Almost an hour’s worth of penalty minutes was split between the rivals as the Queen’s Men’s Hockey team fought it out with the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins on Saturday, Jan. 13.
The Gaels were the victors of this match with a score of 4-2.
The Battle of the Causeway was on for the last time before the historic Carr-Harris Cup on Feb. 8 when the puck dropped at 7:30 p.m..
Despite the intensity players brought to the game, the first period scoresheet didn’t show anything except for a hooking penalty by the Gaels’ Lucas Peric, ArtSci ’26, just over five minutes in. RMC made no shots on that powerplay.
Early in the second period, Gaels forward Derek Hamilton, ArtSci ’27, scored his eighth goal of the season a minute and a half in. His goal was assisted by forward Holden Katzalay, Comp ’25.
However, Queen’s lead didn’t last for more than thirty seconds as Paladins forward Austin Saint scored two minutes in, tying the game 1-1. His goal was assisted by forward Nathan Fox and defensive player Dylan Wells.
Hamilton put the Gaels ahead again with a short-handed, unassisted goal about 10 minutes before the end of the second period.
Forward Daniel Michaud, ArtSci ’27, furthered the Gaels’ lead to 3-1 with his third goal of the season with seven minutes left in the second period. Michaud’s goal was assisted by Peric and forward Cameron Tolnai, Comm ’27.
The second period saw six penalties and the Gaels remained up 3-1 going into the third.
Two and a half minutes into the third period, forward Dalton Duhart, ArtSci ’26, made his 14th goal of the season, increasing the Gaels’ lead to 4-1. His goal was assisted by forward Alex Robert, ArtSci ’24.
Two minutes after the Gaels’ fourth goal, the first penalty of the period was given to Gaels defenceman Trevor Longo, Comm ’25, for high sticking. This minor penalty was the eighth of the game and would be the start of the next eight minutes of penalty box action.
Six minutes into the third period, shortly after Longo finished serving his time, Duhart and RMC’s forward Ryan Smith were both awarded match-penalties for roughing after the whistle. RMC forward Brock McNaughton received a boarding penalty at the same time.
Three minutes later, another set of penalties was distributed to both teams, as a 10-minute misconduct and minor roughing penalty were handed to both Queen’s defenceman Jacob Paquette, ArtSci ’24, and RMC forward Austin Saint. RMC defenseman Bruce Coltart joined the others in the box for a roughing minor seconds later.
At the ten-minute mark more penalties were handed to players from both teams. RMC forward Josh Spratt was given a 10-minute misconduct and a two-minute roughing penalty. Gaels defenseman Owen Lalonde, ArtSci ’25, was given a 10-minute misconduct and two minor penalties for roughing and cross-checking.
Longo closed out the game’s penalties with a slashing minor with nine minutes remaining in the game, putting the Paladins on one final powerplay where Brent Broaders scored twenty seconds in to make the game 4-2.
With no goals for the rest of the period, the final score was 4-2.
Queen’s goaltender Christian Purboo, ArtSci ’25, made 24 saves and RMC’s goaltender Michael Davis made 34 saves.
Despite the 22 penalties awarded during the game, both teams only saw six powerplays each—attesting to physicality and rivalry between the Paladins and Gaels for the match-penalties and misconducts.
Jonathan Yantsis, ArtSci ’24, is one of the team’s top forwards and he played a major role in helping the U SPORTS All-Star team reach victory over the Canada Men’s World Juniors team during their training for this year’s tournament. Yantsis shared some words about RMC in a Nov. 15 post-game press conference.
“It’s always a rivalry game when we come in to play RMC. They play hard every game, and we know what we’re getting ourselves into,” Yantsis said.
The Gaels face off again on home ice Jan. 19 as they take on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. The puck drops in the Memorial Centre at 7:30 p.m.
Tags
Carr-Harris Cup, Men's hockey, Rivals, RMC Paladins
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