AROUND OUA: Lions fall to Lancers in OT
The York University Lions men's hockey team fell to the Windsor Lancers in their final regular season home game of the 2015-16 season on Friday night (Feb.12) by a score of 4-3 in overtime at Canlan Ice Sports Arena.
SCOREBOARD
The York University Lions men's hockey team fell to the Windsor Lancers in their final regular season home game of the 2015-16 season on Friday night (Feb.12) by a score of 4-3 in overtime at Canlan Ice Sports Arena.
The Lancers came out of the gates aggressive on Friday night, and applied immense pressure within the Lions blue line for the majority of the game. The Lancer attack was led by Dylan Denomme who finished the evening with three points, two which were goals coming in the first period. The first tally came on the power play just over six minutes into the frame as Denomme received a pass from Anthony in the slot to beat Chris Perugini (King City, Ont.) blocker side to give the Lancers the early lead.
Throughout the first period it was apparent that the Lancers would play the Lions aggressive and hit anything that moved, and the scheme seemed to pay off, as the Lancers added another goal at the 14:35 mark of the period. An unassisted Denomme goal beat Perugini to extend their first period advantage to two goals headiing into the first intermission.
In the second period the Lions were hungry to get back into this hockey game and it didn't take them long to respond. Just 45 seconds into the period Trevor Peterson (Thornhill, Ont.) received a gift in front of the Lancer net and patiently waited out Michael Doan to put the Lions within one goal. The mad scramble was a result of multiple Lions near the Lancer crease, which included Kyle Campbell (Halifax, N.S.) and Mark Cross (Strasbourg, Sask.) before the bouncing puck found its way onto Peterson's stick.
Eight minutes after the Lions cut the lead in half they were once again on the attack, and after an undisciplined Lancer penalty the Lions moved the puck around until Tyler McGee (Timmins, Ont.) found Campbell who rifled a pass to Doan to tie the game up at 2-2.
After the Lions began to create momentum they were halted on a delayed penalty that saw the extra attacker jump over the boards and join the rush leading to a quick shot, which was initially saved by Perugini but the rebound found the stick of a charging Kyle Hope, who deposited it in the back of the net to give the lead back to the Lancers late in the second period.
Similar to the start of the second period the third period began with a bang, as the Lions were flying all over the ice and resulted in an odd man rush with McGee, Mitch VanTeeling (Brandon, Man.), and Justin Larson (Buckhorn, Ont.). As the three came through the neutral zone they executed a perfect tic-tac-toe play which Larson finished off to tie the game up once again. Both sides had multiple chances in the third period but couldn't manage to find the back of the net, sending the game into overtime.
In the extra frame the Lancers were desperate to take down the first place Lions, and they eventually did at the 2:19 mark. A gang of Lancers crashed the Lion crease and a bouncing puck escaped the crowd and came to the side of the night, where Justice Dundas capitalized on the mayhem corralling it and flipping it over a sprawling Perugini to give the Lancers the win.
After Friday's defeat, the Lions remain in first place in the OUA standings with a record of 16-6-5, now one point up on the second place Western Mustangs. In the final game for the Lancers they end their season with a 14-11-3 record. The Lions are back on the ice tomorrow (Feb. 13) when they travel downtown to take on the 10-14-2 Toronto Varsity Blues. The puck drops at 7:30pm.
Source: York Lions
Thunderwolves fall to visiting Golden Hawks 2-1
The Lakehead Thunderwolves fell 2-1 to the Laurier Golden Hawks before a crowd of 1918 at the Fort William Gardens on a frigid Friday night in Thunder Bay.
Laurier goalie Colin Furlong and Lakehead's Jeff Bosch were both sharp in their respective nets in the low-scoring affair, and neither team was able to score in an evenly-played first period.
Garick Gray gave the Wolves a 1-0 lead just 29 seconds into the second period when he beat Furlong from in-close with Justin Sefton and Kelin Ainsworth getting the assists. That turned out to be Lakehead's only goal of the game as the Hawks regrouped and out-chanced the Wolves in the middle frame.
