OSHAWA, Ont. – In front of a capacity crowd at the Campus Ice Centre filled with students, alumni, family and fans, the UOIT men's hockey team won their first playoff series in the nine year history of the program.
UOIT forward Danny Elser (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) scored the game-winning goal 17:79 into the third period clinching the Ridgebacks 2-1 series victory over the Queen's Gaels.
"It was a huge win for the program," said UOIT head coach Curtis Hodgins. "The program has made great strides. (Craig) Fisher has done great things in 18 months with the team giving us the chance to win. It was a great moment for the team and the guys deserved the win."
Both teams battled through injuries in the evenly matched series, with all three games finishing with a 4-3 scoreline.
"Queen's battled hard all series long," said Hodgins. "With a couple of breaks, the series could have easily shifted their way. Our guys stepped up and played huge minutes. The entire team contributed to the win."
Elser was set up by teammate Tyler Mayea (Burlington, Ont.) with a drop pass on the game winner, as he fired a shot from the slot that beat the All-Canadian and former Oshawa General Kevin Bailie five-hole. Both Elser and Mayea joined the team in the second semester.
"Both of them hadn't played hockey in a while and were finding their game during the regular season," said Hodgins. "They have really hit their stride in the playoffs. Mayea was a horse for us on the back end and Elser had great jump tonight."
Trailing 3-2 heading into the third period, fifth-year senior James Woodcroft (Milton, Ont.) scored a breakaway goal as he was set up with a stretch pass from Ben Blasko (Kingston, Ont.). Woodcroft made no mistake as he scored his third career postseason goal that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Jesse Stoughton (Bobcaygeon, Ont.), another graduating senior, also lit the lamp as he scored the opening goal five minutes in. Stoughton would bury a rebound off a Bailie breakaway save on Elser for his second of the series.
"I am really happy for the graduating seniors to be a part of Ridgeback history," said Hodgins. "To get the win and create history is a great feeling. With all of the alumni at the game today, you could tell everyone was proud to call themselves Ridgebacks."
Game two overtime hero Ryan Doucette (Waterloo, Ont.) rounded out the Ridgeback scoring as he netted a shorthanded breakaway goal six minutes into the second period.
Eric Ming scored two goals for Queen's including a go-ahead goal late in the second period while Darcy Greenaway had the other.
Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.) made several key stops especially when the team was trailing 3-2. He finished the night with 30 saves in the victory. Bailie stopped 30 of 34 Ridgeback shots on goal.
Heading into this year, the Ridgebacks were 0-for-5 in playoff series including a 0-2 record in game threes. This was the first Ridgeback playoff victory on home ice.
The Ridgebacks will look forward to a round two match-up against the top-seeded UQTR Patriotes. UQTR swept Laurentian 2-0 in their first round series and is the No. 2 ranked team in CIS hockey.
Game one will take place at the Campus Ice Centre on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Games two and three (if necessary) will take place in Trois-Rivières.
