February 28, 2016

Ridgebacks playoff run ends in Quebec with 4-2 loss to UQTR

TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. – The No. 2 ranked UQTR Patriotes put an end to UOIT's playoff run on Saturday afternoon as they doubled-up the Ridgebacks 4-2 in game two of their OUA eastern conference semifinal series.

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TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. – The No. 2 ranked UQTR Patriotes put an end to UOIT's playoff run on Saturday afternoon as they doubled-up the Ridgebacks 4-2 in game two of their OUA eastern conference semifinal series.

UQTR advances to the OUA eastern conference final for the second straight season as they get set to take on the No. 8 Carleton Ravens. Carleton swept the No. 6 McGill Redmen on Saturday with a 3-2 game two overtime win.

2015-16 was a year to remember for the Ridgebacks as they smashed the program high for wins in a season (18) and advanced to the second round of the OUA playoffs for the first time in program history with a 2-1 series win over Queen's.

First-year head coach Curtis Hodgins, who took over the program midway through the first semester, will be able build off of all of the positives the program accomplished in 2015-16.

"It was a tremendous season when you look back at everything that was accomplished," said Hodgins. "The program high in wins and the first playoff series win are both positives that we hope to build off. The atmosphere and excitement at the Campus Ice Centre for the three home playoff games was also great to see and we plan to continue raising the awareness of our program both on campus and in our community."

Game two mirrored the opening game of the series with UOIT not getting rewarded on the scoreboard despite their strong effort.

"I was really proud of the effort of our guys tonight," said Hodgins. "We had an extremely undermanned line-up with all the guys out playing against a very good team, but our guys gave an outstanding effort. We truly deserved a better fate tonight but unfortunately UQTR just doesn't miss too many of their opportunities and that was the case again. Our players walked out of there tonight with their heads held high."

Despite outshooting UQTR 18-9 after 20 minutes, it was the Patriotes who skated into the locker room with a 1-0 lead as Pierre-Maxime Poudrier scored on the power play at 17:17.

With the Ridgebacks on a power play of their own early in the second, UQTR would score a shorthanded goal on a transition play with Vincent Marcoux netting his first of the playoffs.

In the third period, UQTR would pad their lead with goals by Guillaume Asselin and Carl-Antoine Delisle.

The two third period goals would come in handy for the Patriotes as the Ridgebacks would not give up. Ryan Doucette (Waterloo, Ont.) got UOIT on the board at 10:42 followed quickly by a goal from Alex Yuill (Wellington, Ont.), to cut the Patriotes lead to 4-2.

UOIT would leave it all out on the ice down the stretch but could not beat Sebastien Auger one more time as the netminder made 37 saves in the Patriotes victory. Auger was named the first-star of the game following the win.

UQTR has now won 13 straight games including sweeps in the first two rounds of the playoffs over Laurentian and UOIT. Their win-streak started on Jan. 9 with a 5-2 victory over the Ridgebacks during the regular season.

The Patriotes also remain the only team that the Ridgebacks have not defeated in the nine-year history of the program. UOIT is 0-4 against the Patriotes in the postseason and 0-13 overall.

UOIT's season has now finished for 2015-16, meaning the focus will now turn to recruitment and preparing for the 2016-17 campaign.