AROUND OUA: No. 10 Lions end regular season with victory over Paladins
The No. 10 nationally-ranked York University Lions men's hockey team wrapped up the regular season on Friday night with a 5-2 victory over the RMC Paladins at Canlan Ice Sports.
SCOREBOARD
RMC 2 @ York 5
UQTR 0 @ UOIT 2
Western 5 @ Lakehead 6
McGill 2 @ Nipissing 1
Toronto 2 @ Brock 5
Concordia 6 @ Queen's 3
Ottawa 5 @ Laurentian 6
Windsor 3 @ Waterloo 2
No. 10 Lions end regular seaso with victory over Paladins
The No. 10 nationally-ranked York University Lions men's hockey team wrapped up the regular season on Friday night with a 5-2 victory over the RMC Paladins at Canlan Ice Sports.
After a scoreless first period, the Lions scored two goals just eight seconds apart early in the second period to take a 2-0 lead. Trevor Petersen (Thornhill, Ont.) opened the scoring at 5:42 after Greg Milner (Watford, Ont.) passed the puck to the front of the net and he slapped it home.
Just moments later Petersen was at it again, assisting on Colton Vannucci's (High River, Alta.) tally. Team captain Shayne Rover (Newmarket, Ont.) assisted on both goals, and the Lions carried the 2-0 advantage into the final frame.
The Paladins made things interesting early in the third when John Livingston scored on a power play less than six minutes in to cut the lead to one. Less than one minute later, the Lions stretched their lead to two again on a goal by rookie Daniel Nikandrov (Richmond Hill, Ont.). That cushion was short-lived, however, as the Paladins responded again courtesy of Bruce Hornbrook, who scored at 7:22 to make the score 3-2 in favour of the home team.
The Lions held on to their lead for the next several minutes and finally got an insurance marker at 13:45 on a goal by Derek Sheppard (Ajax, Ont.), his 12th of the season.
Rookie Scott Feser (Red Deer, Alta.) added another late in the contest to round out the scoring, and the Lions picked up their 18th win of the season to finish 18-6-4 on the year and in second place in the OUA West Division.
Rover added another assist on Nikandrov's goal for a three-point night, while Petersen also had three points with a pair of assists to go with his goal.
First-year goaltender Mack Shields (Saskatoon, Sask.) was strong in net once again, recording 25 saves and allowing just two goals for his OUA-leading 13th victory.
Next up for the Lions is a first-round playoff series against the seventh seed in the division. Their opponent and the schedule will be determined after the final day of the regular season on Saturday
Source: York Lions
Ridgebacks pick up School Day win over UQTR
OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT men's hockey team is heading into the postseason with momentum on their side as they picked up a 2-0 win over the UQTR Patriotes in front of a packed house at the Campus Ice Centre for the team's second annual school day game.
The 2-0 victory marked the Ridgebacks first win over UQTR in the ten-year history of the program. UOIT had gone winless in 13 previous meetings including four playoff games.
UOIT finishes the regular season with a 16-11-1 record having won their final two games of the regular season. The Ridgebacks sit in sixth place in the eastern conference, tied with the Ottawa Gee-Gees who play Nipissing on Saturday night.
The Ridgebacks playoff opponent will be determined after the conclusion of the OUA regular season on Saturday. Possible opponents include the Concordia Stingers (Montreal) and Queen's Gaels (Kingston).
Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.) earned his third-career shutout, stopping 26 UQTR shots on goal. The third-year netminder finished the year with a career-best 2.58 goals against average and .919 save percentage.
The Ridgebacks penalty kill unit was impressive as the Patriotes went 0-for-5 with the man advantage. Coach Hodgins has relied on the strong play of the unit all year as they sit fourth in the league with an 86.8 PK percentage.
Mike Robinson's (Stouffville, Ont.) power play goal midway through the second period turned out to be the game winner as he drove hard to the net and buried a rebound off a Ryan Doucette (Waterloo, Ont.) shot. Tyler Mayea (Burlington, Ont.) added the second assist. The goal was Robinson's 11th of the season.
Shortly after, it looked as if Connor Jarvis (Port Union, Ont.) put the Ridgebacks up 2-0 off a one-timer but Nicolas Lachance, who was making his first-career OUA start, came up with a beautiful glove save. Lachance finished the game with 32 saves.
Anthony Latina (Scarborough, Ont.) would add an insurance marker at 12:22 in the third period, capitalizing off another UQTR rebound. Jarvis and Cameron Yuill (Wellington, Ont.) picked up assists.
The Ridgebacks are now 2-0 on school day games after beating RMC 4-2 in 2016.
Check oua.ca and uoitridgebacks.com for playoff updates.
Source: UOIT Ridgebacks
Wolves break Mustangs in OT shootout
In arguably the most exciting game of the season so far, the Lakehead Thunderwolves beat the Western Mustangs 6-5 in an overtime shootout before a crowd of 2140 at the Fort William Gardens on Friday night.
Grant Valiquette was the hero in a contest that saw plenty of big plays, particularly on offense, for both sides.
