OUA Men's Hockey Roundup (Oct. 16)

October 16, 2017

October 11, 2017

Western 3 Waterloo 9

For the first 90 seconds of their home opener, it looked like the Western Mustangs might ruin the start of a new year for the Waterloo Warriors. But the hosts had other explosive plans.

Keigan Goetz (New Hamburg) notched a hat trick in his first career USports game, and the Warriors erased an early deficit with 8 unanswered goals en route to a 9-3 season-opening win on Wednesday night at the Columbia Icefield Arena in Waterloo.

Joey Champigny (East Angus/) added a pair of goals for Waterloo, while defenceman Eric Diodati (Niagara Falls/) was an offensive force, notching five assists on the night. Daniel Perigo (Truro/) added three assists of his own, while Mitchell Smith (Plainfield/) and Nick Halagian (St. Catharines/) each pitched in with a goal and an assist apiece. Michael Morgan (Scarborough/) and Eric Cimino (London/) also scored for the Warriors, who went 5-9 on the man advantage.

Rylan Bechtel and Zach Core scored for Western early, giving the Mustangs a 2-0 lead just a minute-and-a-half into the contest. After trading power play markers to give Western a 3-1 lead, the Warriors narrowed it to 3-2 before the end of the first period.

The hosts blew the game open in the second, scoring five times in the middle frame – including three in a span of 3:41 – to take a commanding 7-3 lead into the room after 40 minutes. Goetz finished his hat trick in the third, while Smith rounded out the scoring with a short-handed marker.

In goal, Mike Morrison (Hamilton/) allowed two goals on the first two shots he faced, before rebounding to turn aside 30 shots in victory. In the Western net, third-stringer Nicholas Legallais was victimized by a tough night from the Western defence corps, allowing 9 goals on 36 shots before succumbing the net to Dan Davies in the third.

The Warriors will now look to start the season 2-0 as they face the Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday, October 13. Puck drop from the Columbia Icefield Arena is slated for 7pm.

Source: athletics.uwaterloo.ca

Brock 2 Guelph 3

GUELPH - Over the past few years, the Guelph Gryphons and Brock Badgers have developed quite the rivalry in OUA men's hockey. And despite the fact that the 2017-18 hockey season is still in its infancy, the Gryphons have already twice come out on top versus their rivals from St. Catharines. On Wednesday night in Guelph, the Gryphons picked up a 3-2 win over the visiting Badgers in a game that marked the OUA regular season opener for both teams. Gryphons second year forward Nick Boyerscored the game-winner with six minutes remaining in the final period to secure the two points for the Gryphs. It marked the second time this season that the Gryphons have beaten the Badgers, after having also spoiled Brock's homecoming during a preseason game back on September 15.

"It's always great to start the season with a win," said Gryphons head coach Shawn Camp, now in his 11th season behind the U of G bench. "We started out really well in the 1st period, had a bit of a let down in the 2nd, but picked it up again late to finish things off. It's good to get a result like that with a tough opponent like Ryerson coming into our place tomorrow night."

Gryphons rookie goalie Andrew Masters impressed back in mid-September when he made 23-saves in his Gryphon debut versus Brock in the "Steel Blade" classic. But that was a preseason game. On Wednesday night, Masters was back in between the pipes for a game that had regular season implications on the line. And this time, Masters was even better. The NCAA transfer, who spent time south of the border with the Miami of Ohio Redhawks, was solid in his first regular season game in a Gryphon uniform, turning away 35 of the 37 shots sent his way. Several of those saves were of a high quality, with the Kitchener, Ontario native making big toe-saves on multiple occasions on the night, including one in the dying seconds of play as the Badgers pressed with their goalie pulled and an extra skater on the ice.

"Andrew has been really consistent so far early in the season for us," added Camp. "He seems to have a bit of a habit for making some big saves at key times."

With Masters doing his part at the backend, the Gryphons offence did their part with goals in each period of play. Fourth year veteran forwards Seth Swenson and Tryg Strand, both assistant captains on this year's Gryphons squad, scored on the opening night of the 2017-18 season. Swenson's 1st period goal opened the scoring while Strand's goal late in the 2nd period tied things up at 2-2 after a pair of Brock goals temporarily gave the Badgers the lead.

With just under seven minutes to go in the 3rd, fourth year defenceman Reilly O'Connor's pass from the blueline would find Nick Boyer in front of the Brock net all alone. Boyer would show off some great hands in close before roofing a backhand past Brock goalie Clint Windsor for what would prove to be the game-winning goal.