Laurier tied it up at the 7:21 mark when Ryan Lopes swatted the puck past Bosch from the top of the crease.
A penalty for too many men on the ice proved costly for Lakehead as the Hawks converted on the power play with Will Cook knocking home a rebound from the doorstep at 11:36 to take the lead for good.
The Wolves regained the momentum in the third period and controlled much of the play in the final 20 minutes, but were unable to solve Furlong despite several good scoring chances.
Total shots on goal in the game were 33 per side.
On the night, the Thunderwolves went 0-for-6 on the power play while the Golden Hawks were 1-for-2.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1. Colin Furlong, Laurier
2. Jeff Bosch, Lakehead
3. Garick Gray, Lakehead
The loss drops Lakehead's OUA record to 7-16-4 and to 11-18-5 overall.
The Wolves will take on the Hawks again tomorrow night to close out the season.
Source: Lakehead Thunderwolves
Ravens come up short against No. 2 Patriotes
(OTTAWA, ON) — Neither sixty nor seventy minutes were enough to separate the Carleton Ravens and the UQTR Patriotes at the Carleton Ice House on Friday night, as two of the top men's hockey programs in the country squared off in a 3-2 shootout thriller won by the Pats.
Marc-Olivier Mimar had the shootout winner for UQTR (24-3-1, CIS No. 2), which beat the Ravens (19-7-1, CIS No. 9) in large part due to a 47-save performance from goaltender Sebastien Auger.
"I was really happy with the effort tonight," said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston. "Our effort was there, execution was pretty good—they're a good team, but I liked how we competed."
Carleton dominated the opening twenty minutes—ultimately outshooting UQTR 17-6—and was rewarded for its persistent offensive zone effort at 18:37 of the first period. Ryan Van Stralen (Prescott, ON) barreled his way to the UQTR net before tapping home a Mike McNamee (Perth, ON) rebound.
Ravens forward Brett Gustavsen (Scarborough, ON) took a hard hit from UQTR defenceman Charles-David Beaudoin late in the first period; Beaudoin was ejected, and Gustavsen would return in the second period with no ill effects
The top-ranked Pats offence responded early in the middle frame; Vincent Marcoux capitalized on a Ravens d-zone turnover to level things just 31 seconds into the second period, then Mathieu Lemay wired a wrister past Ravens goaltender Francis Dupuis (Ottawa, ON).
Carleton pressed throughout the third period in search of an equalizer, and Van Stralen's second of the night, on the power play, at the 13:55 mark brought the house down.
Overtime featured multiple chances for both teams, but solved nothing.
A six-round shootout ultimately ended with a win for the visitors from Trois-Rivières; Mimar's perfect wrist shot beat Dupuis, and Ravens captain Joey West (Ottawa, ON) was denied by Auger.
"We're disappointed not to take the two points, but this is definitely a step in the right direction," said Coach Johnston. "We're very happy with the effort and the way things are trending into the playoffs."
With results elsewhere, Carleton is now locked into a first-round matchup against the Nipissing Lakers, with whom they split their season series 1-1.
"They're a real hard-working team, with a good first line that generates a lot of offence," previewed Coach Johnston. "At home they're a much different team, and we'll have to make sure that game one we're ready to go and ready to battle through all kinds of variables you face up in North Bay."
With two assists Friday night, Ravens forward Brett Welychka (London, ON) has put himself in a position to win the national scoring title. The first-year standout needs four points tomorrow night against RMC to share the national title, while five points will net him the outright title. Welychka has potted eight points in two previous meetings against the Paladins this season.
Source: Carleton Ravens
Warriors trounce Badgers, clinch home ice
The Waterloo Warriors are heating up at the right time.
Riley Sonnenburg (Cambridge) scored twice and Mike Morrison (Hamilton) earned his second shutout of the season as the Warriors toppled the Brock Badgers 5-0 on Friday night in St. Catharine's.
