BOX SCORE
KINGSTON, Ont. (January 5, 2013) - Queen's (7-6-4) suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Toronto Varsity Blues (10-4-3) 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night at the Memorial Centre in Kingston. Toronto scored with 30 seconds remaining in the third period to tie the game and then scored 38 seconds into the overtime period to secure the win.
Tyler Turcotte (St. Catharines, Ont.) scored the OT winner and finished with a two point night while Brett Willows (Rivers, Man.) turned aside 29 shots for the win. Corey Bureau (Amherstview, Ont.) led the way for the Gaels notching a goal and an assist in a losing effort.
In the first frame it was Queen's who got the best chance early on. The Gaels Steve Schmidt (Campbell River, B.C.) nabbed a puck from mid-air and hauled in all alone on the Varsity Blues goaltender Willows who stoned the first year forward. The two teams exchanged chances but both squads had trouble getting their shots on net. The Gaels opened the scoring on a five-on-three power play when Tyler Moore (Winnipeg) potted a rebound into the empty cage. Kelly Jackson (Scarborough, Ont.) made a nice move to come down through the slot and fired a shot on Brett Willows (Rivers, Man.) that the net minder kicked out right to Moore.
After Toronto evened the score on a goal from Cassidy Preston (North Bay, Ont.), the Gaels regained their lead once more. Bureau displayed great hand-eye coordination as he batted the puck out of mid-air to give Queen's the lead. Brock Ouellet (Lindsay, Ont.) and Jackson added the helpers on the goal.
The third frame saw the Gaels killing off over half the time remaining on a four minute penalty for high sticking. Riley Whitlock (Calgary) played a large role to keep the Toronto players at bay turning aside multiple shots on the Varsity Blues man-advantage. Toronto kept the pressure coming late and with only 30.2 seconds remaining Matt Walters (Winnipeg) wristed a loose puck past Whitlock and forcing an overtime period.
It took only 38 seconds to decide a winner when Toronto's Turcotte fired a shot from beyond the blue line that fooled Whitlock who was screened on the play.
Queen's will return to action on January 12 when they play host to the Ryerson Rams at the Memorial Centre in Kingston. Puck drop is set for 7:30 P.M.