The Gryphons (1-0-0) will not have much time to enjoy Wednesday night's victory as they will be right back in action again on Thursday night with a home game against the No. 8-ranked team in the country in the Ryerson Rams. Puck drop at the Gryphon Centre is set for 7:30pm.

Source: gryphons.ca

October 12, 2017

Ottawa 5 Carleton 6

OTTAWA, ON — The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team defeated the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) Gee Gees 6-5 in overtime in their OUA season home opener at the Ice House on Thursday night.

The Ravens started the game quickly with new captain Brett Welychka (London, ON) feeding linemate Ryan Van Stralen (Prescott, ON), who fired the puck past Gee Gees goalie Anthony Brodeur for a 1-0 lead.

Early in the second, Ravens forward Brett Gustavsen (Scarborough, ON) found himself alone in front of the uOttawa net and he pushed his own rebound into the net to give Carleton a 2-0 lead.

Carleton scored on the power play when Dalen Hedges (Ottawa, ON) made a cross ice pass to Fabian Walsh (Gloucester, ON), and he rifled a wrist shot past the uOttawa goalie to make it 3-0.

The Gee Gees responded with a goal of their own to cut the Ravens lead to 3-1.

Ottawa scored with under a minute left to play in the second period on a deflection to make it 3-2 going into the third period.

Early in the third, Walsh added his second goal of the game on the power play. After taking a pass from Welychka, Walsh fired the puck through a screen and into the Gee-Gees’ net to make the game 4-2.

Three minutes later, with the Ravens threatening, Hedges threw the puck out in front to Van Stralen who made no mistake and put past the uOttawa net minder to make the game 5-2.

However, uOttawa responded to the Van Stralen goal when they tipped the puck past goalie Francois Brassard (Gatineau, QC) to cut the Ravens lead to 5-3.

The Gee-Gees added another goal after a turnover and scramble in front of Brassard to make it 5-4.

With five minutes remaining in regulation time, uOttawa scored on a rebound off Brassard to make it 5-5.

Carleton struck quickly in the overtime period when Hedges fed Welychka the puck and he put his own rebound past the uOttawa goalie.

Despite the win, Ravens head coach Shaun Van Allen was still critical of his team.

“I wasn’t crazy about the defensive play. I wasn’t crazy with some of the decisions we made tonight,” said Van Allen. “Good teams find a way to win and we found a way to win tonight.”

The Ravens are back in action on Saturday, October 14 at 7 p.m. at the Ice House against the McGill Redmen.

Source: goravens.ca

Ryerson 5 Guelph 4

GUELPH, Ont. – It was an exhilarating way to start the season as the Ryerson Rams came away with a 5-4 overtime win in a thriller of a match-up against the Guelph Gryphons on Thursday night.

However, the beginning of this game was by no means an indicator for how it was going to conclude. The moment the puck dropped to signal the beginning of the Rams 2017-18 regular season, the Ryerson line-up was playing in a manner that was unlike a team that is ranked eighth nationally. The Rams offensive line, usually the dominating force on the ice, seemed rather tamed by a Guelph defensive line that provided fortified zone-coverage and extensive man-to-man pressure. Because of this, the Rams were put in an usual spot early on in the game; having to spend extensive stretches of the first period trapped in their own zone.

This lack of familiarity with prolonged defensive coverage allowed the Gryphons to take advantage of a disorganized Rams line-up, and be the first team to place themselves on the scoreboard. In the seventh minute of the first period, Guelph's Scott Simmonds (Uxbridge, Ont.) took advantage of a noticeable lack of Ryerson jerseys surrounding Rams netminder Taylor Dupuis (New Liskeard, Ont.), and rocketed a shot into the top of the net to give the Gryphons a 1-0 lead early in the match.

This unexpected goal seemed to disorganize an already flustered Rams squad, allowing the Gryphons to extend their lead throughout the first period. Shortly following the goal by Simmonds, teammate Manny Gialedakis (Woodbridge, Ont.) would extend the lead to 2-0 after a Gryphons offensive rush into the Ryerson zone. Just four minutes later, Michael Stevens (Turkey Point, Ont.) would push the Gryphons lead to 3-0, in a similar fashion to Gialedakis, heading into the first intermission.

Following the break in the action, it was hoped that the Rams would snap back into formation and pull themselves back into this game. At first, however, it did not appear that this was going to be the case when, ten minutes into the second period, Guelph’s Simmonds would record his second goal of the game and extend the Gryphons lead to 4-0. As the period dragged on, it appeared as though all hope was lost for a Rams comeback.

