M-HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Warriors stay hot in comeback win over Lakehead
Late in the second period on Friday night, Waterloo Warriors forward Matt Kennedy (Oro Medonte) took a vicious slash that sent him to the dressing room cradling his wrist.
Friday, October 3
Concordia 2 @ Carleton 3
OTTAWA – The Carleton Ravens opened its eighth season Friday night with a 3-2 victory over the Concordia Stingers.
Joe Pleckaitis scored the game winner 2:19 into the third period breaking a 2-2 tie.
Down 2-0 the Ravens showed patience and resiliency to open the season on a winning note.
After a scoreless first period the Stingers opened the scoring 25 seconds into the second period on a goal by Olivier Hinse.
Just over three minutes later Scott Oke scored to make it 2-0 Concordia.
Twenty seconds later the Ravens cut the lead in half as Michael McNamee beat Robin Billigham and Jeff Hayes tied the game midway through the second period.
Billigham faced 43 shots, while the Ravens Patrick Killeen, making his first start for Carleton, stopped 34 shots.
Lakehead 5 @ Waterloo 6
WATERLOO, Ont. – Late in the second period on Friday night, Waterloo Warriors forward Matt Kennedy (Oro Medonte) took a vicious slash that sent him to the dressing room cradling his wrist.
Late in the third period, he made sure the whole rink knew his wrist was just fine.
Kennedy rifled home the eventual game-winning goal with less than eight minutes to play, and the Warriors erased four different one-goal deficits en route to a 6-5 win over the Lakehead Thunderwolves at the Columbia Icefield Arena on Friday night.
Justin Larson (Buckhorn) and Chris Chappell (Pickering) each pitched in with a goal and two assists for the Warriors, who move to 2-0 in the young season. Mitch Hammond had three assists and Kelin Ainsworth added a goal and two helpers for the visiting Thunderwolves, who dropped their first contest of the regular season after going winless in four exhibition games.
Mike Morrison (Hamilton) earned his second win in as many nights for the Warriors, turning aside 22 shots for the win. Jeff Bosch took the loss in goal for the Thunderwoles, making 36 saves.
After Cody Alcock opened the scoring for Lakehead, Waterloo's Mike Moffat (Waterloo) evened things with his first career CIS goal in the final minute of the first period. The celebration was short-lived though, as Ainsworth converted from the slot with just nine ticks on the clock, sending the visitors to the dressing room ahead 2-1 after 20 minutes.
The second period saw physical play turn nasty, as 43 penalty minutes were assessed – including a five-minute head-checking major to Lakehead's Mike Quesnele, who was also tossed from the game after a dangerous-looking check on Brett Mackie (Whitby). Larson and Chappell both cashed power play goals in the middle frame, and Waterloo edged ahead 4-3 after two periods.
The Wolves responded early in the third, as Keith Grondin and Jake Wright scored goals just 2:55 apart to put Lakehead back in front 5-4. But just past the mid-way point of the period, Jeff Einhorn (Red Deer)'s point shot off a faceoff got through traffic and behind Bosch to square the score up at 5-5. Then, with a power play in its waning seconds, Kennedy dropped to one knee to take a Larson feed and fire a one-timer top shelf for the game-winning goal.
York 2 @ Guelph 1 OT
GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team fell to the York Lions with a 2-1 overtime loss at their home opener in the Gryphon Centre on Friday night.
The first period started with plenty of back and forth action between the Gryphons and the Lions. Michael Hasson (Ariss, Ont.) nearly found the back of the net 11792towards the end of the first period after a quick pass across the crease. The Gryphs would open the scoring with a goal from Jordan Mock (Dartmouth, NS) at 15:20 of the first period with Mark Raycroft (Woodstock, Ont.) and Nicklas Huard (North Bay, Ont.) on the assists. The Gryphons took that lead into the dressing room despite the York Lions out shooting the Gryphons 10-7 in the frame.
The Gryphons came out with more momentum in the second period, keeping the Lions out of the crease and away from Gryphon goaltender Andrew D'Agostini (Scarborough, Ont.). In his first regular season game as a Gryphon, D'Agostini lived up to expectations with a solid performance in net making 23 saves on the night.
The Gryphons would get a power play before the end of the period after York player Declan Gunovski (Newmarket, Ont.) was called for holding at 17:33. Nicklas Huard would get a couple of strong shots off in the power play, but the Gryphons wouldn't be able to get through the wall of York defenders. The Gryphons would outshoot the Lions in the second period with a total of 12-9, but would go into the third tied at 1-1.
The Lions were able to tighten up defensively early on in the third period making it hard for the Gryphons to set anything up in the offensive zone. The Gryphons got a great chance to break the tie in the third period, with Huard and Mock creating some great scoring opportunities but were unable to find the back of the net.
The Gryphons would pick up their momentum in the third period with a power play at 6:03 after Jay Meloff (Markham, Ont.) was called for cross checking. The Gryphons hammered York Lions goaltender Chris Perugini (King City, Ont.) with shots, unable to push the puck past him. With four minutes left in the third period, the Gryphons would out shoot the Lions with a total of 10-5, struggling to get the puck past to Perugini.
Late in the third period Trevor Morbeck (Jackson, WI) would draw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty along with a hooking penalty, giving the York Lions a man advantage. With 1:47 left in the third period, York player Mark Cross (Strasbourg, Sask) would draw a tripping penalty, ending the Lions man advantage, making it a four-on-four game to end the third period. The third period would end at 1-1, bringing the Gryphons and the Lions into overtime.
It would be Dylan Smoskowitz (Richmond Hill, Ont.) who would score an unassisted goal on a breakaway 57 seconds into the extra frame.
