KINGSTON, Ont. (October 18th, 2019) - The Queen's Gaels women's hockey team (0-1-0-0) opened their 2019 season with a 4-1 loss against No.8 University of Toronto Varsity Blues (0-0-0-0) at Memorial Centre on Friday night. 

The Gaels opened the game on the attack as Quinn Johnston found the back of the net just 31 seconds into the game. The lead wouldn't last long, however, as Gabrielle De Serres answered back for Toronto leveling the score at 1-1 with 13:09 remaining in the first period.

The Gaels and Blues traded chances throughout the remainder of the first period but neither team secured a lead heading into the first intermission.  

Toronto opened the second period with a quick goal as Juliette Blais-Savoie's point shot deflected off a Gaels stick and trickled into the back of the net. Gaels goaltender Makenzy Arsenault stood tall for the remainder of the period and closed out second with a huge stop denying Taylor Trussler from in close to keep the game within reach at 2-1 in favour of Toronto. 

Toronto opened the third period with another early goal as Natasha Athanasakos scored for the Blues. Both teams traded power play opportunities midway through the third period but were unable to find the back of the net on the advantage.

The Gaels gained three consecutive power plays but Toronto's penalty kill defended well and kept Queen's off the board. Gaels forward Kaylie Dennis fired a puck past a sprawling Albert but into the side of the net. Albert denied Taylor Hicks with a huge pad save with Queen's on a two-man advantage. 

Athanasakos scored her second goal of the game with 17.6 seconds remaining to give the Blues a 4-1 victory over the Gaels. 

BY THE NUMBERS 
18:29 - Quinn Johnston scored the Gaels lone goal of the game early in the first period.
25 - Number of saves made by Toronto goaltender Madeline Albert.
7 - Number of penalties called in the game by referee Patrick Brown, four called on Toronto and three committed by the Gaels. 
3 - Number of points scored by Blues forward Natasha Athanasakos.

HIGHLIGHTS

Quinn Johnston opened the Gaels season with a bang. 
 


UP NEXT
The Gaels return to action on against the Ryerson Rams Saturday night at 7:30 at the Memorial Centre. The event will be themed Think Pink, as our varsity athletes continued their annual tradition of participating in the Kingston Run for the Cure, in support of the Cancer Society and Breast Cancer Research projects, this year the Gaels raised close to $30,000 dollars.