It was one heck of a hockey game.  Plain and simple.
 
The 111th edition of the Queen's Cup hosted by the Windsor Lancers in Windsor featured the No. 6 ranked blue and gold taking on the defending champion No. 3 UQTR Patriotes who travelled all the way down from Trois-Rivières, Quebec by bus.
 
The Patriotes reclaimed their title, but it took more time than many may have expected it to go down at the Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex. 
 
In ultimate dramatic and heartbreaking fashion, the Lancers dropped a thrilling 3-2 3OT decision to the Patriotes on home ice after over 100 minutes of game play in front of a tumultuous sold-out pro-Windsor crowd at the CPRC.
 
STATS
Matt McNamara and Nolan Gardiner each scored and had an assist in the finals contest. 
 
Matt Dorsey and Mason Kohn each had an assist as well on each of the Lancer goals. 
 
Nathan Torchia had a spectacular performance in net making 56 saves on 59 shots throughout 100:38 minutes of play. 
 
UQTR's goal scorers were David Noel and Louis-Filip Cote while Felix Lauzon was the hero for the Patriotes scoring the unassisted golden goal in triple overtime which pierced the heart of the Lancer Family.
 
UQTR netminder Alexis Gravel turned aside 54 Lancer shots on 56 attempts on net to help lead his team to victory in capturing the 111^th Queen's Cup as OUA Champions.
 
GAME FLOW
The opening period saw the most goals scored in the game with 4 out of the 5 goals scored in the gold medal game coming within the first twenty minutes of play.
 
Noel broke open the scoring by cracking the goose egg on the scoreboard at 9:11 of the first frame from Oliver Garneau and Zachary Lavigne to put the visitors from Quebec up 1-0 early on.
 
A little while passed in the period before the Lancers would respond.  McNamara responded with his second of the post-season at 16:21 of the first period with a set up from Gardiner and Dorsey to equalize the game at 1-1.
 
Over two minutes later, the game would have another leader as UQTR assumed that role when Cote found the back of the Lancer net to regain the one-goal lead with a go-ahead goal at 18:57 from his teammates Justin Bergeron and Samuel L'Italien to put the Patriotes up 2-1.

Under a minute after UQTR's second goal of the game, Windsor would grab theirs when Gardiner picked up his first goal of the playoffs to tie things up at 2-2.  Assists on Gardiner's goal came from McNamara and Kohn who was also credited with a tallied assist on the goal in the game which went on to freeze scoring for a while from there on out.
 
The second period came and went with no scoring.  Torchia would make 17 saves during the second set of twenty minutes while Gravel stopped 8 Lancer shots to end the second period deadlocked at 2 goals apiece.
 
The third period echoed that same sentiment however this time each goaltender turned aside 9 shots each but kept things stalemated after sixty minutes of play and once regulation expired. 
 
Off to overtime they went, where an identical fourth period mimicked the third period with both goalies stopping 9 shots faced each.  The first overtime would solve nothing despite close chances from both sides including a Lancer shot which rang off the pipe and a powerplay opportunity which featured special teams for the first time in this nail-biting gold medal marquee match up that had eyes drawn from at least two provinces. 
 
The Lancer powerplay came and went with the Patriotes killing off the infraction and carrying forth momentum into the second overtime. 
 
In double overtime the Lancers had their first penalty of the match which gave UQTR their first opportunity on the powerplay.  Torchia stood strong while shorthanded and the Lancers were able to escape the period after being outshot 15-6 in the second overtime and fifth period of play on the night.
 
Triple overtime eventually became necessary which had all fans anxious and on the edge of their seats whether inside the rink or outside the rink.  With everyone anticipating two exhausted teams to go at it further in the third overtime, six periods of play appeared to be the maximum that both squads could take it seemed like after 100 minutes of official game play. 
 
Both sides were looking for a hero.  Someone who had enough juice left to notch away the game winning championship goal to go into the history books. 
UQTR found their hero in Lauzon who managed to bury the golden goal 38 seconds into the third overtime who managed to put a shot past Torchia to break the hearts of the Lancers and their faithful fans inside the venue to say good night to the Lancer Family shortly before midnight eastern standard time after the puck first dropped at 7:30PM EST. 
 
Lauzon's golden goal his third of the post-season and scored unassisted to cap off the night and allow his team dawning the orange and green uniforms to repeat as back-to-back Queen's Cup Champions in Windsor.
 
The Lancers suffered the harrowing loss on home ice which granted them the silver medal in this year's 2022-23 OUA Season and this year's league runner up for the Queen's Cup and OUA championships.
 
UP NEXT
The blue and gold will now rest, recover, and recuperate from this aching loss and get set to compete in the U SPORTS national championships next weekend in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Stay tuned into our social media pages and goLancers.ca for upcoming updates regarding the official schedule for the men's hockey team at nationals in the coming days.