The Warriors have now earned points in four straight (3-0-1), and they push their record to 15-11-1 with one game left in the regular season. The win also clinches a top-four spot in the OUA's West division, ensuring the Warriors will have home ice advantage when round one of the playoffs starts next week.
Mike Moffat (Waterloo), Cam Wind, and Phillip Fife (Oromocto) also scored for the Warriors, while Chris Chappell (Pickering) added a pair of helpers. Morrison turned away 35 shots for the clean sheet in the Waterloo net.
For the Badgers, it was a disappointing end to a nightmare second half. In the thick of the playoff hunt at the Christmas break, the Badgers recorded a 1-7-3 record in 2016 to miss the playoffs. Their loss to Waterloo on Friday was Brock's tenth straight defeat to close out their season. Real Cormier made 28 saves in a losing cause.
After a scoreless first, the Warriors seized control of the game in a dominating second period. Sonnenburg opened the scoring at 4:42 of the middle frame, before Wind scored his first as a Warrior just past the midway point of the period. Sonnenburg added another tally – his fifth in the last three games – to make it 3-0 Waterloo after 40 minutes.
Moffat made it 4-0 on the power play early in the third, before Fife rounded out the scoring for the Warriors in the third.
Waterloo will now look to finish their regular season on a winning note on Saturday when they take on the Western Mustangs on Saturday afternoon at 4pm. Waterloo will then open up the playoffs next week at home, with the schedule and opponent still to be determined.
Source: Waterloo Warriors
Ridgebacks move closer to home ice in playoffs
OSHAWA, Ont. – After 60 minutes of scoreless hockey between UOIT and Laurentian, it only took 23 seconds of overtime to break the stalemate as Ben Blasko (Kingston, Ont.) scored the winner in a 1-0 Ridgeback win Friday night at the Campus Ice Centre.
With the win, UOIT (17-8-2) is now in the driver's seat to clinch home ice advantage for the opening round of the OUA playoffs with their regular season finale against Nipissing taking place on Saturday night. UOIT is tied with Queen's (16-7-4) with 36 points but hold the tie-breaker. Queen's dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to Nipissing on Friday.
Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.) was clutch for UOIT in the win as he made 27 saves for his first career OUA shutout.
One of his biggest saves of the night came in overtime that was immediately followed up with Blasko's game winner. Blasko picked up the puck after O'Neill's pad save and drove up the ice. Blasko would feed Jesse Stoughton (Bobcaygeon, Ont.) who would play a perfect give-and-go to send him alone on goal. Blasko would make no mistake going high-blocker side to give the Ridgebacks their 17th win of the year.
O'Neill is third in OUA saves (731) and wins (16) while second in minutes played (1538:03) this year. At the other end of the ice, Laurentian goaltender Alain Valiquette was just as impressive stopping 28 of 29 Ridgeback shots on net.
Stoughton has been on a role since the start of 2016 averaging over a point per game with 12 points in 11 games including a current four-game point streak.
UOIT's power play struggled in the win going 0-for-4 with the man advantage. Laurentian failed to score on their lone attempt.
With Saturday's game against Nipissing being UOIT's regular season finale, the Ridgebacks will honour four of the team's graduating senior's prior to puck drop.
Source: UOIT Ridgebacks
Stingers upset No. 6 Redmen in 29th Ronald Corey Cup
MONTREAL -- Rookie goaltender Miguel Sullivan of Petit de Grat, N.S., made 25 saves, including one on a penalty shot, as Concordia upset No.6-ranked McGill 4-2 at the Ed Meagher Arena, to claim the 29th annual Ronald Corey Cup rivalry game and both squads closed out their OUA men's hockey regular season schedule, Friday.
It halted McGill's five-game win streak over the Stingers and also served as a playoff preview as the cross-town rivals will meet in the OUA East best-of-three quarter-finals for the third straight year. The Redmen dropped to 16-8-3 in Corey Cup play – emblematic of local college hockey supremacy – and the result evened the all-time series between the archrivals at 96-96-14.
