The Varsity Blues men’s hockey team fell 4-3 in a shoot out to the Queen’s Gaels before defeating the host York Lions 4-2 at the 2011 York tournament, September 24-25, at CanLan Ice Sports.

After a scoreless first period, Queen’s opened the scoring and took a quick 3-0 lead with less than seven minutes to go in the second period.  The Blues finally got on the board thanks to a goal off the stick of Paul Van Develde and the Gaels held a 3-1 lead heading into the third.

Paul Dupont quickly cut the gap to one with a goal assisted by Michael Markovic and Andrew Kizito in the first three minutes of the third period.  Sophomore forward Blake Boddy tied it up six minutes later to force overtime.

Overtime solved nothing and the game headed into a shoot out. Tied at 1-1, it took eight shooters to decide the game, with the final goal scored by Queen’s Kelly Jackson.

Garrett Sheehan made 27 saves in the loss.

With the loss, the Blues advanced to the consolation final versus the host Lions on Sunday afternoon.

Rookie forward Cassidy Preston shined, scoring his first career hat trick to lead the Blues to victory.  Veteran forward Kyle Ventura had three assists and Orono, Ont., native Robert Kay had two assists in the win.

First-year Blues goaltender Blair Willows made 24 saves in the win.

The Varsity Blues return to action on Tuesday, September 27 as they host the York Lions at Varsity Arena.  Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

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