OSHAWA, Ont. – After being shutout Sunday afternoon, the UOIT men's hockey team started strong with a pair of early first-period goals on Wednesday night en route to a 4-1 victory over the No. 9 ranked Queen's Gaels.
The Ridgebacks opened the scoring just over two minutes into the contest. Surviving the Ridgebacks strong opening, Queen's began to mount pressure of their own, resulting in a power play opportunity late in the first period. However, it was the Ridgebacks who capitalized on a shorthanded two-on-one rush, with
JC Thivierge (Welland, Ont.) scoring his first goal as a Ridgeback.
A wild ending to the middle frame overshadowed strong play by both teams. In the last five minutes there were three goals, one of which was
Kari Belec's (Sudbury, Ont.) his first OUA goal, as UOIT led 4-1 through 40 minutes.
Tempers started to flare on both sides in the final 20 minutes of regulation, which saw the Ridgebacks shorthanded for a long period. An excellent third and overall game, by goaltender
Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.), saw the Ridgebacks shutdown the Gaels' comeback push.
The win now ties UOIT with both Queen's and Carleton for third place overall in the east conference.
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Malik Johnson's (Montreal, Que.) first of two on the night opened the scoring, when he snuck a rebound under Jack Flinn's pad. His second was a "buzzer beater" to end the second period, through a hole between the goalie's arm and body, after a transition rush from his own zone.
• Thivierge's first as a Ridgeback, capped off a perfect two-on-one shorthanded rush with
Anthony Latina (Scarborough, Ont.), freezing the goalie on a perfect fake and giving Thivierge an open net to pot the puck.
• Slater Doggett brought the Gaels within a goal, banging home a loose puck in front of the Ridgeback net with 3:15 to go in the second.
• Belec sniped his first career OUA goal, after stripping the puck off a Gaels player in the neutral zone, allowing himself to walk in and place the puck under the bar, over the netminder's glove.
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Brendan O'Neill won his second straight game, making 32 saves in the Ridgebacks' victory.
• Jack Flinn made 23 saves in the loss.
Overall Record: 15-9-4
Conference Record: 13-7-4