However, this would not be the case, as all it took was a spark to re-ignite the intensity that epitomizes this Rams line-up. This spark would be provided by forward Marcus Hinds (Toronto, Ont.), whose close-range goal in the sixteenth minute of the second period put the Rams on the board, and seemed to provide the energy needed to get the Rams back in the game. Following the goal by Hinds, teammate Aaron Armstrong (Teeswater, Ont.) would tuck in another short-range goal, this time while short-handed, with only seven seconds left in the second period to cut the Gryphons lead in half heading into the second intermission.

The Rams appeared to be back in stride and came back into the third period determined to claim a win in their first game of the season. The usually expected tenacity of the Rams offensive line-up was on full display in the third period, as they consistently overwhelmed the Gryphons defense, outshooting the home team 20-9 in the third period alone. This consistent bout of offensive pressure seemed to work to the Rams advantage, as Devon Paliani (LaSalle, Ont.) provided Ryerson with their third goal of the match seven minutes into the period to cut the Gryphons lead to 4-3. The game-tying goal would eventually come for the Rams, with only thirty seconds remaining in the third period, by John Carpino (Maple, Ont.), pushing the two teams into an extra period.

Heading into overtime the Rams seemed determined to ensure that their efforts to comeback into this match would not go to waste. With an aggressive offensive pursuit, and a selection of speedy players to counterbalance the Gryphons defensive squadron in the three-on-three overtime match-up, the Rams were playing their strongest hand to ensure a quick victory in the extra period. This strategy would pay off, as Armstrong would capitalize upon a 2-on-1 offensive opportunity, recording his second goal of the game, and giving the Rams a 5-4 win in Guelph.

The Rams will take to the ice once more on Sunday, October 15 at 2:00 pm, when they play their first home game at the Mattamy Athletic Centre against the Windsor Lancers.

Source: ryersonrams.ca

October 13, 2017

Concordia 3 McGill 2

MONTREAL -- It was an unlucky Friday the 13th for McGill University as Concordia goaltender Marc-Antoine Turcotte stole the show with a 39-save performance and the visiting Stingers rallied for a 3-2 victory before a McGill Homecoming crowd of 505 in OUA men's hockey at McConnell Arena. Among those on hand was Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock, who performed the ceremonial faceoff and now has a 1-2 lifetime record when doing the official puck-drop at McConnell Arena.

The Stingers, who have lost nine of their last 11 confrontations with McGill, improved to 97-100-14 in 211 lifetime meetings with their cross-town rivals..

The No.5-ranked Redmen outshot their guests 41-29, including a lopsided 15-4 advantage in the third period. which was scoreless.

"We played hard for 60 minutes, but didn't play smart for 60 minutes and still had a chance to win the game," said McGill head coach Kelly Nobes. "I liked our first period, we had them pinned in their end for a large portion of it. But in the second, we got off our game a little bit and mismanaged the puck in the neutral zone. In the third period, we kept them hemmed in their zone. We had a clear presence in their end but couldn't execute when we needed to."

Dominic Talbot-Tassi, a 5-foot-9, 185-pound defenceman from Mascouche, Que., opened the scoring at 9:48 of the first period, but Concordia's Scott Oke tied things up at 18:12. he then set up Jerome Verrier of Drummondville, Que., who restored the Redmen's lead to 2-1 at the 2:27 mark of the middle frame but a power-play goal by Concordia's Alexis Pépin at 9:06 and an even-strength tally by Charles-Éric Legaré at 14:30 proved the difference for the Stingers.

Sophomore netminder Louis-Philip Guindon of St. Joseph du Lac, Que., stopped 26 of 29 shots in a losing cause for McGill.

The Redmen were 0-for-7 on the power play and went 5-for-6 on the penalty kill.

The teams now travel to Ottawa as McGill (2-1) visits Carleton (1-0) and Concordia (1-0) takes on the Gee-Gees (0-1), both at 7 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 14).

Source: mcgillathletics.ca

Toronto 3 Waterloo 1

Ryan Medel earned his first win as head coach as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team defeated the Waterloo Warriors 3-1 in their 2017-18 season opener on Friday night (Oct. 13) at Columbia Ice Field.

First-year forward Hunter Atchison scored his first two career goals in the third period, including the game-winner, to secure the win for the Blues.

Fellow rookie forward Luca Leone also notched his first goal in the Blue and White, while first-year netminder Frederic Foulem made 31 saves in his first career start and win.

The Blues came out ready to go, outshooting the Warriors 16-4 in the first period. Leone opened the scoring 12 minutes into the contest and Toronto carried that 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

Waterloo turned the tide to start the second frame, outshooting the Blues 7-0 in the early goings. The Blues almost took a two-goal lead as Aidan Wallace came out of the penalty box to a breakaway puck, but he rang his shot off the post.

