KINGSTON, Ont. (October 9, 2015) - The Men's hockey team is off to a hot start for the 2015-16 season, posting their first win of the year versus their Kingston rival RMC Paladins.
It was a 7pm puck drop at Constantine Arena in Kingston, as both teams played their first games of the OUA season. The Gaels come into this one with a solid 13-12-1 record last season, and finishing with a loss in the OUA Semifinals the last two years.
Game Flow
Queen's was ready to go from puck drop, scoring the first goal of the game and first of the season. Spencer Abraham (Campbellville, Ont.) snapped one past RMC goalie Matt Beimes just 1:38 into the opening frame. The Gaels wouldn't stop there though, as Patrick McGillis (Calgary, Alta.) doubled the early lead with a goal of his own, this one coming just over two minutes later. Both Gaels' goals went unassisted to start the season. RMC wouldn't let the visiting team take the crowd out of it that easily, as John Livingston fired one past starting goalie Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) to cut the lead to 2-1.
The Gaels came out even quicker in the second period. Wasting no time once again, it was Abraham getting his second of the game. The assist on the goal went to the newly appointed Queen's captain Patrick Downe as he records his first point of the young season. As though two wasn't enough, Abraham decided it was time to add another, scoring his third goal of the game to complete the hat-trick. His third of the game comes just 23 minutes into the season, in 2014-15 Abraham finished the entire year with five goals. It may be safe to say he has a great chance of topping that this season. The Gaels continued to press and netted another one, this time by forward Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.), giving the team a big 5-1 lead heading into the final period.
Twelve minutes into the third Andrew Wiebe (Thunder Bay, Ont.) scored his first of the season to give the visitors a 6-1 lead in the game. Just 45 seconds later it was Eric Ming (Williamstown, Ont.) giving the Gaels a big 6 goal cushion. That was all she wrote for each team's season opener as Queen's topped RMC by a scored of 7-1.
By the Numbers
3 - Goals scored by defenceman Spencer Abraham
25 - Saves by Gaels starting goaltender Kevin Bailie in the win
41 - Shots on net by the Gaels in the game
10 - Head Coach Brett Gibson officially kicked off his 10th season as the team's head coach
114 - Number of regular season wins Gibson has coached with the Gaels
22 - Minutes of penalties racked up between both teams
2 - Minutes of powerplay time between both teams, all to RMC
2 - Games remaining versus RMC this season for Queen's
Up Next
Queen's will have a week to prepare for their next two games, a back-to-back weekend at home versus York on Friday, and Brock on Saturday. Both games with kick off at 7:30pm at the Memorial Centre. For tickets and info on the games head to GoGaelsGo.com.
