Gaels unable to ‘rein’ in Mustangs in overtime loss

Queen’s Men’s hockey lost 2-1
Image by: Rory Stinson
The Gaels’ next home game is Jan. 13 against RMC.

Following a big 7-2 win over the Windsor Lancers, the Queen’s Men’s Hockey team felt a heartbreaking loss against the Western Mustangs at the Memorial Centre.

Though there was a smaller than usual crowd at the matchup on Nov. 25, perhaps because the puck dropped when the Vanier Cup game over at Richardson Stadium was still underway, enough dedicated hockey fans showed to represent their team against their rivals.

Heading into the game, the Gaels faced the possibility of extending their five-game win streak to six. This would be the longest win streak since their 2021-22 season where they won their last nine games only to fall short in an overtime loss against McGill in the first round of OUA Playoffs.

The Mustangs had a season win-loss record of 3-11 and were looking to improve it.

The tension was high from the moment the puck dropped. The Gaels won the face off, but the puck was turned over and forced the Gaels to retreat into their own zone swiftly.

A penalty given to Western’s defensive player Eric Van Impe for cross-checking about a minute in ran the full two minutes, but the Gaels went scoreless on their first powerplay.

As the puck slid past Western’s goaltender, forward Samuel Marburg, ArtSci ’27, was the first to put a point on the scoreboard, making it 1-0 for Queen’s at 11:43 with assists from Dharan Cap, Sci ’26, and Kolton Cousins, ArtSci ’27.

The score remained 1-0 entering the second period, whichstarted out strong for the Gaels, who spent the majority of the first few minutes in the Mustangs’ zone. The Mustangs struggled to get the puck out, resorting to icing or simply dumping it in the Gaels’ end and retreating.

The Mustangs eventually regained their footing as they took control of a few turnovers, but they were unable to optimize any of them.

Throughout the rest of the second period, both teams looked to maximize on their scoring opportunities but came up short.

Gaels defensive player Owen Lalonde, ArtSci ’25, made his way to the box at 3:37 for interference to give Western their first powerplay of the game.

Cutting the penalty short, Mustangs forward Reed Morison evened the score at 1-1 with just over two minutes left in the second period. The score remained tied going into the third, which was unexpected from the OUA league’s third place Gaels and the fourteenth place Mustangs.

The Mustangs were the dominant team out the gate to start the third period.

Van Impe found himself in the penalty box once again for the Mustangs on a tripping call, giving the Gaels their second powerplay of the game.

The powerplay saw more aggression from the teams as two Mustang players started shoving Gaels forward Holden Katzalay, Comp ’25, but the two-on-one didn’t last long as more Gaels and Mustangs stepped in. No penalties were called.

The Gaels’ powerplay ran out and the teams were back at even strength.

The aggression continued and after some more back-and-forth, Mustangs defensive player Sam Willits was given an interference penalty.

The Queen’s powerplay was cut short when Katzalay got a tripping penalty for just over a minute of four-on-four hockey, followed by a Western powerplay to close out the Katzalay penalty.

At the end of both the penalties, the score was still 1-1.

The Gaels found themselves on another powerplay after an interference penalty was awarded to Mustangs’ forward Christiano Aiello, an opportunity that once again went unoptimized by the Gaels.

With under nine minutes remaining, Marburg made an early trip to the bench after appearing to have sustained an injury from a takedown with a Mustangs player against the board in the Mustangs’ end. He returned to the ice on his next shift.

As the game appeared to be headed towards overtime, Western seemed the angrier of the two teams, with a Mustangs player continuing to pester Dalton Durhart, ArtSci ’26, even after the whistle blew. Durhart turned his back without retaliation, despite the cross-checks and what appeared to be a hit to the head he faced during play. Again, no penalties were called, stirring controversy on the Queen’s bench.

With some desperate final attempts from both teams, the game was still 1-1 at the end of the third period and was headed for overtime.

A three-on-three overtime started, with the Gaels utilizing their offense before a rush from Mustangs Van Impe resulted in a one-on-one with Gaels goaltender Christian Purboo, ArtSci ’25. Purboo made an important save, causing an eruption in the crowd.

Mustangs centre Noah Danielson scored with just under three minutes left in overtime to complete the game at 2-1.

The Gaels next home game is Jan. 13 against the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins. It will be the two teams’ last meeting before the infamous Carr-Harris Cup on Feb. 8 at the Leon’s Centre.

Tags

Men's hockey, overtime, western mustangs, Windsor Lancers

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