BOX SCORE KINGSTON, Ont. (February 4, 2011) – Queen's goaltender Steele De Fazio of Georgetown, Ont., turned aside 26 of the 27 shots he faced Friday night as the Queen's Gaels (11-11-3) clinched a playoff berth with a 3-1 victory over the Ryerson Rams (8-17-1) at the Kingston Memorial Centre.

After a scoreless first period, Jordan Mirwaldt of Winnipeg, Man., opened the scoring for the Gaels when he found the back of the net on the powerplay for his ninth goal of the season. Later in the frame, Mirwaldt was once again in on the scoring for Queen's as his shot found its way through the legs of Ryerson goalie Louie George of Waterloo, Ont., only to be tapped in by Jordan Soquila of Maple Ridge, B.C.

De Fazio, who was making his fifth start in the last six games, was especially strong during the second period when the Rams had three powerplay opportunities, turning aside all 11 shots in the frame.

The Rams would close the gap to one seven minutes into the third period when Dustin Alcock of Hamilton, was sprung in all alone and beat De Fazio over the blocker with a backhand. However, just two minutes later, Jonathon Lawrance of Steinbach, Man., won a faceoff in the neutral zone before busting in down the left wing and beating George far side to restore the Gaels two goal cushion.

With their season on the line, Ryerson threw everything they could at the Gaels, leaving a man up at the Queen's blueline for most of the second half of the third but the Gaels defence stood tall allowing the Gaels to pick up their 11th win of the year.

Not only did the Gaels clinch a playoff spot with the win but it also allowed them to leapfrog Toronto and move into a tie with Ottawa for sixth place in the OUA East division. Queen's also holds a game in hand on the Gee-Gees.

“Coming down the stretch, we're trying to move up to sixth or seventh, maybe even fifth, so it's a step,” commented De Fazio after the win. “You always want to be playing good hockey coming down the stretch and we want to have some momentum heading into the playoffs.”

The Gaels will now head across town where they will battle the RMC Paladins in the 25th annual Carr-Harris Cup tomorrow night at Constantine Arena. Queen's enters the game having won the cup in three consecutive seasons, including a 3-0 victory over the Paladins last year.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00pm.

NOTES: Jordan Mirwaldt's second period goal ties him with Scott Kenway of Calgary, for the team lead in scoring...team captain Jonathon Lawrance recorded his 80th career point as a Gael with his third period goal