KINGSTON, Ont. (Jan. 31, 2024) - Queen's Men's Hockey defeated the York Lions 5-2 Wednesday night at Memorial Centre to secure their spot in the OUA Playoffs.

With the three-goal win, the Gaels improved their record to 16-7-1-0. The team sits fifth in the OUA East Division standings, two points behind the fourth place Concordia Stingers, with two games in hand.

Queen's had to bounce back from two early York leads. The Lions opened the scoring just 24 seconds into the first period before the Gaels evened the score a little over a minute later, when captain Jack Duff (Kingston, Ont.) found the back of the net on a goal assisted by Derek Hamilton (Kingston, Ont.) and Cameron Tolnai (Oakville, Ont.).

The Lions scored again midway through the first period to take a one-goal lead into the second.

Hayden Fowler (Kingston, Ont.) and Daniel Michaud (Belleville, Ont.) scored two unanswered goals for the Gaels in the second period for Queen's to take their first lead of the game, a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Michaud went end-to-end, capping his highlight reel goal by beating the Lions' goalie top shelf.

Samuel Marburg (North Vancouver, B.C.) and Owen Lalonde (Windsor, Ont.) added two more goals for Queen's in the third period to secure the three-goal win.

Fowler led all Gaels in points in the win with four (one goal, three assists), while Marburg finished with three (one goal, two assists), and Duff and Michaud had a goal and assist each.

Christian Purboo (Oakville, Ont.) had another strong performance, making 20 saves on 22 shots in the win.

Queen's is on the road this weekend, travelling to Waterloo, Ont. to take on the Waterloo Warriors Friday, Feb. 2 and Laurier Golden Hawks Saturday, Feb. 3.