TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams came out on the losing side of a tight 2-1 overtime game against the Western Mustangs on Tuesday night.
Mustangs forward Spenser Cobbold danced around in the offensive zone before sending a shot off of Rams forward Mitch Gallant and in. The Cobbold marker came just 1:33 into the extra frame and gave the Mustangs their third straight victory.
BOXSCORE
The low scoring affair was the direct result from a full out goalie duel Tuesday night. Rams starter Troy Passingham made an impressive 34 saves in the OT loss, but it was Peter Delmas who stole the show with multiple game saving stops on way to his seventh win of the season.
It took 39 minutes for the game to see its opening goal. Noah Schwartz of the Mustangs slid home a loose puck in front for his fifth goal of the season. The Schwartz goal gave the Mustangs a huge 1-0 lead heading into the final twenty minutes.
The third period turned out to be nearly identical to the second, but instead of a Mustang finding twine, it was a Ram who inflicted damage. Rams captain Michael Fine received a swift backhand pass in front and ripped it past Delmas for the tally. His 12th goal of the season found the net with just 1:44 left in the game and sent the Rams to a thrilling fourth period.
The extra frame lasted just minutes however, after Cobbold sent a fluke goal past Passingham to give his Mustangs a 2-1 overtime victory over the Rams.
With the win, the Mustangs are now tied with the York Lions for first place in the OUA West with 36 points.
The overtime loss for the Rams was a stinger, but head coach Graham Wise believes that the past three games have been some of the best Rams hockey all season.
“If someone said to you that going into the last three games of the season that you could have 5 out of a possible six points, would you take it?” asked Wise to a scrum full of reporters. “We have to keep it positive.”
A big positive in tonight's game for Wise was that the Rams were able to get things to the overtime frame.
“At least we got to overtime,” said Wise. “A couple times this season we have tied it up late and we couldn't get it to overtime. This time we took a timeout, got the right guys on the ice, got them rested and got it to overtime.”
Getting the right guys on the ice can become difficult once two of your top defenseman fall to injury. Alex Basso and Luke Mercer remain out of the lineup for the Rams and their timetable to return remains questionable. With two stud defenseman out of the lineup, the depth of the Rams backend has been on display recently, and has helped the Rams take three out of a possible four points against the top two teams in the West down the stretch.
“Two of our solid D go down so before we have eight defenseman and now we have six,” said Wise when talking about the recent injuries. “Just like that everyone is dressing and you better have kept yourselves ready cause here's your chance and I thought they did well out there.”
Tuesday night's game was also senior night for the Rams, recognizing Passingham, Gallant, Jason Kelly, Brian Birkhoff and Victor Terreri for their five years of service.
If Passingham was nervous at all in his last regular season CIS game, he sure didn't show it.
“It was a little nerve racking off the start because you're thinking about what has kind of gone on throughout the years,” said Passingham. “Once you get into the game though its just another game and you got to focus.”
Focus will be key going forward for the Rams. With Tuesday night's game in the books, the Rams stand as the first OUA team to finish up their regular season schedule.
With the point Tuesday, the Rams now sit three points up on the Laurier Golden Hawks with 29 points for the sixth position in the OUA West.