Concordia, which had a 41-27 edge in shots, led 1-0 after the opening period and 3-1 after two. The Redmen had a chance to close the gap to 2-1 midway through the second period when forward Rock Regimbald of Gatineau, Que., was tripped by defenceman Curtis Gass on a breakaway but his subsequent penalty shot was stopped by Sullivan.
"It was a good lesson for our group tonight," said McGill head coach Kelly Nobes. "You can't get out-competed for two periods and expect to win at this time of the year. They out-battled us over the first two periods and the score was in their favour. We had a strong third period (but ran out of time)."
Four different forwards scored for the Stingers, who actually jumped into a 3-0 lead on goals by rookies Julien Rainville-Avon of Chambly, Que., and Raphael Lafontaine, also from Gatineau, along with one from Jessyko Bernard, a senior from Moncton, N.B.
Replying with power-play markers for McGill was senior Mathieu Pompei of Laval, Que., and rookie Daniel Milne of Unionville, Ont., which narrowed the gap to 3-2. With the Redmen pressing through most of the third period, Concordia's Alexandros Soumakis finally relieved the pressure by adding an empty-netter.
Redmen goaltender Jacob Gervais-Chouinard, a junior from Sherbrooke, Que., making his first appearance in five games since suffering a lower-body injury against Western on Jan. 23, registered 37 saves in a losing cause as his record dropped to 17-4.
McGill was 2-for-6 on the power play and erased all four shorthanded situations. The Redmen finished the campaign with the top power play in the CIS at 31.3 per cent.
The second-place Redmen, who finished with a 21-6-1 record, will host seventh-place Concordia (10-12-6) in Game 1 of the quarter-finals on Wednesday (Feb. 17) at 7 p.m. Game 2 is slated for Feb. 19 at Concordia. The date for a rubber match is on Feb. 21 at 5 p.m.
McGill is 14-11 in 25 lifetime playoff meetings with Concordia and have won eight of 12 post-season series.
Source: McGill Redmen
KINGSTON, Ont. (February 12, 2016) – The Queen's Gaels (16-7-4) dropped their third straight game that needed more than sixty minutes as the Nipissing Lakers (12-12-3) escaped the Invista Centre with a 3-2 double overtime victory.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels were in need of two points coming into tonight's game as they entered play just one point ahead of UOIT for 4th in the OUA East as they look to keep home ice advantage for the playoffs. The Gaels were able to get on the board first in the opening frame as Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.) scored on the power play for his ninth of the season. Shawn Boudreau (Kentville, N.S.) and Patrick McGillis (Calgary) picked up the assists on the goal.
In total Queen's fired 19 shots on Nipissing starting netminder Domenic Graham in the opening frame. The Gaels were only able to muster the one goal however but finished the period with a 1-0 lead.
In second action it was Nipissing who found the back of the net next. After Gaels starting goaltender Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) was able to make the initial save, Joel Herbert made no mistake after the puck bounced out and onto his stick. Just over five minutes later the Gaels were able to regain their one goal advantage as Boudreau tallied his fifth of the season. The Kentville, N.S. native was able to steal the puck and break in all alone on Graham beating him short side,
The Gaels skated to the third with a 2-1 advantage over the visiting Lakers.
Nipissing kept the pressure on in the third as they outshot Queen's 11-9 in the period. Their pressure paid off at the 14:11 mark of the third as Brock Morrison tied the game at 2-2. After Nipissing was unable to convert on a late power play chance the game headed to overtime.
Neither team could score in the opening overtime so it went to a three on three second overtime. Colin Campbell was the hero for the visitors as he beat Bailie at the 2:52 mark of double overtime to give Nipissing the win.
BY THE NUMBERS
2 – Gaels defencemen out of the lineup in Downe and Abraham
3 - Straight games that the Gaels have played that needed time beyond 60 minutes
5th - Gaels current standing in the OUA East
6th - The Lakers jumped up to 6th in the East with the win leaping over Concordia
UP NEXT
The Gaels are back at it as they host the Laurentian Voyageurs tomorrow night at 7:30pm at the Invista Centre to close out their OUA regular season.
Source: Queen's Gaels
