Queen's Men's Hockey opened their 2021-22 campaign with a 5-2 win on Wednesday at the Memorial Centre. Four players scored their first goal as a Gael in the victory over crosstown rivals RMC.

Third year forward Josh Curtis (Winnipeg) opened the scoring for the Gaels at the 16:37 mark of the first period to give the Gaels a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

The Paladins equalized shortly after the break when Cole Noble scored out of the penalty box in 4-on-4 play at the 4:11 mark of the second. The Gaels regained their lead later in the frame when Matthew Needham (Penticton, Ont.) potted a rebound in front of the net at 10:49 of the frame.  Queen's increased their lead to two goals just over five minutes later when Holden Katzalay (West Vancouver, BC) slotted home a Jonathan Yantsis (Markham, Ont.) pass on the power play.

The Gaels' lead was cut in half early in the third period after a Mitchell Larabie goal for RMC just before the two-minute mark of the third, but a heads up play by first year Gaels defenceman Trevor Longo (North Vancouver, BC) to jump into the rush saw him put a one-timer past Paladins goaltender Brad van Schubert to restore the two-goal margin.  

Nolan Hutcheson (Kingston, Ont.) sealed the victory Queen's with an empty netter at the 19:36 mark of the third period.

Luke Richardson (Barrie, Ont.) stopped 22 of the 24 shots he faced to earn his first victory of the season. Queen's recorded double-digit shots in each period, with van Schubert making 35 saves in the loss.

Needham led the way on the scoresheet for the Gaels with a goal and two assists in his Queen's debut. Katzalay (1-1-2) and Yantsis (0-2-2) also had multi-point efforts on a night that saw 11 Gaels chip in on the scoresheet.

The Gaels complete their home-and-away matchup with the Paladins on Nov. 6. Puck drop is slated for 2 p.m. at Constantine Arena.