Queen's Men's Hockey wrapped up their road trip in North Bay with a commanding 4–0 win over the Nipissing Lakers, punching their ticket to the OUA Playoffs in style.
The opening frame was a tight, back-and-forth battle, with both squads trading chances but neither able to beat the goaltender. The Gaels set a physical, hard-nosed tone early, playing smart defense and controlling the neutral zone to keep the Lakers off the scoreboard.
Late in the second, Ante Zlomislic (Applied Science) finally broke through, crashing the net to bury a rebound off a point shot from fellow senior Lucas Peric (Economics), with Liam Tanner (Kinesiology) credited for the secondary assist. Minutes later, veteran Nolan Hutcheson (Health Studies) made it 2–0, finishing a crisp tape-to-tape feed from Sebbie Johnson (Arts & Sciences) to put the Gaels in complete control heading into the final frame.
Queen's didn't let up in the third. Hutcheson struck again, ripping a shot past the goaltender from a setup by Derek Hamilton (Arts & Sciences), and Tanner added an empty-netter to cap the 4–0 road victory.
Between the pipes, Tanner Wickware (Graduate Studies) stole the show, turning aside 42 shots to record a stellar shutout. His composure and athleticism gave the Gaels confidence to push the pace and dominate the play in all zones.
With the win, Queen's finishes their road trip strong and secures a spot in the OUA Playoffs. While the postseason matchups are still TBD, the Gaels will carry their momentum and balanced team play into the playoffs, ready to compete at a high level on both ends of the ice.