The Varsity Blues men’s hockey team could not hold on to their 5-3 advantage and dropped a 6-5 overtime decision to the Queen’s Gaels on Friday, October 15 at Varsity Arena.

Third-year Queen’s forward Brock Ouellet would be the overtime hero, scoring just five seconds into the extra frame. The Lindsay, Ont., native received the winning draw from centreman Jonathon Lawrance, skated over the blue line and fired a shot over the glove of Blues goaltender Russ Brownell (Oakville, Ont.).

Queen’s scored the lone goal of the first period when third-year forward Scott Kenway of Calgary wrapped the puck around Toronto’s net and was there to roof his own rebound.

The Blues came out flying in the second and quickly evened the score. Rookie forward Michael Markovic of Toronto scored on a four-on-three advantage when he received a pass from Byron Elliott (Burlington, Ont.) at the top of the circle and sent a quick snap shot under the glove of Queen’s goaltender David Aime (Clandeboye, Man.).

Four minutes later, third-year forward David Mooney of Toronto received a cross-crease pass from Elliott and made no mistake, sending a hard one-timer past Aime to give the Blues a 2-1 lead.

The Gaels tied things up midway through the second frame as Calgary native Colin Bergmann shot the puck through a scramble in front of the net. The game remained deadlocked at 2-2 heading into the third period.

Both teams went on a scoring frenzy with four goals in under two minutes. Blues rookie forward Sean Frank of Vaughn, Ont., made good on an Anthony Bernier pass, before Gaels forward Jordan Mirwaldt (Winnipeg) charged down the ice, picking up his own rebound to score high blocker on Brownell.

U of T would not be discouraged. Orono, Ont., native Robert Kay scored on the ensuing play and under a minute later with a man advantage, Markovic notched his second goal of the game when he came down the left wing and sent a short-angled shot through a hole and into the net.

Queen’s would even the score with two goals in 30 seconds towards the end of regulation. Kenway narrowed the gap with just over two minutes to go, tapping in a loose puck in front for his second goal of the game, before Ben Munroe of Kingston, Ont., scored with a quick shot off the draw to force overtime.

Markovic was named the Varsity Blues player of the game for his two-goal performance.

The Varsity Blues return to action next Saturday, October 23 when they head to Montreal to take on the Concordia Stingers. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m.

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