By CLAUDE SCILLEY

Queen’s Golden Gaels hockey coach Brett Gibson had one word to describe his team’s performance Friday.

“Fantastic,” he said, moments after his team was eliminated from the Ontario University Athletics playoffs by a 3-1 loss to the McGill Redmen. “That’s a great program. McGill’s been to nationals 11 of the last 15 years. It takes a lot to beat them.”

Then he paused.

“I cost our team a win.”

Gibson was referring to a bench minor penalty he took late in the third period.

On the ropes but still leading by a goal, the Gaels were a man short when McGill scored the tying goal. Upset over the call that gave McGill that power play, Gibson had some bon mots for referee Brad Moore, who immediately slapped the team with the bench penalty.

It took McGill just 17 seconds to score again, taking the lead for the first time in the game’s 53rd minute.

An empty-net goal sealed the outcome as McGill won the best-of-three East division semifinal 2-0.

Moore, who for some reason was loitering around the Gaels bench after the first McGill goal, pulled the trigger quickly. After the game Gibson said he asked the official if he was pleased with himself, with respect to calling the penalty that led to the power play that led to the tying goal.

“He asked if I’d had enough and I said, yeah, I’d had enough of his reffing,” Gibson said. “He decided that was worth a bench minor.”

At that point in a tie playoff game?

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” a subdued Gibson said. “He allowed me to live with something for the rest of my life that I’m going to regret.”

McGill coach Kelly Nobes said he was “surprised” to see the second penalty called, though he was not unhappy with having had the opportunity.

“We had to work so hard to get the first one, I didn’t think we’d be getting another one,” he said, “but that happens.”

About 300 fans at the Memorial Centre watched the teams play a scoreless first period, before Patrick McGillis jumped on a loose puck in the McGill zone and fire a quick 25-foot shot past Redmen goaltender Jacob Gervais-Chouinard 48 seconds into the second period, to give Queen’s a 1-0 lead.

Though McGill shortly thereafter turned the tide of the play, the score stayed that way for the next 32 minutes. Gaels goalie Kevin Bailie made 38 saves in the first two periods, and he saw 20 more shots in the third as the Gaels spent progressively more and more time in their own end of the rink.

“The first period was a little bit back and forth,” said Nobes, the former Royal Military College coach, “and I thought part-way through the second we took over in terms of controlling the play, putting pucks in the right places and wearing them down in the offensive zone.

“When they scored, our sense of urgency increased a little bit. We were moving our feet a little better; getting pucks behind their (defence), and we were working the back of the net well, which we like to do.”

Queen’s nemesis Samuel Labrecque scored both power-play goals for McGill, as he continued his mastery over the Gaels. They were the fifth and sixth goals he scored in four games against Queen’s this year, three of which were game winners.

His first goal Friday was a slap shot from the centre of the ice, just inside the blue line, that went into the net off a goal post. The second one also came on a slap shot, from the dot in the right wing faceoff circle.

In all, the 5-foot-8 defenceman—who transferred to McGill this year from Clarkson University in the U.S.—was involved in nine of McGill’s 13 goals against Queen’s this year.

“He’s been a great addition. He’s got a great shot, a real quick release, and a great sense of the game,” Nobes said. “He’s been fabulous for us. He’s really a clutch guy.”

Very few of Bailie’s 46 saves were easy, as McGill continually had men in front of the Queen’s net, clogging his field of vision, and the Gaels were unable—or disinclined—to dislodge them

“It’s hard now, you can’t really move the guy,” Nobes said. “If you start to try to move the guy you get yourself tied up as a defender and you provide a second screen. We had a good net-front presence tonight, that’s for sure, and that’s the key to our offensive success.”

McGill, the No. 6-ranked team in Canada, beat Queen’s for the 29th game in a row. The Redmen will advance and play the winner of the other division semifinal, between the Trois-Rivieres Patriotes and Carleton Ravens. Trois-Rivieres won the opener in Ottawa Thursday night, 2-1 in overtime, and the Patriotes will host Game 2 Saturday night.