Western's Spencer Cobbold drew first blood 4:24 into the game by rifling the puck past Lakehead netminder Devin Green from the slot right after a face-off in the Wolves' end.
Cody Alcock replied for Lakehead 40 seconds later with a hard shot from the left face-off circle that eluded Mustangs' goalie Lucas Peressini on the glove side.
Grant Valiquette went top shelf with a wrist shot at 16:34 to put the Wolves up 2-1 heading into the middle frame.
Kelin Ainsworth extended Lakehead's lead midway through the second when he walked right in and fired the puck high on Peressini, once again on his glove side.
Western stole some of the Wolves' momentum when Scott Teskey got a short-hander with only 10 seconds to go in the period.
Sam Schutt put Lakehead back up by two by finishing off a scramble 7:01 into the third, but Mike DiPaolo quickly answered for the Mustangs just 17 seconds later.
Western's Ray Huether knotted the score at the 8:58 mark when he broke in alone and knocked home his own rebound after Green had made a brilliant pad save on the first shot.
Billy Jenkins put the Wolves up 5-4 with a beautiful goal on a breakaway by deking Peressini and stuffing the puck between his legs at 17:08, but two Lakehead penalties gave Western a 5-on-3 power play that Trent Ouellette cashed in on when he rang the puck off the post and in with only 24 seconds remaining in regulation.
Neither team was able to convert in the first or second overtime periods, although Lakehead had the better scoring chances, partially due to a Mustangs' penalty late in the first O.T. session.
In the shootout, all four of Western's shooters - Huether, Cobbold, Ouellette and Connor Chartier - were stymied by Green, but Lakehead's first three shooters - Jenkins, Alcock and Ainsworth - were also turned away by Peressini.
Valiquette won it with a nifty move that he finished off by flipping the puck into the air on his backhand and then swatting it out of the air with his forehand past Peressini into the top corner of the net.
Total shots on goal in the game were 38-33 for Lakehead.
For the night, the Wolves were 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Mustangs went 1-for-7.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1. Grant Valiquette, Lakehead
2. Billy Jenkins, Lakehead
3. Kelin Ainsworth, Lakehead
The win moves Lakehead up one notch into seventh place in the OUA West Division. The Wolves will look to close out the regular season with another victory when the two teams square off again tomorrow night.
Source: Lakehead Thunderwolves
Orr nets shootout winner for Redmen in win over Lakers
NORTH BAY, Ont. -- Freshman Harlan Orr of Lake Country, B.C., netted the deciding goal of a post-overtime shootout while rookie Guillaume Gauthier of Ste. Marthe sur le Lac, Que., scored a last-minute tying goal and added another in the shootout as third-ranked McGill forged a late rally to edge Nipissing University 2-1 in OUA men's hockey at the Memorial Gardens on Friday.
McGill, which improved to 19-4 in 23 lifetime meetings with the Lakers, clinched their fourth OUA East pennant of the past seven years. With one game left to play, the Redmen own a lofty 20-4-3 record atop the OUA East, reaching the 20-win-plateau for the fourth straight year.
McGill outshot their hosts 34-30 in regulation but trailed 1-0 on the scoreboard in the dying minutes, after Jimmy McDowell had put Nipissing ahead with a power-play goal at 2:22 of the third period.
With just 66 seconds separating the division-leading Redmen from an upset loss, Gauthier, a 5-foot-10, 196-pound left winger, tallied a power-play marker of his own to force overtime. Team captain Patrick Delisle-Houde of Quebec City and Simon Tardif-Richard of Gatineau, Que., earned assists on the play.
After two scoreless five-minute extra sessions -- in which McGill led the shot count by a 13-4 margin -- the teams resorted to penalty shots to decide the winner.
Gauthier opened the competition with a goal on the first attempt but McDowell beat Redmen netminder Louis-Philip Guindon on Nipissing's third attempt to force a sudden-death round. That's when Redmen bench boss Kelly Nobes summoned Orr, a 21-year-old science freshman who was only dressing for the fifth league game this season and has yet to tally his first official goal in eight contests overall.
"Orrsy's got real good hands and although he hasn't gotten into a lot of games this year, he has shown in practice that he's real good in close and around the net. So I had a feeling that he was going to bury one tonight," said Nobes of the 6-foot-1, 175-pound product from the Trail Smoke Eaters of the BCJHL. "The guys were real supportive when he went out to shoot and they were pretty happy for him to score in that situation.We gave him our "hard hat" award in the dressing room."
Both starting goalies were on their game and made a number of sensational stops, most notably in the two overtime sessions.
Guindon, a rookie from St. Joseph du Lac, Que., made 33 saves on 34 shots and improved his record to 10-5. He is tied for the league lead in save percentage (.930) and ranked second in goals-against average (1.95).
Lakers goaltender Domenic Graham stopped 46 of 47 pucks, including 13 in overtime but it was all for naught as his record fell to 6-9.
Each side was 1-for-3 with the man advantage.