UOIT 3 @ Laurentian 4 OT
SUDBURY, Ont. – The UOIT men's hockey team could not hold on to a two-goal third period lead as the Laurentian Voyageurs earned a 4-3 comeback victory in their season opener.
Despite the loss, UOIT picked up a point as the Voyageurs needed overtime to break the deadlock. Just over four minutes into the extra frame, Laurentian's Michael MacDonald was awarded a penalty shot in which he would convert for the win.
UOIT was looking to knock off Laurentian in their home opener for the second straight year, as the Ridgebacks defeated the Voyageurs 5-4 one season ago in their first home game in 13 years.
Ridgeback senior Kevin George (Uxbridge, Ont.) scored the opening two goals of the game with Nate Mitton (Kitchener, Ont.) drawing a pair of assists.
With the Ridgebacks holding a 2-1 lead, Brendan Wise (Stouffville, Ont.) looked as if he had put the nail in the coffin as he scored with 14 seconds to go in the second period. Freshmen Adam Campagnolo (Waterloo, Ont.) and Mike Robinson (Stouffville, Ont.) recorded their first OUA points with assists on Wise's 31st career goal.
Drawing energy from their hometown crowd, Laurentian would waste no time in the third period to tie things up as Darcy Haines and Dylan Fitze each scored five minutes into the frame. The Voyageurs carried that momentum into the extra period and would eventually skate away with two points.
Shots finished up 42-39 in favour of the Ridgebacks. Making his UOIT debut in goal, Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.) stopped 35 shots while Sudbury native Alain Valiquette made 39 saves in the win. O'Neill was familiar to fans in Sudbury having played two seasons with the Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League.
Both power plays were ineffective combining to go 0-for-9.
Saturday, October 4
UOIT 3 @ Nipissing 2
NORTH BAY, Ont. – he UOIT men's hockey team sent home a packed house at the North Bay Memorial Gardens unhappy as the Ridgebacks came up with a 3-2 victory over Nipissing in their home opener.
The win marked Craig Fisher's first as head coach of the Ridgebacks, as his squad has opened up the regular season earning three of a possible four points.
Brendan Wise (Stouffville, Ont.) scored the game-winning goal for UOIT on the power play, taking a feed from Jesse Stoughton (Bobcaygeon, Ont.) with less than nine minutes to go in the game. Stoughton would score the game's opening goal in the first period, while James Woodcroft (Minton, Ont.) added another two minutes into the final frame.
The Ridgebacks had a one-goal lead on three separate occasions, and finally held off Nipissing the third time to earn the victory. Brendan O'Neill, who played for the North Bay Battalion last season, stopped 24 of 26 shots including seven in the third period for his first win of the season.
UOIT outshot Nipissing 33-26 and went 2-for-6 with the man advantage.
Lakehead 3 @ Laurier 4
WATERLOO, Ont. – Coming off a season to forget where the Laurier Golden Hawks men's hockey team finished last in the OUA West Division, they looked to start the season in the right direction when they hosted the Lakehead Thunderwolves in the season opener. Laurier started off slow, but scored three in the second period to push past the Thunderwolves 4-3 Saturday night.
In the first period Laurier looked like the team from last year, heavily outplayed and out shot 14 to 5. Thunderwolves forward Mike Hammond of Victoria, B.C., had a goal and an assist to put Lakehead up 2-0 at the end of the first period.
At the start of the second period the Golden Hawks came out as a completely different team. Laurier scored three goals in the period as Kyle Morrison of Mississauga, Ont., Matt Provost of Oakville, Ont., and Ryan Shipley of IIderton, Ont., found the back of the net to take a 3-2 lead.
However, Lakehead would score another goal to tie the score up at three a piece going into the third period.
Early in the third period Laurier left-winger Greg Cerilli of Barrie, Ont., would score the game winner. Laurier would hold on to win its season and home opener 4-3.
The key reason why the Golden Hawks were able to pull out a win against the Thunderwolves was because of their ability to bounce back after a rough start. After the first period the Golden Hawks outshot Lakehead 26 to 21. Laurier goaltender Christopher Festarini of Oakville, Ont., stood on his head after the first, only allowing one goal. When it was all said and done, Festarini stopped 32 of 35 shots to earn his first career CIS victory in his first career start.
Sunday, October 5
UQTR 4 @ Nipissing 3 OT
NORTH BAY, Ont. – A day after falling to the UOIT Ridgebacks 3-2, the Lakers welcomed the UQTR Patriotes to town for a Sunday matinee and earned a point, but lost 4-3 in overtime.
The Lakers trailed three different times – 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 – before tying things up and sending the game to overtime, but the Patriotes would walk away with the win after finishing things off with a nice shot over the right shoulder of Lakers goalie Kirk Rafuse.
After allowing an early goal in the first, Jim McDowell scored on the power play to tie things up before the midway point of the opening period.
UQTR took a 2-1 lead in the second and carried that lead into the final period.
Once again, the Lakers gave up an early goal which now had them down 3-1 just five minutes into the final period.
The Lakers refused to quit, however, as Colin Campbell found the back of the net twice, including a goal with just under three minutes to tie things up and send the game into overtime.
Each team recorded just one shot in the extra frame, but unfortunately for the Lakers, the Patriotes sole shot found the back of the net.
Brock Morrison picked up two assists, while the Lakers outshot the Pats, who scored a goal in all four periods, 34-32.
Rafuse made his second straight start, recording 28 saves, but suffering the overtime loss.
Other Scores
Concordia 2 @ Laurentian 5 (Saturday)