KINGSTON, Ont. (February 25, 2018) – The No. 9 Queen's Gaels lost an absolute heart breaker to the Concordia Stingers 3-2 in overtime on Sunday afternoon. Philippe Sanche scored on an odd-man rush just 51 seconds into overtime to send the Stingers into the next round of the playoffs and eliminate the Gaels.
 
GAME FLOW
Queen's got off to a little bit of a slow start, as the Stingers hard forecheck forced the Gaels into three straight icings to begin the first period. They settled into their offensive game as the period wore on though, as they out-chanced Concordia overall. The Gaels best chance came early in the frame when Slater Doggett (Oakville, Ont.) ripped a shot just over the net after a great drop pass from Eric Ming (Williamstown, Ont.) just inside the Stingers blue line. Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.) also had two great chances, but both were turned aside by Stingers goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte. The teams would enter the second period tied 0-0.
 
Concordia had a great chance to start the second period on a wraparound play, but Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) stood strong and was able to keep the puck out of the net and keep the game scoreless.
 
Bailie made a highlight-reel save a few minutes later when he came across his crease and made a great stick save on a wide-open net for the Stingers.
 
These big stops from Bailie would prove to be momentum swinging as the Gaels were finally able to beat Turcotte at the 17:18 mark when Doggett buried a rebound. Spencer Abraham (Campbellville, Ont.) started the play with a great stretch pass to send Ryan Bloom (Calgary) in on Turcotte, who couldn't handle the Bloom rebound that went right onto Doggett's stick for the goal.
 
With just over a minute remaining in the period, Patrick Sanvido (Guelph, Ont.) struggled to get to his feet after a blocked shot, much to the admiration of his teammates on the bench. The Gaels would enter the third period leading 1-0, one period away from the next round of the playoffs.
 
Concordia started the third period very strong and were able to put Queen's back on their heels. William Gignac was the first to beat Bailie on this day as he scored his second of the playoffs at 2:20.
 
The pressure continued as the Stingers were able to take the lead for the first time in the game. OUA leading scorer Anthony Beauregard scored at 13:09 when he was able to fire a wrist shot through the legs of Bailie to put Concordia up 2-1.
 
Queen's answered back quickly when, off a lost faceoff, Greenaway gathered a loose puck and centred it to Jaden Lindo (Brampton, Ont.) who buried the game-tying goal and sent the Memorial Centre crowd into a frenzy.
 
The two teams went into defensive mode from that point, but the Gaels were whistled for a tripping penalty with 1:05 remaining in the game. Concordia was unable to take advantage but would head into overtime with a 55-second power play.
 
It took hardly any time for the Stingers to take advantage of the power play as Sanche beat Bailie on an odd-man rush just 51 seconds into the extra frame to end the game and the Gaels season.
 
Turcotte picked up the win in net for the Stingers, making 27 saves while Bailie made 24 saves in the loss.
 
With this game comes the end of the best season in program history. Queen's set a program record for wins this year with 19.

FINAL SAY
"It's a game of inches, and they are a great hockey team, but we are a great hockey team too. We aren't going to make excuses we had opportunities to win, and it's just sad that it's over. We're an elite program now because of those veteran players trusting my commitment and trusting my passion. I owe a lot of my coaching career to those guys, and they may have made me a better coach, but they also made me a better person. I know the record books at Queen's, and those guys will go down as generational players here." - Head coach Brett Gibson.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
3 - Number of goals scored by Jaden Lindo during the playoffs, tied for the team lead
51 - The number of seconds it took for the Stingers to score in overtime