McGill (20-4-3) wraps up the regular season in Sudbury on Saturday (Feb. 11) with a playoff preview against the Laurentian Voyageurs, who sit eighth in the 10-team OUA East with an 11-12-4 record. Ninth-place Nipissing (8-17-2) will miss the playoffs and close out their campaign that evening when they host Ottawa (14-18-5).
Saturday's contest against the Voyageurs will be the first of as many as four straight confrontations with McGill as the long-distance rivals will meet in an OUA East best-of-three quarter-final series, slated to begin in Sudbury on Wednesday (Feb. 15). Games 2 and 3 (if needed) will be played at McConnell Arena on Feb. 18 and 19, with both slated to start at 7 p.m.
REDMEN RAP: Sophomore netminder Joe Fleschler, a 6-foot-6, 223-pound native of Westfield, N.J., who had yet to dress this season after seeing action in nine games during his freshmen campaign, served as backup against Nipissing, since McGill brought three goalies on the road for the first time this season... Alternate captains Mathieu Pompei, Nathan Chiarlitti and Etienne Boutet -- the three players who helped Canada win bronze at the FISU Winter Games in Slovakia -- did not return in time to catch the team bus for this marathon road trip, which began Thursday evening. Thus far, the trio has missed four McGill games while overseas and the date of their availability for the next game against Laurentian and the playoff opener is still unknown.
Source: McGill Redmen
Banga's five-point performance leads Badgers past Blues
ST. CATHARINES, ON - The Brock University men's hockey team topped the Toronto Varsity Blues 5-2 at the Seymour-Hannah Centre Friday night.
Toronto opened the scoring less than one minute in the game to go up 1-0 after the first period. Brock goals from Sammy Banga (Windsor, ON) and Matt MacLeod (Niagara Falls, ON) along with a Toronto goal would even things up after the second period 2-2.
In the third period, Brock ran away with the game with three unanswered goals coming from Banga, MacLeod and Andrew Radjenovic (Hamilton, ON) for a final score of 5-2.
Banga led the Badgers with a career-high five points (2 goals, 3 assists), followed by Radjenovic with three points (1 goal, 2 assists) and Macleod with two points (2 goals). Defenseman Dexter Weber (New Dundee, ON) also contributed with two assists.
In goal, the Badgers Clint Windsor (Burlington, ON) made 33 saves for the victory. Toronto's Andrew Hunt made 32 saves in the loss.
The Badgers next play at home again Saturday night at 7:15pm against the RMC Paladins.
Source: Brock Badgers
No. 7 Stingers Defeat No. 9 Gaels 6-3, Queen's will finish third in OUA East
GAMEFLOW
The first period was very close, with a number of chances in both ends of the rink. In spite of the Gaels out-chancing Concordia, it was the Stingers that were first on the scoreboard. In the fourteenth minute, Julien Rainville –Avon scored on a quick snapshot from just inside the blue line, Raphael Lafontaine assisted on the play. Before the end of the period, the Gaels responded scoring on the powerplay. Ryan Bloom (Calgary) scored for the Gaels, with Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.) assisting with a cross-ice pass for a tap-in goal. This led to a tied game heading into the second period.
In the second, Concordia once again pulled ahead. Early in the period, William Couture scored a short-handed marker for the Stingers with Julien Rainville-Avon assisting on the play. Minutes later, the Stingers scored again to take a 3-1 lead. Charles-Eric Legare scored on a cross-crease tap in, assisted by Raphael Lafontaine and Mickael Beauregard. Nearing the end of period, the Gaels were able to respond by scoring on the powerplay again. Dylan Anderson (Greely, Ont.) scored on a short-side snap shot. Warren Steele (Williamsburg, Ont.) and Darcy Greenaway assisted on the goal.
In the third, Queen's had a number of chances but Concordia extended their lead. The Stingers took a 4-2 lead six minutes into the period. Francis Brunelle scored, with Phillipe Charbonneau and William Couture assisting. Later in the period, Anthony Beauregard scored, extending Concordia's lead to 5-2. In the seventeenth minute, Queen's pulled their goalie. Concordia responded with Anthony De Luca scoring an empty net goal. Anthony Beauregard and Philippe Cadorette picked up the assists. With two minutes remaining in the period, Henry Thompson (Oshawa, Ont.) scored for the Gaels, cutting Concordia's lead to a 6-3 final. Francesco Vilardi (Kingston, Ont.) and Ted Hunt (Toronto, Ont.) assisted on the final Queen's goal.
BY THE NUMBERS
2 – pts for Anthony De Luca and Darcy Greenaway
30 – saves for Concordia goaltender Philippe Cadorette
20 – total penalty minutes
3rd - Place finish in the OUA East for the Gaels who will meet either UOIT or Ottawa in the opening round of the playoffs
UP NEXT
The Gaels take on the Carleton Ravens on Saturday Feb. 11th in Ottawa. The game begins at 7:00 pm. and can be seen live on OUA.tv
Source: Queen's Gaels
Vees win third straight with 6-5 OT victory
On Friday night, the Voyageurs men's hockey team won their third game in a row with a thrilling back and forth 6-5 overtime win over the University of Ottawa Gee Gees.
