SCOREBOARD

York 3 @ Queen's 1

Laurier 1 @ Western 6

Laurentian 2 @ McGill 7

RMC 0 @ Carleton 11

Lakehead 2 @ UQTR 4

Toronto 1 @ Waterloo 4

Windsor 6 @ Concordia 5

York comes from behind to hand Gaels first loss of the season

KINGSTON, Ont. (October 16, 2015) - The Queen's Gaels (1-1-0) suffered their first defeat of the season as the York Lions (1-0-1) managed to come back from an early 1-0 deficit and secure their first win of the season at the Memorial Centre in Kingston on Friday night OUA men's hockey action.

In the first period the Gaels controlled the play for much of the frame. In total they fired seven shots on York starting netminder Chris Perugini while Gaels starter Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) turned aside all seven that were sent his way as well.

Queen's was the first team able to get on the board as the 2014-15 CIS rookie of the year Spencer Abraham (Campbellville, Ont.) took a pass from fellow 2014-15 CIS All-Rookie member Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.) and made his way down to the hashmarks deep in the York end. From there he spotted a man in front and fired the puck into a scrum of players. Gaels forward Andrew Wiebe (Thunder Bay, Ont.) was able to get his stick on it and deflect it past Di Domenico for his second of the season giving Queen's a 1-0 lead.

In the second the Lions saw their first man-advantage of the game as the Gaels Ryan Bloom (Calgary) went to the box for tripping. Queen's was able to hold off the Lions attack and Bailie turned aside a few of the seven shots he faced in the frame. The Lions kept the pressure coming late into the second period and were able to beat Bailie on a controversial goal. The puck was in front of a screened Bailie and York defenceman Derek Sheppard appeared to kick the puck into the net but the goal held up and Sheppard had his first of the season to even the game at 1-1.

Queen's outshot York in the second 11 to eight but it was York with the only tallie of the frame.

In the third the Lions used a powerplay to their advantage. Harrison Hendrix (Calgary) got called for high sticking and the Lions made them pay. Greg Milner deflected a point shot that beat Bailie just as the power play was about to finish. The Lions took their first lead of the game with just over seven minutes remaining in the third period.

The Gaels pulled their goaltender Bailie with under two minutes remaining but it was York's Mitch VanTeeling who iced the game with an empty net goal.

Bailie finished with 22 saves in the loss while Perugini stopped 24 shots picking up the win.

Source: Queen's Gaels

Five rookies register points in 6-1 victory over Laurier in home opener

LONDON, Ont. – Trevor Warnaar had the bigger picture in mind.
 
Immediately after assisting on Cole Benson's first OUA goal in the third period of Friday night's game, the sophomore winger skated directly to the referee to ask for the milestone puck. 
 
Benson's goal was not the game winner, nor was it the prettiest of the game. In fact, it was the fifth goal in Western's 6-1 home opening victory over Laurier at Thompson Arena. But the moment helped encapsulate the most important storyline of the night: Western's youth movement is alive and well, and these guys are good. 
 
Injuries and circumstance dictated that the Mustangs would have to dress a total of eight rookies and just five defencemen on Friday but the lineup didn't look out of place, overcoming some early bumps to grind out a big win in their home opener. As weird as it sounds in a 6-1 game, the win really was a grind, as it was a one-goal game through two periods.
 
"I thought we did a not bad job tonight," said head coach Clarke Singer. "We had forty-plus shots and a lot of those were through traffic or coming down the wing and shooting and creating a rebound in the slot. But obviously our third period was our best period, just because of the goals and I think we carried the play."
 
Western scored four goals in a busy third period to put the game out of reach, securing a win for backstop Peter Delmas in his OUA debut. Delmas, who sat out last year due to OUA eligibility rules after joining the Mustangs from the pro ranks, stopped 22 of 23 shots to lock down Western's second straight victory.
 
"He played a great game tonight for us—controlled the play not only in the net but with the puck behind the goal line and made some smart plays, which is a pretty important part of the game at this level," said Singer of Delmas. "Both he and [fellow goaltender Greg Dodds] have been fabulous for us through exhibition and Peter is growing every day."
 
Delmas was supported with some serious firepower from the Mustangs offence on a night that saw the Mustangs score five straight to close out the game. Benson, Trent Oullette, Shawn Furlong, Ray Huether, and Luke Karaim each had a goal and an assist while rookie Spenser Cobbold had a pair of apples to round out the list of multi-point performers.
 
