M-HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Warriors hand Lancers second loss of the season
The No.6 Lancer men's hockey team suffered just their second loss of the season when they fell 5-4 to the Waterloo Warriors in double overtime at South Windsor Arena.
Friday, November 28
Windsor 4 @ Waterloo 5 (2OT)
The No.6 Lancer men's hockey team suffered just their second loss of the season when they fell 5-4 to the Waterloo Warriors in double overtime at South Windsor Arena.
With the loss, the Lancers are now 13-1-1 on the season and continue to remain in first place in the OUA. The Warriors head into the holiday break on a six game win streak and a 10-6-1 record to sit right behind Windsor in the west division standings.
The Lancers opened up the scoring just four minutes in as Saverio Posa rang one off the glass on a dump in. The puck ended up bouncing into the net as Warrior goaltender Mike Morrison came out to play the puck.
The Warriors answered shortly after with a goal from Brett Mackie as he put one over the shoulder of Parker Van Buskirk to even the score at 1-1. Waterloo then took a 2-1 lead as Adam Bignell scored with assists from Chris Chappell and Colin Behanna. Julian Luciani evened it up for the Lancers at 2 a piece at 14:43 of the first period with assists from Spencer Pommells and Dylan Denomme.
Shortly after this goal, the Lancers went to the power play and Kenny Bradford scored just 10 seconds into the Waterloo penalty putting the Lancer's up 3-2 heading into the second period.
Both teams battled hard and scored one goal each in the second period. Bradford scored his second of the game, while Chris Chappell added the Warriors marker.
With the Lancers up by one going into the third period, Waterloo came out hard and scored just two minutes into the period to tie the game 4-4. Both goalies and defenceman turned away many chances in an even played match, forcing the game into overtime.
The first overtime saw no goals so the game advanced into a 3-on-3 second overtime period. Waterloo who came out on top as Chappell put one past VanBuskirk for his second of the game to earn the win for the visiting Warriors.
Van Buskirk finished the game with 31 saves while Waterloo's Mike Morrison had 49 saves in an a hard earned win. Spencer Pommells finished the game with three assists to stay atop the CIS leaderboard with 32 points.
UQTR 3 @ Carleton 4 (SO)
Giving 110%. Chipping and chasing. Getting pucks to the net and traffic in front. Phrases easy enough to say, but difficult to implement against one of the top ten teams in Canada.
Yet that's exactly what the Carleton Ravens did on Friday night, outplaying the UQTR Patriotes for vast stretches en route to a 4-3 shootout victory. Whether it was blocked shots and key poke checks from the likes of Matt Stanisz and Ryan Van Stralen, or timely goals from unexpected players like Sean Bamford and Tim Billingsley, Carleton dug deep and truly earned the two points.
The evening started lazily enough, with the Ravens outshooting their visitors from Quebec 14-5 in the opening frame. However, a knuckling shot from the point off the stick of UQTR defenceman Guillaume Bélanger beat Carleton goalie Patrick Killeen glove-side, and the Patriotes led 1-0 through 20 minutes of play despite the gap on the shot clock.
The second period saw the Ravens come out strong, and they found their equalizer in an unlikely place. Sean Bamford, playing in just his sixth game of the season, tipped a centring effort from Jeff Hayes past UQTR goaltender Guillaume Nadeau.
The visitors responded just 24 seconds later, with Carl-Antoine Delisle capitalizing on a bad bounce to restore the UQTR lead. Martin Lefebvre's shot from the point deflected off of a Raven skate directly onto the stick of Delisle, who beat a helpless Killeen to put the Patriotes up 2-1.
Despite multiple powerplays and scoring chances, the Ravens couldn't find a tying goal and entered the second intermission trailing 2-1.
Carleton came out with a renewed energy in the 3rd period, and leading scorer Joe Pleckaitis drew the Ravens level just 1:13 in. After receiving a pass from Joey West, Pleckaitis sped past a fallen Patriotes defenceman and beat Nadeau short-side, tying things up at two.
The Ravens then took their first lead of the game at the 4:21 mark, as veteran defenceman Tim Billingsley ripped a slapshot through traffic to beat Nadeau.
Carleton goaltender Patrick Killeen was excellent down the stretch in net for the Ravens, denying multiple Patriotes on point-blank opportunities. Diving poke checks from the likes of Tim Billingsley and Ryan Van Stralen in the final five minutes seemed to have solidified the win, but the Patriotes had other ideas.