The Warriors returned the favour just minutes later as Cam Nicoll hit Toronto's post. A scoreless second period ended with two Blues in the box, setting up a 5-on-3 for Waterloo for 1:46 to open the third frame.

The Warriors capitalized on the two man advantage as Markson Bechtold evened the score just 55 seconds into the period.

However, Atchison regained Toronto's lead less than five minutes later with a quick move behind the net to beat the Waterloo goaltender on a wrap-around. He then added an insurance marker with 6:33 remaining in the game, picking off a Warriors pass and going five-hole on the partial breakaway to secure the Blues first win of 2017-18.

The Varsity Blues return to action next Friday, October 20 as they host the Queen's Gaels in their 2017-18 home opener at Varsity Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m.

Source: varsityblues.ca

Nipissing 3 UQTR 4

Despite suffering two losses – one in overtime – the Nipissing Lakers men's hockey team can take a number of positives away from their first road trip of the season.

First and likely most noticeable is goaltender Brent Moran, who finished the weekend with 83 saves against a strong UQTR Patriotes team.

The Lakers fell 4-3 in overtime Friday night and 5-1 Saturday afternoon and will look to rebound this weekend, as they host their home openers.

Friday, Nipissing held two leads, but the Patriotes scored late in the third and early in overtime to grab the victory and the extra points.

After trailing 1-0, Steven Deeg and Dylan Staples gave the Lakers the lead after the first period.

The lone goal in the second period tied the game, as UQTR scored early.

The teams traded tallies in the third, with Erik Robichaud putting Nipissing up 3-2, but a goal with about six minutes remaining evened things up once again.

And just 16 seconds into overtime, the Patriotes grabbed the victory.

Deverick Otteryes had two assists, while Brody Morris, Colin Campbell, Danny Desrochers and Jake Wright all added helpers.

Moran finished with 40 saves, taking the overtime loss.

Source: nulakers.ca

Windsor 2 York 3

The No. 10 nationally-ranked York University Lions men's hockey team began its OUA title defence with a 3-2 victory over the Windsor Lancers in their season opener on Friday night at Canlan Ice Sports.

In a rematch of last year's conference final, which the Lions won in three games, they were again the better team but had to work for it down the stretch after a dominant first period.

Just over 10 minutes into the first period the Lions already led 3-0 after goals by Kegan Blasby, Trevor Petersen and Reid Jackman. Jackman's goal chased Windsor starting goaltender Blake Richard after he allowed three goals on 11 shots, and Jonathan Reinhart came into the game in relief.

The pace slowed for the remainder of the first period and the score was still 3-0 in favour of the home team at the first intermission.

The goalie change seemed to have sparked the Lancers as they came out flying in the second period, outshooting the Lions 16-11 and scoring the lone goal of the period, at 6:38 off the stick of Jake Brown. The momentum continued in Windsor's favour in the third period, and team captain Blake Blondeel found the back of the net at 12:02 to make the score 3-2.

The Lancers pulled Reinhart late in the frame for the extra attacker and Kyle Campbell was called for holding with 10 seconds remaining, but on the ensuing draw the Lions cleared the puck out of their zone and time expired before Windsor could bring it back in.

Reinhart finished with 18 saves while stopping every shot he faced. York goalie Mack Shields, the reigning OUA West first-team all-star and rookie of the year, picked up where he left off last season in making 36 saves on the 38 shots he faced.

The Lions will continue their season-opening weekend on the road in St. Catharines, Ont., on Saturday evening with a game against the Brock Badgers beginning at 7:15pm. The Badgers were responsible for two of York's six regulation losses last year.

Source: yorkulions.ca

Lakehead 3 Laurier 8

WATERLOO, Ont. (October 14, 2017) – The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's hockey team wasted no time getting into full flight in Friday night’s season opener, causing their fair share of nightmares for a defenceless Lakehead Thunderwolves team on Friday the 13th. The Hawks offence was in a ruthless mood at the Waterloo Rec Complex, connecting at an extremely efficient rate as they skated to a dominant 8-3 victory in front of the home crowd.

Following a back and forth opening few minutes that saw the two teams go through a feeling-out process, Waterloo’s Danny Hanlon got the purple and gold on the board for the first time this season. A pretty looking play saw Hanlon one-time home a nice feed in the slot from defenceman Kyle Jenkins of Brampton, Ont., who was playing in his first game for the purple and gold.

Lakehead (0-1-0) tied the game up shortly after, but the Hawks (1-0-0) would not be outdone, finishing the first period with a flurry. Winger Mitch Wright (Chesley, Ont.) snapped one in off a blocked shot to get the Hawks back in front before Will Cook (Port Stanley, Ont.) beat the buzzer with just two seconds left in the first to put Laurier up 3-1 heading to the dressing room.

