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| PRESS RELEASES |
| Paladins nip Gaels with last-minute goal
By Doug Graham Local Sports - Thursday, October 20, 2005 @ 07:00 Kirk Muller chose a National Hockey League experience to put his Queen�s Golden Gaels into the mindset he thought was needed for the team�s Ontario University Athletics season debut last night against the Royal Military College Paladins. �I heard [the RMC] fans were vocal and [RMC] would be playing with a lot of energy,� Muller said. �I said it reminded me of the Dallas and Edmonton playoff series. Going into Edmonton was like that for us [Dallas]. They had the crazy fans and [the Oilers] played at a high tempo. We just tried to wait it out and be patient. �I thought we did a good job of that tonight except we didn�t get the goal.� The Paladins spoiled Muller�s OUA coaching debut when Luke Pierce deflected Matt Fetzner�s point shot past goaltender Matt Kenney at 19:30 of the third period, giving RMC a 2-1 win before 350 fans at Constantine Arena. The Paladins had carried a 1-0 lead, provided by Dion Lahoda�s early first-period goal, late into the third period. Rookie forward Clinton McCullough pulled the Gaels even, fending off an RMC defenceman and going up high on goaltender Blair Robertson for the equalizer at 15:02. The Gaels, outshot 34-33, were in position to go into overtime and pick up a point until Pierce�s goal. Head coach Kelly Nobes had his big line of Pierce, Lahoda and Roman Strutek on for the last 90 seconds. Pierce was on right side of Kenney when he redirected Fetzner�s shot, which would have been wide, under Kenney. Muller said he felt the pain of all coaches when the winning goal went in. �It�s the old evil thing of giving up a goal in the last minute. It would have been nice on opening night on the road to get a point,� the 39-year-old Muller said. �All and all, it was a good effort. The guys played hard. It�s a learning curve for our young guys. Some of them just haven�t played at that kind of pace before.� The Gaels, who will play the Mid East Division rival Paladins three more times in the 24-game OUA campaign, figure to have a lot of those one-goal games. �I think tonight was typical of how a lot of the games are going to be � one-goal games,� Muller said. �We just have to learn how to win them.� Kenney was everything Muller had expected. After giving up Lahoda�s goal, set up by a slick pass from behind the net by Strutek before the game was three minutes old, Kenney stopped 31 shots before the Pierce goal. The Paladins outplayed Queen�s in the opening period but the Gaels came on in the second, outshooting RMC 15-12. Robertson�s best stop came early in the third when defenceman Alex Archibald moved in from the point on a power play but had his drive smothered by the Paladins� goalie. Queen�s got into trouble when back-to-back penalties left them two men down for 1:42. Kenney stacked his pads on Lahoda down low and Gaels penalty killers Brian Moore, Archibald and Mike DeLisio helped kill off the RMC power plays. McCullough, who turned down a chance to play in the Ontario Hockey League to go to university, scored a beauty to even it. He had a Paladin defenceman draped over him but fended him off and beat Robertson up high. �The kid can play. He�s going to be a player,� said Muller, who was already looking forward to Queen�s next test tomorrow night in Toronto against the York Lions. �This was a rivalry and we knew what to expect. I thought we met the challenge. You�d rather win those than lose but that comes with experience. Confidence is a big part of it.� The Gaels will play their home opener next Friday against Guelph. RMC is home to Laurier and Guelph next weekend |
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