With just over a minute remaining, UQTR defenceman Raphael Boudreau uncorked a slapshot from the point, which UQTR leading scorer Tommy Giroux deflected past Killeen to silence the Ice House.
Ten minutes of overtime, in which both teams had 4-on-3 powerplays, solved nothing and the game headed to a shootout.
Of course, having the ECHL's 2011 'King of the Shootout' in net gave the Ravens a clear edge. After giving up a goal to Giroux on UQTR's first shot, Killeen gave Carleton a chance to shoot for the win in round 3 after a pair of quality left-pad saves. Up stepped Michael McNamee, and the former QMJHL standout made no mistake, undressing Nadeau and tucking a backhand past the UQTR goaltender to bring the house down and secure both points for Carleton.
"Tonight we really worked hard," said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston. "The guys bought into what we were trying to do, and I think we really deserved the outcome after the effort we put in."
The Ravens limited Canada's best offensive team to just 27 shots and three goals – both well below UQTR's season average of 38 and 4.93 entering the game – and managed to blank the best powerplay in Canada.
The win was made sweeter by the fact that many of the Ravens have been on the losing end of close games with the Patriotes in the past.
"It's huge. You always look forward to this game because of the history in the past," explained Ravens defenceman Tim Billingsley. "We weren't getting the bounces for a bit, but we stuck to it and it just feels so much better because they're on the other side of this defeat. Feels good."
With the victory, Carleton improved to 12-3-0 on the season and moved into a three-way tie for first place in the OUA East. Sole possession of first place in the division will be up for grabs tomorrow evening, when the Ravens will travel to Montreal to face the McGill Redmen – one of the teams that they currently sit tied for 1st with.
York 1 @ Brock 2
The York Lions (6-10-0 OUA) edged the Brock Badgers men's hockey team (6-7-1 OUA) 2-1 Friday night at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
York opened the scoring 5:39 into the first period when Michael Santini scored his sixth goal of the campaign past Brock starter Clint Windsor.
The Lions maintained that lead until late in the second period when Andrew Radjenovic broke Chris Perugini's shutout with his sixth of the season, this one on the powerplay. The Badgers would actually outshoot York 17-7 in the middle stanza and 33-20 overall.
Tyler McGee would seal the deal for the visitors in the third period with his second goal of the campaign, another powerplay marker.
York finished the night 1-for-3 on the powerplay, while the Badgers were 1-for-6.
"Tonight we had some chances, but just couldn't finish. The effort was there," said Brock Head Coach Murray Nystrom. "It's good we get to play right again tomorrow night."
Nipissing 1 @ Queen's 4
The men's hockey team earned their eighth win of the season, defeating Nipissing 4-1 Friday night at the Memorial Centre as Patrick McGillis (Calgary) led the way with a pair of assists.
The Gaels opened the scoring with the lone goal of the first frame as Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.) netted his eighth of the season.
Eric Ming (Williamstown, Ont.) doubled the lead in the middle period with his seventh on the year. Nipissing responded and cut the lead in half on a goal from Craig Campbell but Queen's quickly countered as Kelly Jackson (Scarborough, Ont.) found the back of the net 25 seconds later to restore the two goal lead.
The Gaels added an insurance marker in the final period with a goal from Braeden Corbeth (Oakville, Ont.) as they went on to earn the 4-1 victory. Final shots for the game totalled 44 to 37 in favour of Queen's. Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) started in net for the Gaels, earning the 36 save victory while Nipissing's Kirk Rafuse suffered the 40 save loss.
McGillis now has 12 points in his last four games for the Gaels.
Western 3 @ Lakehead 2
Special teams played a key role in the outcome, accounting for all but one of the five goals scored in what was a very exciting match.
Lakehead opened the scoring 6:07 into the game on a power play goal by defenceman Nathan Bruyere who was playing in his first game after missing a month with a shoulder injury. Bruyere's slapper eluded Mustangs' goalie Greg Dodds, with Jake Carrick and Ryan Magill picking up the assists.
Western Ontario replied while the Mustangs had the man-advantage when Steve Reese beat Wolves' netminder Justin McDonald at 13:08.
Stefan Salituro scored the only even-strength goal of the game with just over two minutes remaining in the first period to give Western Ontario the 2-1 lead heading into the second.
The Mustangs extended their lead to 3-1 at 16:06 of the middle frame with another power play goal when Julian Cimadamore received a nice feed in the slot and quickly fired it past McDonald before he could get set.
