The Queen's Gaels men's hockey team secured a narrow 2-1 victory over the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday afternoon at the Memorial Centre, extending their record to 19-5-0 on the season. The game was highlighted by the presentation of the prestigious Murray Douglas Scholarship to forward Cameron Tolnai (Business) before puck drop.

The scholarship, established by Murray Douglas (B.Comm. 1972) and Donna Douglas (Arts 1973), recognizes the academic and athletic excellence of a varsity hockey player at Queen's University. Murray Douglas, a former Gaels player from 1968 to 1972, continues to be one of the program's most active alumni, contributing significantly year after year. The scholarship honors a player who excels in both athletics and academics and leads by example.

The game opened with a physical but clean tone, as both teams exchanged heavy hits and scoring chances. The Gaels dominated the first period, creating several odd-man rushes and testing the Guelph goaltender, Colton Incze, who made a several of impressive saves, including a snow angel stop on a deflection from Daniel Michaud (Arts & Science). Despite outshooting Guelph, the Gaels entered the intermission in a scoreless tie, with Christian Purboo (Arts & Science) standing tall in net.

The second period saw both teams struggle to generate offense early on. Queen's went back to the penalty kill as Michael Renwick (Arts & Science) was sent to the box for slashing. The Gaels, boasting the second-best penalty kill in the OUA at 89.7%, successfully killed off their third penalty of the game. With five minutes remaining in the period, Ian Lemieux (Arts & Science) opened the scoring on a point shot, assisted by Liam Tanner (Kinesiology) and Ante Zlomislic (Applied Science). The Gaels closed out the second period with a 1-0 lead, and Purboo maintained his shutout heading into the third.

Queen's continued to hold the Guelph blue line in the third period, getting numerous pucks to the net. Five minutes in, Ethan Larmand (Arts & Science) drew an interference penalty, giving the Gaels their first power play of the game. Tolnai, the scholarship recipient, capitalized on the opportunity, scoring a power-play goal off the draw, assisted by Tanner and Nolan Hutcheson (Health Studies), to make it 2-0.

Guelph responded midway through the period, cutting the lead to 2-1. As the game began to wind down Purboo made a crucial diving save across his crease to preserve the lead. With two and a half minutes remaining, Guelph called a timeout and pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker. Despite the pressure, the Gaels held on to secure the 2-1 victory.

3 Stars of the Game:

1st Star: Cameron Tolnai – Scored the game-winning goal on the power play and was this year's recipient of the Murray Douglas Scholarship.
2nd Star: Christian Purboo – Made huge saves down the stretch to preserve the lead and was a key factor in the Gaels' defense.
3rd Star: Ian Lemieux – Opened the scoring and was a defensive anchor, blocking shots and disrupting passing lanes for Guelph.

With the win, Queen's improves to 19-5-0 on the season and 10-2 at home. The Gaels will next face the RMC Paladins in the historic Carr-Harris Challenge Cup at the Slush Puppie Place on February 6th at 7:30 PM. Fans can catch the action live by grabbing tickets in the link above.