In total, eleven Western players got on the score sheet. Five of those players were rookies, all of whom were picking up their first points of the year.
 
One of those players, Jonathan Laser, got the scoring started for Western in the second frame, firing home his first goal of the season five minutes into his first OUA game. Laurier would respond a minute later but Trent Ouellette would give Western their second lead mid-way through the frame, picking up his own rebound and flipping it over Vinny Merante's pad.
 
"I think I had about three shots on net and the last one I just kind of put it over him and fortunately the ref didn't blow the whistle because I couldn't even see the puck for a bit," Ouellete said of his game-winning marker. "I think each guy on our line had about three opportunities out front there—the puck's kind of just bouncing around."
 
Ouellette's line, which consists of him, Karaim, and Matt Marantz, accounted for five points on the night. CHRW's Steve Cobb and John Urban had taken to calling them Western's "energy line" after their early performances and Ouellete wasn't about to stop them.
 
"Two easy guys to play with, pretty much just go to the net and usually they find me or we find one of each other," said Ouellete. "We created a lot of energy tonight and I thought we overpowered their lines."
 
"Those guys have found some chemistry in the regular season and played very well not only tonight but they played very well at Brock as well," added Singer on the line. "That's a veteran line for us, even though Trent's only in second year he plays like a veteran. He's a smart guy and plays hard and I trust him a lot."
 
Another notable presence on the ice on Friday was Furlong, who teamed up with Huether to create two pretty goals in the third and added four penalty minutes on the night. Huether had by far the best assist of the night, spinning in the corner to find an open Furlong in the slot for Western's second of three quick goals to start the final frame.
 
Those three goals came within a 1:05 span, ruining what had otherwise been a solid night for Laurier's Merante. He faced a whopping total of 41 shots on the night, stopping 35 of them for his first loss of the season. The two teams combined for 11 infractions but neither had much power play time, as most of the penalties called were offsetting.
 
Next up for the Mustangs is a game against the Ryerson Rams, who come to London Saturday with a 2-1 record. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Thompson Arena.
 
NOTES: Along with Benson, Huether and Laser were the other rookies to score their first OUA goals… Western didn't have many chances on Friday, but it's worth mentioning that they've yet to score on the power play this season. On the flip side, they also haven't allowed a power play goal… Through two games, Western's goalies have combined to put up a league-best .963 save percentage, although it is a small sample size.

Source: Western Mustangs

Simon says "Bon Voyage" as hockey Redmen send Voyageurs packing

MONTREAL -- Sophomore Simon Tardif-Richard of Gatineau, Que, scored once and added three helpers as No.4-ranked McGill disposed of the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs 7-2 in OUA men's hockey at McConnell Arena, Friday.

It was the third straight victory for the undefeated Redmen, who also improved to 13-5-2 lifetime in head-to-head meetings with Laurentian, a Sudbury-based team that split their two games with McGill last year.

The Redmen, who had a 53-22 margin in shots, only led 1-0 after the opening frame and 2-0 after two. The defensive logjam finally broke apart in a wild third period that featured seven goals, five of them by McGill.

Source: McGill Redmen

Ravens Blast RMC For First Win of 2015-16

(OTTAWA, ON) — The Carleton Ravens men's hockey team dominated all sixty minutes at the Ice House on Friday night, putting up double digits in an 11-0 win over the visiting RMC Paladins. Carleton (1-1-0) got offensive contributions from 17 of its 18 skaters, while RMC (1-3-0) goaltender Matt Beirnes put in an impressive 50-save performance.

"We were disappointed losing our home opener, and I think the guys came out with pretty good jump tonight," said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston. "We actually switched lines this week to see if we could get scoring throughout our lineup — it worked."

The first period was one of firsts for Carleton, as Alex Boivin (Ottawa, ON) and Brent Norris (Ottawa, ON) notched their first CIS goals in Ravens colours. Brett Welychka (London, ON) opened the scoring just 62 seconds in, and the Boivin and Norris goals followed in short order — by the 8:12 mark of the first, Carleton led 3-0 on goals from the trio of freshmen.

"It's always nice to see guys get their first goals in Ravens uniforms," said Coach Johnston, whose team outshot RMC 59-18. "We're real happy."