The power-play marker was the first of three for Cook Friday night, a dream start to the season for him as he notched his first career hat-trick in the OUA.

The second period proved to be a similar story to the first. Quick goals by Brandon Robinson (Pickering, Ont.) and Cook chased Thunderwolves starter Nic Renyard (Victoria, B.C.).

Scott Gall (Morden, Man.) tried to make things interesting for Lakehead with two second period goals of his own, but those were quickly canceled out as the Laurier onslaught kept rolling. By the end of 40 minutes, Cook had added his third of the night and Mac Clutsam (Flamborough, Ont.) had also joined the party, scoring off the rush on a great pass from Christian Mroczkowski (Kitchener, Ont.).

The hectic pace of the game slowed to some degree in the third, with the win firmly in hand for the purple and gold. Robinson added his second of the game on a night where everything clicked for the Hawks offensively. 14 different players had points for Laurier as they outshot Lakehead 38-35.

Chris Festarini (Oakville, Ont.) was very solid in net, as opposed to his counterparts from Lakehead, turning aside 32 of 35 shots sent his way.

Source: laurierathletics.com

Laurentian 2 Queen’s 5

KINGSTON, Ont. (October 13, 2017) – The Queens Gaels (1-0-0) opened their season in style with a convincing 5-2 victory over the visiting Laurentian Voyageurs (0-1-0) at the Memorial Centre on Friday night to kick off Homecoming weekend. After a slow start, the Gaels were able to take over in the final two periods on the way to victory.

GAME FLOW
The first period was back and forth to begin, seeing both teams trade power plays early on. Big saves at both ends of the ice from Queen's goaltender Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) and Joel Vienneau on the Voyageurs side kept things close throughout the opening frame.

The Voyageurs opened the scoring at the 17:18 mark of the period when Dylan Fitze was able to beat Bailie with a backhander to take a 1-0 lead. The lead was short lived however as Gaels forward Luke Bertolucci (Montrose, B.C.) tied the game just 10 seconds later with a gorgeous individual effort.

Voyageurs forward Xavier Couture scored at the 17:55 mark to cap off a wild finish to the period and give Laurentian a 2-1 lead heading into the intermission.

Queen's was able to regain control of the game in the second period with two goals in the middle frame.

Slater Doggett (Oakville, Ont.) notched his first of the season on a juicy rebound to tie the game at the 11:35 mark with assists going to Brandon Prophet (Peterborough, Ont.) and Ryan Bloom (Calgary). Prophet added another tally 21 seconds later as the Gaels late period flurry gave them a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.

Source: gogaelsgo.com

RMC 4 UOIT 5

OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT Ridgebacks defeated the RMC Paladins 5-4 in a nail-biting home opener Friday night.

Ridgebacks defenceman, Brennan Roy (Iroquois Falls, Ont.), had himself a night - earning a total of three points in his first Ontario University Athletics (OUA) game. One of the three points came from his power-play goal, scored nine minutes into the first period. This may have been his first regular season game since finishing junior hockey, but you couldn't tell by his performance.

"It felt good to get three points, especially all three coming on the power play," said Roy. "We came out on top with the win and that's what is most important."

Fifth-year centre, Ben Blasko (Kingston, Ont.), netted the second power play goal for UOIT late in the first period, assisted by Roy, to put them ahead 2-0.

The Ridgebacks continued to apply pressure in the second period, as veteran Mike Robinson(Stouffville, Ont.) scored just four minutes in. His goal, again coming on the power play, was assisted by Roy.

"It's obviously been a change with the guys being a lot bigger and faster, but the five exhibition games we played have really helped me to adjust," said Roy on how he was adjusting to U SPORTS hockey.

RMC started to push back as they scored their first of the game midway through the second period off a goal scored by Deric Boudreau.

The Ridgebacks responded with two more goals of their own. The first was a shorthanded goal scored by third-year forward, Anthony Latina (Scarborough, Ont.). The second one came from Jordan Ross (Kronau, Sask.) just two minutes into the third period. This was also Ross's first goal as a Ridgeback.

As UOIT began to let up in the third period, RMC responded with three goals cutting the lead to just one. Goals were scored by Dean Kiriacou, Nicholas Boddy and Bennett Huber.

With RMC closing the gap to just one, the game began to get physical, with 24 total penalty minutes in the third period alone.

Tyson Teichmann (Belleville, Ont.) picked up the victory in goal, making 22 saves for the Ridgebacks. Daniel Vautour started the game for the Paladins, allowing four goals on 30 shots before Austin Hannaford allowed the game-winning goal on 11 shots in the third period.

