaels as the Paladins jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the game was 10 minutes old. Mitchell Smith opened the scoring with a bullet shot over the shoulder of De Fazio before Paul Whalen banged home a loose puck in the slot to stretch the lead to two.

However, Queen's would cut into the lead before the period was up when Jordan Mirwaldt of Winnipeg, Man., beat RMC goalie Andrew Flemming to make the score 2-1 after one.

The second period belonged to the Gaels as they turned up the pressure on the Paladins defence with a steady dose of speed and forechecking. Brock Ouellet of Lindsay, Ont., notched his fifth goal of the season midway through the frame after some hard work down low in the Paladins end to even the score at two.

Queen's would take the lead six minutes later on a powerplay. A shot from the point was scrambled in front of the net before Stephane Chabot of Rockland, Ont., found the loose puck and lifted it over a sprawled Flemming.

The Gaels would extend their advantage midway through the third period on another powerplay. Payton Liske of Welland, Ont., took a saucer pass from Mirwaldt in the slot and then out-waited Flemming before firing the puck into the top of the net.

The Paladins refused to go away and nearly cut into the Gaels lead shortly thereafter but captain Jeffrey Oke's shot rang off the crossbar to keep the score 4-2.

Mirwaldt would eventually add an empty netter for his second of the game to make the final 5-2.

With the victory, the Gaels improve to 9-7-1 and sit just one point out of third place in the OUA East division. The loss drops the Paladins to 4-9-3.

Queen's will be back in action on Friday night when the host the Toronto Varsity Blues at the Memorial Centre. Puck drop is set for 7:30 pm.

NOTES: Prior to the game, captain Jonathon Lawrance of Steinbach, Man., was honoured with the Murray Douglas Scholarship...it is the second-straight year that Lawrance has been awarded the scholarship