Lakehead controlled most of the play in a penalty-filled third period, and narrowed the gap to 3-2 when Andrew Tessier found a streaking Ryan Magill who broke through the Mustangs' defense and slipped the puck between Dodds' legs for a beautiful short-handed goal at 12:26.
Despite applying more pressure, Lakehead was unable find the back of the net for the remainder of the contest.
The Molson Three Stars of the Game were:
1. Ryan Magill, Lakehead
2. Stefan Salituro, Western Ontario
3. Carson Dubchak, Lakehead
Source: Lakehead Thunderwolves
Guelph 3 @ Toronto 4
Four different players scored as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team topped the Guelph Gryphons 4-3 on Friday night (Nov. 28) at Varsity Arena.
With the win, the Blues improve to 5-8-1, while the Gryphons drop to 3-10-3 in the West.
The Gryphons opened the scoring 49 seconds into the first period as fourth-year forward Carlos Amestoy found a loose puck in the slot and he wired it into the top of the net.
The Blues evened the game midway through the period as Jeff Brown picked up the puck off a turnover behind the net and found a wide open Paul Van De Velde in front for the one-time goal.
The two teams were deadlocked at 1-1 after the first period.
Third-year forward Patrick Marsh put the Blues ahead early in the second frame as his backhand shot trickled past Gryphons netminder Andrew D'Agostini.
Three minutes later second-year forward Russell Turner extended U of T's lead with a great individual effort. U of T was up 3-1 heading into the final frame.
Christian Finch added to Toronto's lead with a powerplay marker with five minutes remaining in the third period, but the Gryphons rallied with back-to-back goals from Scott Simmonds and Kyle Neuber to bring the game within one with 2:35 to go in the game.
Despite some rough play by both teams, the Blues held on for the one-goal win.
Blues goalie Michael Nishi posted 32 saves in the win.
Laurentian 6 @ UOIT 7 (OT)
Kevin George (Uxbridge, Ont.) proved to be the overtime hero as the UOIT men's hockey team defeated Laurentian 7-6 in a offensive thriller at the Campus Ice Centre.
On a power play late in the first overtime period, George drilled a one-timer past Charlie Millen to give the Ridgebacks their seventh win of the year and break up a two-game mini slump. Defender Jeff Braithwaite (Ennismore, Ont.) quarterbacked the power play, as he fed George who scored his eighth of the season.
George leads UOIT with 14 points, as he has had six multi-point games this year.
UOIT improves to 7-8-1 and sits two points back of the Nipissing Lakers (8-7-1) and Queen's Gaels (8-5-1). This marked Laurentian's second straight overtime loss as they fall to 8-5-3.
In the first period, both teams showed off their offensive prowess as they went into the break tied at three goals apiece. UOIT would get off to a great start scoring the opening three goals, but Laurentian stormed back with three of their own.
Laurentian would score their fourth and fifth consecutive goals to open up a 5-3 lead in the second period, but Mitch Bennett (Fenelon Falls, Ont.) would respond to cut UOIT's deficit in half.
In the third period, three goals were scored in one minute and nine seconds, with the Ridgebacks tying the game, giving away the lead and tying it back up. Colt Kennedy (Ajax, Ont.) would cap off his three-goal night, scoring with just under five minutes left on the clock, followed up with Nick Esposto recording his second of the game. Riley Daly (Lorette, Man.) picked a great time to record his first career OUA goal, finding the back of the net 19 seconds later to tie the game at six goals apiece.
Kennedy recorded a hat-trick for UOIT, while George and Bennett ended up with a goal and an assist. Cameron Yuill (Wellington, Ont.) recorded two assists for the third time in four games.
Sebastien Leroux would end up leading the way for Laurentian with two goals and two assists, while Darcy Haines and Esposto had three-point nights. Former Ridgeback Daniel Pachis had two assists in the losing effort.
Making his comeback from an injury, UOIT goaltender Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.) relieved starter Colin Dzijacky(Thunder Bay, Ont.) after the Voyageurs fourth goal. O'Neill made 15 saves in his fourth win. Millen allowed all seven UOIT goals as he ended up with 33 saves.
Shots ended up 40-37 in favour of the Ridgebacks.
Saturday, November 29
Nipissing 1 @ UOIT 5
Nipissing goaltender Kirk Rafuse did everything in his power to keep the UOIT men's hockey team off the board on Saturday afternoon. Despite allowing a single third period goal, Rafuse succeeded as the Lakers skated away with a 5-1 victory.