The Ridgebacks' victory marks the first time they have won back-to-back home openers in program history.

Source: uoitridgebacks.com

October 14, 2017

Nipissing 1 UQTR 5

Saturday, the teams traded early goals, as UQTR went up 1-0, but Travis McEvoy buried his first OUA goal, setup by Morris and Wright.

From there, however, the Patriotes took over and scored four straight times to grab the victory in the second game of the weekend.

Moran made 43 saves in the afternoon tilt.

Nipissing now looks ahead to games this weekend against Laurier and Waterloo.

Both games are set for 7:30pm at Memorial Gardens.

Source: nulakers.ca

Laurentian 2 RMC 1

On Saturday night, the Voyageurs picked up their first victory of the young season with a 2-1 road win against the RMC Paladins.

The majority of the game featured a defensive standoff between both squads where neither team was able to score in the first two periods despite a plethora of power plays being awarded to each side.

The scoreless drought was finally broken early in the third period when Riley Brandt gave RMC a 1-0 lead at 1:04.

The Vees tied the game at 12:04 when Richard Therrien scored on the power play. The goal was assisted by Jacob Smith and Jayme Forslund.

The game remained tied as the clock wound down. The Voyageurs, eager to avoid overtime, capitalized on late power play. With just 50 seconds left in regulation time, Jacob Smith scored to give the Voyageurs the lead. RMC was unable to tie the game in the time that remained, securing the Vees first win of the season.

Source: luvoyageurs.com

McGill 2 Carleton 1

OTTAWA -- Samuel Hodhod of Montreal netted the overtime winner as McGill edged Carleton 2-1 in an OUA men's hockey thriller at the CU Ice House in the nation's capital, Saturday.

The result improved to 31-24-1 lifetime against the Ravens.

"It was a real good bounce-back win against a strong contender in our division," said McGill bench boss Kelly Nobes. "I was real pleased with our effort level tonight for sure. We grinded hard all night and had a good team effort."

Hodhod, a local product of Selwyn House School and a finance junior at McGill, tallied 2:40 into the extra sudden-death session to secure the victory. It was his sixth career goal in 46 games over an injury-plagued career with the Redmen and without a doubt the most important one.

"It was really nice to see the 'Hot Rod' use his speed wide and finish it off to get the overtime winnner," said Nobes of the 5-foot-8, 190-pound centre who earned the nickname due to his quick pace. "He's really elevated his game since the beginning of the season and it was nice to see him get rewarded there. He's worked hard this summer getting prepared for the season and he's starting to get rewarded for his efforts."

After a scoreless first period, Centre Frederic Gamelin, a management junior from St. Polycarpe, Que., opened the scoring for the Redmen with a power-play marker at 14:15 of the second frame, assisted by rookie Maximilian Daigle of St. Lambert, Que.

Carleton's Jared Steege knotted things up at 10:24 of the third to force overtime, assisted by Fabian Walsh and David Weckworth.

McGill goalie Louis-Philip Guindon of St. Joseph du Lac, Que., turned away 35 of 36 shots to earn the win.

"LP was real good tonight and he dealt with a lot of traffic (in his crease)," said Nobes. "He played the puck really well once again and that really helps us, so another solid night for him."

At the other end of the rink, Francois Brassard allowed two goals on 28 shots in the Ravens net.

The Redmen were 1-for-6 with the man-advantage and perfect on their three penalty-killing situations.

McGill (3-1) hosts Guelph (1-1) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 20 at McConnell Arena. The Ravens (1-1) visit Western (0-1) that evening.

Source: mcgillathletics.ca

Concordia 4 Ottawa 5

Kevin Domingue’s fourth goal of the two-game-old 2017-18 OUA regular season, scored as the third shooter in a shootout, lifted the uOttawa Gee-Gees men’s hockey team to a 5-4 win over the Concordia Stingers. The victory gives Ottawa three points in its opening two games.

“These two games mean a lot to me for my personal performance because I was not happy with my preseason. For the team, it’s two OT games against big competition so it’s a lot of positives and confidence,” said Domingue, who led Ottawa in scoring last season.

“The mentality that Kevin has, he’s a very self-confident player and he can handle the stress of a shoot-out and execute his skills,” confirmed Gee-Gees head coach Patrick Grandmaître. "When the game is on the line he’s definitely a go-to guy.”

Graham Hunt made two saves in the shoot-out and induced a wide shot on the third after Domingue had given Ottawa the edge. Hunt made 31 saves in regulation to backstop the victory.

