The men’s hockey team had another set of mixed results on their road trip to Toronto last weekend, beating the Ryerson Rams 4-3 in a shootout Friday night but falling 2-0 to the University of Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday.
Head coach Brett Gibson said split weekends have become too common for the Gaels.
“It’s getting to be the story of the year,” he said.
Gibson said the weekend results weren’t what he’d hoped for.
“It’s okay, but that’s the only word I’ve got for it,” he said. “I’m not going to complain; we got two points, but I’m looking for more from our guys.”
The Rams scored twice in the first period Friday, but Queen’s battled back. Forward Scott Kenway notched a goal early in the second, and Jeffrey Johnstone and Clint McCullough added two power-play goals to give Queen’s the lead, but Ryerson tied it up on a short-handed goal in the third period to send the game to a shootout. Mackenzie Ball made 29 saves for the Gaels in regulation and added two more in the shootout to give Queen’s the win. Blake Pronk and Pat Doyle notched shootout goals for the Gaels.
On Saturday, the Gaels again got off to a slow start. The Varsity Blues notched two first-period goals and outshot Queen’s 16-5 in the opening period. The Gaels rallied but couldn’t beat Toronto goalie Andrew Martin, who made 21 saves for the Blues. Brady Morrison made 31 saves in a losing cause for Queen’s.
Gibson said the poor start against Toronto doomed the Gaels.
“For the last 40 minutes, we were the better team,” he said. “I’m still looking for a full 60 minutes; we haven’t played it yet this year. We’re not playing bad, we’re just not playing complete games and that’s what’s frustrating as a coach.”
This weekend, Queen’s will go on the road to face the Ottawa Gee-Gees Friday night and the McGill Redmen Saturday.
Gibson said Ottawa will be a tough challenge for the Gaels due to their physical play.
“The best way to describe them is football on ice,” he said. “They’ll hit anything that moves and we’ve got to be ready for it.”
Gibson said the traditional atmosphere around a Queen’s-McGill game should fire up his team.
“If that can’t motivate our guys, nothing will.”
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