KINGSTON, Ont. (January 6, 2017) - The No.8 Queen's Gaels (13-4-1) defeated the UOIT Ridgebacks (12-5-1) 4-1 on Friday night in OUA Men's Hockey action at the Memorial Centre in Kingston.

Prior to puck-drop Gaels goaltender Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) was honoured with the Murray Douglas Scholarsship for the third consecutive year. 

Murray Douglas, B.Comm. 1972, and Donna Douglas, Arts 1973, established the award to recognize the academic and athletic excellence of a varsity hockey player at Queen's University. Murray played varsity hockey for the Gaels from 1968 to 1972 and continues to be one of the Gaels most active alumni, making significant contributions to the program year after year. His continued interest in Queen's Hockey stems not only from his playing days, but largely due to the work of Dave Descent, the former Gael Force president, who acted as the varsity hockey manager during Murray's days at Queen's.

The award is designed to recognize excellence in both athletics and academics, as well to recognize an individual who leads by example and is looked up to by his teammates.



GAME FLOW
The Gaels and Ridgebacks took to the ice in a battle between two of the top programs in the OUA East this season.

Early on, the goaltenders were stealing the show for each team. In net for Queen's was Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) who made a highlight reel save off a UOIT fastbreak. Bailie was able to corral the puck off the shot then steer it into the corner to keep the game scoreless.

Next, Brendan O'Neill kept the Gaels off the board stopping point-blank attempts from Warren Steele (Williamsburg, Ont.) and Eric Ming (Williamstown, Ont.). 

Late in the frame the Gaels went to the man-advantage and with just three seconds left in the period Ryan Bloom (Calgary) fired a shot that squeaked through O'Neill to put the Gaels ahead 1-0.

In the second Queen's made it 2-0 with their second power play goal of the game. The Gaels worked the puck around well and found Steele open for a one-time at the top of the circle to O'Neills left and he made no mistake. Slater Doggett (Oakville, Ont.) and Spencer Abraham (Campbellville, Ont.) picked up the assists on the goal.

Abraham made it 3-0 Gaels in the third with a point shot that snuck through a crowd and found the back of the net. With under five minutes left the Ridgebacks scored to break up the shutout and the Gaels then added an empty-netter to seal the win 4-1.

FINAL SAY
"I think tonight was indicative of our practice habits this week. We had a few guys away at FISU camp and we came back and didn't miss a beat. In this league it's 28 games it's not a marathon it's a sprint so every two points is huge whether you are playing a top team or a bottom team so you can't take a night off." - Spencer Abraham

BY THE NUMBERS
3 - Assists for Slater Doggett
7 - Game point streak for Doggett
1st - The Gaels hold onto 1st place in the OUA East and sit one point ahead of McGill 

UP NEXT
The Gaels are back in action next Friday night as they travel to Montreal, Quebec to take on the McGill Redmen at 7pm. Watch it live on OUA.tv.