The Gee-Gees again had a strong second period, outshooting Concordia by a 20-12 margin and converting three goals. Concordia responded almost immediately following Ottawa taking its first lead of the game with a power play goal by Alexis Pepin, his second of the game, and the teams went into the third period deadlocked at 3-3.

“We put a lot of pressure on them in the first and second period and we kind of let them off the hook with some bad mental mistakes,” said Grandmaître.

After the Stingers scored 2:27 into the third, Brendan Jacome answered for Ottawa. His game-tying goal was the result of good cycling and battles on the boards to keep in the zone. Jacome fights for rebound and takes a couple of whacks at it before chipping it up and over.

“One of our strengths is our play down low and our cycling. We tend to out-work teams quite a bit, but then we’ll break down with a bad decision and that’s what’s frustrating,” added Grandmaître who was clearly pleased with the work that preceeded the Jacome goal. “But, three out of four points on the first weekend: we have to be happy with that.”

“We know what we’re capable of as a team, and our maturity has helped us a lot,” concluded Domingue about the team’s start to the regular season.

Source: geegees.ca

Lakehead 1 Laurier 2

WATERLOO, Ont. (October 15, 2017) – While Friday night was all about the offence when the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s hockey team squared off against the Lakehead Thunderwolves, Saturday night was a much different affair. Goaltenders Chris Festarini (Oakville, Ont.) and Nic Renyard (Victoria, B.C.) dueled for the majority of the night, with the Hawks needing some late heroics in the shootout to escape with a 2-1 victory at the Waterloo Rec Complex.

The furious pace from Friday night carried over into Saturday, with both teams trading shots back and forth, the Hawks (2-0-0) edging the Thunderwolves (0-1-1) 47-42 in that category on the night. The goaltenders made sure they were ready for that heavy workload this time around, with both having brilliant nights between the pipes. Festarini stopped 41 of 42 for the purple and gold while Renyard was just as good for Lakehead, turning away 46 of 47.

The first period saw no scoring from either side, but defenceman Jake Ringuette (Goderich, Ont.) put the Thunderwolves ahead near the end of the second, a lead that Lakehead would hold into the break.

Struggling for answers as to how to solve Renyard, Lakehead gifted Laurier their first power play of the evening early in the third and the Hawks made them pay. Patrick Chore (Kelowna, B.C.) was the man to equalize for the purple and gold, his first of the season.

The Hawks power play has been a point of strength over their first two games, connecting on three out of four occasions, an efficient 75 percent clip.

Both teams had opportunities to score the winner late in regulation, but could not so they were off to overtime. The Hawks controlled proceedings in the overtime period, outshooting Lakehead 8-0, but could not find a way past Renyard. Therefore, it was off to the ever-dramatic shootout.

Newcomer Anthony Sorrentino (Woodbridge, Ont.) was up first for the purple and gold, and he made sure to make a big impact for his new team, beating Renyard to open the shootout. After Festarini turned aside the first two shooters for Lakehead, veteran Andrew Fritsch (Brantford, Ont.) sealed the win and opening weekend sweep for Laurier.

Source: laurierathletics.com

York 4 Brock 3

The York University Lions men's hockey team won its second straight game to start the 2017-18 season on Saturday and came back from a two-goal deficit with a 4-3 shootout victory over the Brock Badgers.

The Badgers' stayed in the game thanks to the tremendous play of goaltender Clint Windsor, who stood on his head to make 49 saves on the 52 shots he faced.

The Lions trailed 1-0 after the first period, 2-1 after the second and fell behind by two goals 38 seconds into the third period on Sammy Banga's tally. But the Lions came roaring back two minutes later when Derek Sheppard scored his first of the season to cut the deficit to one again. Less than five minutes after that, Trevor Petersen scored his second power play goal of the season to tie the game.

The rest of the third period and the five-minute overtime was scoreless, and the Lions earned the second point in the standings with goals by Josh LaFrance and Sheppard in the shootout.

Brock opened the scoring at 15:25 of the first period on a goal by Mack Lemmon. The Lions responded late in the second with a shorthanded tally by Kyle Campbell, but the tie game lasted only six minutes before Brock took the lead again on Ryan Purvis' marker.

York goaltender Alex Fotinos made 33 saves to earn his first win of the season.

The Lions will return home next weekend for a pair of contests against teams from the OUA East Division. The UOIT Ridgebacks will visit on Friday night and the RMC Paladins on Saturday. Puck drop in both games is set for 7pm at Canlan Ice Sports.

Source: yorkulions.ca

UOIT 0 Queen’s 4

KINGSTON, Ont. (October 14, 2017) – The Queen's Gaels (2-0-0) rounded out a very successful opening weekend with a 4-0 win over the UOIT Ridgebacks (1-1-0). Jacob Brennan (Halifax) was perfect in net for the Gaels, earning a 25 save shutout.