Rafuse saw 52 shots and came up with save after save, including one right off his helmet from the side of the crease. The only blemish on his record was UOIT's Mitch Bennett scoring with seven minutes left to go in the third period.James Woodcroft (Milton, Ont.) and Riley Daly (Lorette, Man.) picked up assists on Bennett's third of the year.
Just after Bennett's goal with Nipissing leading 4-1, Rafuse made a diving glove save on a shot that looked like it was going in the wide open net. The save preserved the Laker's lead and put an end to any momentum UOIT had going for them in their comeback bid.
UOIT got off to a sluggish start in the contest as Nipissing's Brandon Warmington and Dane Horvat each scored in the opening ten minutes to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead.
The Ridgebacks would take over the play for the remainder of the period and the majority of the second as they fired 40 shots on net, but failed to convert on any of them. Nipissing on the other hand managed to take advantage of a couple of favourable bounces, as Brogan Bailey and Matt Paton scored, extending the Lakers lead to four.
The Lakers would cap off the game with their fifth goal coming with just over a minute left on the clock, as Jacob McDowell found himself alone in front of the net and scored his seventh of the year.
Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.), who earned the win over Laurentian on Friday, stopped 24 shots over the first two periods. Colin Dzijacky (Thunder Bay, Ont.) finished the game in net for UOIT and stopped five of six Nipissing shots.
Only three power plays were handed out in the game, with UOIT going 0-for-1 and Nipissing ending up 0-for-2. Final shots finished 52-34 in favour of the home team.
UOIT heads into the break with a record of 7-9-1, sitting comfortably in seventh place in the OUA conference standings, five points ahead of the Concordia Stingers of Montreal.
Windsor 3 @ York 1
The York University Lions men's hockey team was defeated by the OUA-leading Windsor Lancers 3-1 in the team's annual ALS Awareness Game on Saturday (Nov. 29) at Canlan Ice Sports.
Lancers rookie defender JC Houde opened the scoring in less than a minute of play. The Lions were caught off-guard during the defensive transition. The goal was assisted by Dylan Palmer and Dylan Denomme.
Six minutes in, Shayne Rover (Newmarket, Ont.) shot a powerful attempt that goaltender Taylor Speed could only deflect.
The Lions kept up the pressure for the rest of the period. Kyle Campbell (Halifax, N.S.) had a one-on-one opportunity but his shot was safely held by Speed.
The pressure paid off with 3:14 remainingw hen the Lions scored on the power play through an excellent team effort. Michael Santini (Woodbridge, Ont.) gave the Lions the equalizer, whileDerek Sheppard (Ajax, Ont.) and Mitch VanTeeling (Brandon, Man.) earned assists on the play.
Lions' goaltender Chris Perugini (King City, Ont.) made a vital save with two minutes left to play. His post was congested with players from both teams attempting to win the puck, but he dove to his left to deflect an open shot on target.
The score was tied 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
The second period proved to be more intense as both teams had moments of a two-man advantage and the Lions saw two of their players sent out for misconduct. The home team remained on the offensive despite the penalties.
With 10 minutes gone, the two Lancers players were penalized but they survived a flurry of shots by the Lions as the game remained deadlocked at ones.
It was less than five minutes before the final intermission when the Lions killed the double penalty. Their survival was short-lived, however, as Denomme converted a pass from Palmer to give the visitors the 2-1 lead seconds before the second intermission.
The Lancers continued to search for a goal to secure their lead. Blake Blondeel gave them the third goal after several attempts in stabbing the puck over the line at 6:21. Mike Christou and Julian Luciani were credited with the assists.
Perugini was excellent in front of the goal, stopping 40 shots despite the loss. Speed made 24 saves.
Despite putting on an impressive display throughout the period, the Lions were unable to find another goal. They dropped to 6-11-0 with the loss, while the Lancers improved their OUA best record to 14-1-1 with the win.
Carleton 2 @ McGill 6
Goaltender Jacob Gervais-Chouinard of Sherbrooke, Que., made 49 saves as ninth-ranked McGill exploded for five second-period goals en route to a 6-2 victory over No.8 Carleton in OUA men's hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.
It extended McGill's win streak to six and was their fourth straight over the Ravens dating back to last year, as the Redmen improved to 27-18-1 lifetime in 46 games played overall since the rivalry started in 1968. More importantly, it moved McGill into sole possession of first place in the OUA East Division, with a stellar 13-3-0 record. The Redmen are two points ahead of Carleton (12-4-0) and will now sit perched atop the standings for the next five weeks, as both teams head into the December exam break.
