Gaels take the Carr-Harris Cup in front of record-breaking crowd
When we said it was going to get loud in the Leon’s Centre for the annual rivalry game between the RMC Paladins and the Queen’s Gaels, we weren’t joking.
Fans of both teams filled the arena with a record-breaking total of 4,121 people in attendance for the Carr-Harris Cup on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. The crowd this year blew last year’s record-breaking attendance of 3,888 out of the water, and was as enthusiastic as ever, watching the teams face off for the 34th annual Carr-Harris Cup.
The busy and back-and-forth game remained scoreless until the Gaels’ Luke Edwards picked up a loose puck after the Paladins goaltender Joey May deflected a shot from Gaels’ Jared Bethune. Edwards scored the first goal of the night. Minutes later, Bethune and Edwards returned to the Paladins’ net, this time with Edwards setting up Bethune for the Gaels second goal.
Heading into the third period with the Gaels up 2-0, RMC fired up their play. With 9:26 left in the period, the Paladins’ Liam Stagg set up Marshall Skapski for RMC’s first goal of the game, cutting the Gaels’ lead in half. The Paladins then tied things up when Cameron Lamport passed to Rhett Willcox, who fired one into the net.
Tied at 2-2, the rivals fought hard, but the Gaels wouldn’t allow the tie to last long, as Brandon Schuldhaus managed to get a shot from the point past May, putting Queen’s back in the lead. With the clock winding down, the Paladins pulled May for an extra attacker, only to see the Gaels’ Josh Curtis score on an empty net, securing Queen’s 21st win over RMC in the 134-year-long rivalry.
The Gaels’ Schuldhaus and the Paladins’ Skapski were named MVPs of the game.
With that, the Carr-Harris Cup, and the beloved ‘Lennie’ statue, returned to Gaels for another year.