RMC pushed back in the second period, and managed to stop the bleeding in the first half of the middle stanza. The Paladins couldn't hold out though, as two goals just 75 seconds apart from Brett Gustavsen (Scarborough, ON) — his first as a Raven — and David Weckworth (Kanata, ON) stretched the lead to 5-0, where it would sit after forty minutes.

Carleton then exploded for six third-period goals on the fatigued Paladins. Connor Boland (Whitby, ON) picked up his first as a Raven, while Norris and Welychka each picked up a pair to complete their respective hat tricks. Veteran Sean Bamford (Ottawa, ON) also picked up a goal during the frenetic third period.

Carleton forward Brent Norris picked up first star honours on the night for his five-point (3G, 2A) performance.

"When we brought him in, we expected him to contribute offensively — through preseason he did well," said Coach Johnston. "He's produced at every level, and we expect him to produce here."

Francis Dupuis (Ottawa, ON) posted the 18-save shutout for Carleton.

The Ravens will now face a quick turnaround, with the Laurentian Voyageurs (1-1-0) rolling into town Saturday night.

"We're expecting a hard-working team, a big team — they defend really well and make you work for everything," said Coach Johnston. "The boys better strap on their shoulder pads and be ready for a battle tomorrow, because Laurentian comes to work."

Source: Carleton Ravens

Thunderwolves edged 4-2 at UQTR

The Lakehead Thunderwolves were edged 4-2 by the UQTR Patriotes in an exciting contest at Le Colisee in Three Rivers, Quebec on Friday night.

The Wolves and Patriotes exchanged power play goals in the opening period, with UQTR getting on the board first when Martin Lefebvre beat Lakehead goalie Jeff Bosch with a low wrister from the face-off circle at the 7:10 mark.

Lakehead even the score at 14:36 when Billy Jenkins completed a nice tic-tac-toe play from the edge of the crease after being set up by Justin Sefton and Jake Ringuette.

Shots on goal in the first period were 8-7 for the Patriotes.

The game opened up considerably in the second period with UQTR getting the best scoring chances, but Bosch held the Patriotes at bay until Guillaume Asselin scored on a two-on-one situation with under a minute remaining in the middle stanza.

UQTR outshot Lakehead 15-10 in the second.

The Patriotes extended their lead in the third period after Pierre-Maxime Poudrier's wrist shot from the blue line took a funny bounce and handcuffed Bosch to put UQTR up 3-1.

Just over a minute later, E.J. Faust fed a streaking Cody Alcock who broke in on the right wing and fired the puck past Patriotes' netminder Sebastien Auger to narrow the gap to 3-2.

The Wolves kept applying the pressure and Faust narrowly missed tying the game later in the period, but Tommy Giroux's empty netter with 17 seconds remaining sealed the deal for UQTR.

Shots on goal were 14-10 for Lakehead in the third period, but favored UQTR 33-31 for the game.

The two teams will square off again tomorrow beginning at 4:00 p.m.

Source: Lakehead Thunderwolves

Elliot leaves Toronto singing the blues

In a matchup between two of Ontario's top academic institutions, it was a pair of British Columbia natives that made the difference for the Waterloo Warriors.

Mitch Elliot (Prince George) scored twice, and Chris Hurry (Summerland) made 32 saves as the Warriors toppled the Toronto Varsity Blues 4-1 on Friday night at the Columbia Icefield in Waterloo.

Riley Sonnenburg (Cambridge) scored the eventual game-winner in the second period, while Stephen Silas (Georgetown) also added a goal for the Warriors, who improve to 2-1-0 on the season. Toronto's Matt Campagna ruined the Hurry shutout bid late in the third, while Blues goaltender Michael Nishi kicked aside 43 shots in defeat.

After a scoreless first period in which they outshot Toronto 24-6, the Warriors used a three-goal outburst in the second period – including two in 44 seconds – to give them a lead they would never surrender.

The teams traded goals in a chippy third period that also saw seven different players assessed 10-minute misconduct penalties. All told, 86 penalty minutes were assessed in the game, with 78 of those coming in the third period.

With two home wins under their belt, the Warriors will now try to break into the win column on the road this season, as they travel down Highway 7 to face the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday night. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 pm.

Notes: Waterloo went 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Blues went 0-3 … Cam Nicoll (Loretto) made his CIS debut, playing on a line with Phillip Fife (Oromocto) and Daniel Perigo (Truro) … Andrew Smith (Kitchener) has a point in each one of Waterloo's three games this season.

Source: Waterloo Warriors