McGill spent much of the game in the penalty box, leading to a lopsided 51-17 disadvantage in shots. But the Redmen erased seven of eight shorthanded situations, including a pair of two-man scenarios. McGill ranks second of 19 OUA teams in penalty-killing with an 88.1 per cent success rate.
The 49-save effort was a career-high regular-season performance by Gervais-Chouinard, a 6-foot-1, 163-pound sophomore who also racked-up 52 in a 3-2 double overtime loss to Alberta at the CIS championships last spring. The 22-year-old education major joined the Redmen last season after starring for Sherbrooke and Rimouski in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and meriting a stint in the AHL with the Hamilton Bulldogs. He improved to 7-2 on the season and leads all OUA netminders with a sparkling .941 save percentage. He also ranks second (behind teammate Karel St-Laurent) in goals-against average at 1.90.
Marc-Olivier Vachon paced the Redmen with a pair of markers, while David Rose tallied his team-leading ninth of the season. Neal Prokop was credited with the game-winner, while also collecting an assist after one of his shots bounced in the net off the skate of Simon Tardif-Richard. Prokop a 24-year-old master's student in kinesiology, played his fourth straight game in front of his parents who were visiting from Winnipeg. His father has compiled an unblemished 9-0 record when watching the team in person over the past two years.
The other McGill single went to defenceman Vincent Barnard, who made it 2-0 on a nifty deke capped by a top-corner backhanded shot. It was the second of the campaign for Barnard who was sprung free with a pass off the stick of all-star centre Cedric McNicoll, an elite playmaker who had two helpers and now ranks third in the OUA scoring race with 25 points, including 19 assists in 15 contests;
Ryan Van Stralen and Michael Lomas replied for the Ravens after McGill had taken an insurmountable four-goal lead. Van Stralen's marker, on the powerplay, snapped the Ravens' five-game, 0-for-29 slump with the man-advantage.
Francis Dupuis took the loss between the pipes for the Ravens and dropped to 5-3. He was beaten six times on 17 shots, including that fateful middle stanza when he conceded five goals on only six shots.
Ryerson 2 @ Brock 4
The Brock Badgers Men's Hockey team used a perfect time to play their most complete game of the season. In fact the Badgers (7-7-1 OUA) exacted a little revenge defeating the team that eliminated them from the first round of playoffs last season, the Ryerson Rams (9-5-1 OUA), 4-2 Saturday night at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
Brock opened a 2-0 first period lead scoring on two of its first three shots. Andrew Radjenovic's seventh goal of the season midway through the second period proved to be the game-winner.
From the goal out the Badgers were solid.
Clint Windsor made 32 saves, while Brock's penalty kill was perfect as Ryerson went 0-for-5 with the man-advantage.
"I thought as the game went on we got stronger, which helped us," said Badgers Head Coach Murray Nystrom. "I think the three key elements of a hockey team is your goaltending, which I thought Clint (Windsor) was our best performer on the night, I thought our defencemen did a great job defending the middle of the ice and moved the puck out of the zone when we got possession, and I thought our forwards did a real good job once we got our forecheck going and winning races to loose pucks. On top of that our special teams were good. Our powerplay got a goal and our penalty-killing did a fantastic job."
Brock killed off a key five-on-three Ryerson powerplay midway through the third period to seal the deal.
One player that has really come into his own over the past couple of weeks is first year forward, and reigning Badgers Male Athlete of the Week, Jamie Kendra.
The 22-year old Markham, Ontario native arrived at Brock after two seasons at NCAA University of Alabama-Huntsville.
Kendra scored his fourth goal of the season in Saturday's win and is part of Coach Nystrom's number one penalty kill unit.
"With last night's loss (Friday) this was a big one for us and we knew we had to come through" Kendra said. The Business/Marketing major who has four goals and 11 points in 15 games this season, has scored six of those over the past five games.
"I feel good out there," added Kendra. "It's nice to come back home (Canada). I'm feeling like I have a lot more time with the puck and taking the time to make the right play. It's been as easy transition for me. I feel here (OUA) you can become an all around more effective player."
Western 3 @ Lakehead 4 (2OT)
Western Ontario scored the only goal of the first period when David Corrente beat Lakehead goalie Justin McDonald at 13:36. McDonald made several big saves in the opening stanza which saw Western outshoot the Wolves 17-10, and his strong play would continue throughout the night.