GAME FLOW
The Gaels got off to a strong start in the first period when Damian Bourne (Oakville, Ont.) deflected a Nathan Billitier (Spencerport, NY) point shot past UOIT netminder Brendan O'Neill at the 1:44 mark. Queens kept pressing and was able to add a power play marker at 3:28 when Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.) fired a strong wrist shot past O'Neill from the top of the circle to make it 2-0.

The lead was stretched to 3-0 at the 18:20 mark when Luke Edwards (Kingston, Ont.) finished off a beautiful stretch pass from Brandon Prophet (Peterborough, Ont.).

Queen's was tested early in the second period when the Ridgebacks went on an extended 5 on 3 power play. Brennan was up to the task as he held off the attack with some key saves and preserved the 3-0 lead.

Later in the period the Gaels' power play was able to get back to work and made no mistake as Edwards threaded a great back door pass to Greenaway, who finished it off just as a 5 on 3 advantage was set to end for his second goal of the night.

After a scoreless third frame that saw multiple scrums after the whistle, the Gaels were able to skate away with the 4-0 win, their second in as many nights to kick off the regular season.

Brennan picked up his first win of the season for Queen's while O'Neill took the loss in net for the Ridgebacks while making 29 saves.

BY THE NUMBERS
2 – Number of goals scored by Darcy Greenaway
18 – Number of minor penalties handed out in a penalty filled game

UP NEXT
The Gaels hit the ice next when they travel to Toronto to take on the Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday October 20. The game will begin at 7pm.

Source: gogaelsgo.com

October 15, 2017

Windsor 3 Ryerson 4

It was a tense Sunday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, as the Ryerson Rams squeaked away with yet another overtime victory, this time overcoming the visiting Windsor Lancers 4-3 in an exhilarating home opener.

It was a rainy afternoon in the city as Ryerson fans, both young and old, piled into the Mattamy Athletic Centre to witness the first home game of the season. As the starting line-up of the Rams hit the ice for the initial puck drop of the match, the easy-going atmosphere present in the stands had turned into one of anticipation, as those present were eagerly awaiting the match that was about to unfold.

And what was about to unfold, was an intense bout of OUA hockey that would leave fans on the edge of their seats until the final whistle. As soon as the puck dropped to signal the start of the game, the Rams pressured the Lancers with their notorious style of offensive-intensity. However, it would appear as though the Lancers had prepared adequately for this, as the visiting team reciprocated with a relentless defensive effort that minimized the time that Rams spent in their zone. This effort, however, was just not enough as the Rams were still the first team on the board, with Steven Harland (Toronto, Ont.) putting the Rams up 1-0 ten minutes into the first period, with his first OUA goal as a Ram.

Following the goal by Harland, the game took on a different pace, however, as the Lancers picked up in intensity to try and even up the scoreboard. The moment the puck was dropped back at center ice, the Windsor line-up began to throw everything they had offensively at the Rams in an effort to keep the home team trapped in their zone. While their effort was valiant, they would not be able to get on the scoreboard before the first intermission, and the two teams went into their locker rooms with the Rams up 1-0.

Coming back onto the ice, the Lancers attempted to keep their strategy from the previous period going, and did all they could to pressure the Rams offensively. However, much like in the first period, this effort was all for naught, as Ryerson’s Matt Mistele (Whitby, Ont.) would provide the Rams second goal of the game six minutes into the period to put the home team up 2-0. Following this goal, the pace of play was dominated by the Rams heading into the third, as it appeared as though the Lancers had run out of steam with their all-out offensive strategy.

As play began for the third period of the game, it appeared as though Ryerson had secured a victory in this match. This fact looked to be further solidified when, in the ninth minute of the period, Ryerson’s Lucas Froese (Grunthal, Man.) put the Rams up 3-0, recording his first goal of the season.

However, with eleven minutes still remaining in the period, there was still plenty of hockey left to play, and Windsor was determined to not start off their season with two losses. In the span of two minutes, Windsor’s Brennan Feasey (Strathroy, Ont.) and Kody Gagnon (Belle River, Ont.), provided the Lancers with three goals, with Gagnon providing two of said goals, to tie the scoreboard up in the third. The Rams did not have an answer to these goals before the final buzzer of regular time went off and suddenly, opposite to what everyone in the Mattamy had believed was going to happen, the home team was headed into overtime once more.

Luckily for the Rams, however, Matt Mistele (Whitby, Ont.) recorded his second goal of the game, to give Ryerson their second win of the season.

Source: ryersonrams.ca