Carson Dubchak got Lakehead on the board on a goal assisted by his brother Brennen at 6:01 of the second period, and then just over two minutes later Nathan Bruyere and Nathan Cull set up David Quesnele in the slot who made no mistake in blasting the puck past Mustangs' netminder Greg Dodds.
The Wolves lead was short-lived, as Western Ontario's Stephen Gaskin scored on a two-on-one situation when he fired the puck high past McDonald with a shot that the Lakehead puck-stopper had no chance on.
The Mustangs outshot the Thunderwolves 19-8 in the middle frame, and the game was deadlocked at 2-2 heading into the final twenty minutes of regulation.
Julian Cimadamore gave Western a 3-2 lead on a hard shot that beat McDonald low on the glove side at 8:56 of the third period.
Lakehead began to mount more pressure as the period went on, and with 5:06 remaining, Carson Dubchak flipped the puck over Dodds to even the score at 3-3. Brennen Dubchak and E.J. Faust collected the assists.
The Mustangs narrowly outshot Lakehead 14-12 in the third period.
The first five minutes of four-on-four overtime was scoreless despite several good chances for both sides.
The game really opened up in the three-on three overtime session with plenty of end-to end action. But Kelin Ainsworth notched the game-winner when he went in alone on Dodds and beat him with a nice backhand move at the 3:19 mark. Jay Gilbert and Mike Hammond picked up the assists.
The final shots on goal tally was 53-33 in favor of the Mustangs.
The Molson Three Stars of the Game were:
1. Justin McDonald, Lakehead
2. Carson Dubchak, Lakehead
3. Kelin Ainsworth, Lakehead
Source: Lakehead Thunderwolves
Laurentian 3 @ Queen's 1
The men's hockey team could not capitalize on late scoring opportunities as they were defeated 3-1 Saturday night at the Memorial Centre by the Laurentian Voyageurs.
The Voyageurs opened the scoring in the opening frame after Sebastien Leroux buried a rebound past Queen's goaltender Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) for the powerplay marker. The Gaels responded with a powerplay tally of their own as Spencer Abraham's (Campbellville, Ont.) point shot took a hard bounce off the end boards, deflecting off Laurentian goaltender Charlie Millen and into the back of the net. Patrick McGillis (Calgary) and Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.) were credited with the assists on Abraham's fourth of the season.
Laurentian broke the deadlock and regained the lead on a goal from Nick Esposto in the third period. The Gaels were able to generate offensive pressure in the final minutes of regulation on the powerplay, but could not bury the equalizer. Graham Yeo added an empty-netter as the Voyageurs went on to earn the 3-1 victory.
Final shots for the game totalled 39-35 in favour of Queen's. Bailie made 32 saves in a losing effort while Millen earned the 38 save victory.
Assistant Coach Tony Cimellaro was disappointed in his team's performance, "We were outplayed for 60 minutes tonight, pretty much from start to finish," said Cimellaro after the tough loss.
Laurier 3 @ Toronto 4
Fifth-year forward Michael Markovic was the overtime hero as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks 4-3 on Saturday night (Nov. 29) at Varsity Arena.
With the win, the Blues improve to 6-8-1 heading into the winter break.
Fourth-year forward Jeff Brown opened the scoring midway through the first frame when he received a nice pass from Paul Van De Velde off the back post and buried the puck into the open net.
The Hawks responded, however, with two goals only a minute apart. Justin Rasmussen scored on the powerplay with a nice shot to the top corner of the net and Erik Pushka gave Laurier the lead, pulling a nice deke in front of the net and backhanding it in.
A scoreless second period saw both teams with chances as Laurier held onto the 2-1 advantage heading into the final frame.
Second-year forward Russell Turner evened the score for Toronto with just over seven minutes to go as he tipped in a Lane Werbowski point shot, notching his fourth point in the past three games.
Under a minute later, fifth-year veteran Michael Markovic received a pass from Dean Klomp and made no mistake, scoring his team-leading seventh goal.
Laurier was able to force overtime, however, as Rasmussen banged the puck in with less than a second remaining in regulation.
Toronto answered back when Markovic potted the game-winner 3:53 into the OT period to seal the win.
Blues goaltender Michael Nishi made 23 saves in the win.
Other scores
Concordia 5 @ RMC 4 (SO)
