OUA Men's Hockey Roundup (Dec. 4)
November 29, 2017
Queen’s 5 RMC 4
KINGSTON, Ont. (November 29, 2017) – The Queen's Gaels (8-4-3) won a wild game on Wednesday night over their rival RMC Paladins (5-8-3) by a score of 5-4. Despite giving up a lead late in the third period, the Gaels were able to bounce back and win the game in overtime when Luke Edwards (Kingston, Ont.) scored the game winner 1:53 into overtime.
GAME FLOW
The first period saw the Tricolour jump out to an early lead when Slater Doggett (Oakville, Ont.) scored his ninth goal of the year at 5:31. Captain Spencer Abraham (Campbellville, Ont.) would extend the Gaels lead to 2-0 with his second goal of the season just over ten minutes later. Queen's was in control after the first period and would head into the second frame up 2-0.
Ryan Bloom (Calgary) would keep things rolling for the Gaels in the second when he potted his fifth goal of the season just 45 seconds into the period with assists going to Doggett and Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.). The Paladins would answer back late in the period as Riley Brandt scored in the final minute of the period to give RMC some new life heading into the final period.
The final six minutes of the third period were wild as RMC would get the ball rolling on a Scott Emerson goal at 14:13 to cut the Gaels lead to 3-2. Greenaway would make it 4-2 in favour of the Gaels at 18:26 to seemingly put the game to rest. RMC had other plans as forward Owen Gill would score two goals in the frantic final minute and a half to send the game to extra time.
Queen's would squash the RMC comeback hopes early in overtime when Edwards scored to end the game and send the Gaels home with a 5-4 victory.
Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) picked up the win in net for the Gaels, registering 31 saves while Daniel Vautour picked up the loss in net for the Paladins.
Source: gogaelsgo.com
November 30, 2017
Waterloo 0 Laurier 9
WATERLOO, Ont. (November 30, 2017) - The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s hockey team put on their best offensive display in over seven years on Thursday morning as they defeated the Waterloo Warriors 9-0 in their fifth annual School Day Game at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex.
Playing in front of 3067 fans, the second-largest crowd to attend the event, the Hawks had eight different goal scorers and 10 players finish with at least two points as they found the back of the net nine times for the first time since posting a 9-2 victory over the RMC Paladins back on November 19, 2010.
Leading the way for the Hawks was rookie forward Anthony Sorrentino of Woodbridge, Ont., who scored the game’s first goal, and eventual game winner, to send the stuffed animals flying as the team also hosted their annual Teddy Bear Toss. Sorrentino would later add an assist on one of two goals scored by defenceman Alex Adams of Orangeville, Ont., the first two goals of his career with the Hawks since joining the team for the 2015-16 season.
Other goal scorers for the purple and gold in the contest included Matt Franczyk of Winnipeg, Andrew Fritsch of Brantford, Ont., Erik Pushka of Dugald, Man., Christian Mroczkowski of Kitchener, Ont., Jeremy Pullara of Vaughan, Ont., and Danny Hanlon of Waterloo, Ont., as Laurier posted their largest win over the Warriors since a 10-0 victory in 2002.
Pushka also had a pair of assists to finish with three points while Anthony Conti of North Vancouver, B.C., added three assists.
Goaltender Chris Festarini of Oakville, Ont., posted the first shutout of his Laurier career as he turned away all 31 shots he faced to help Laurier improve their record to 2-2-1 in School Day Games. The performance also lowered his goals against average to 2.01, leaving him ranked second in the OUA.
After a tight opening period in which Laurier held a 1-0 lead but were outshot 13-11, the Hawks took control of the contest early in the second period thanks to a powerplay tally from Hanlon just 37 seconds into the frame.
Pushka, Pullara and Adams would all add goals before the second was out as the Hawks led 5-0 after 40 minutes.
With Laurier well on their way to their fifth straight victory over their cross-town rivals, the Hawks kept coming in the third period. After Mroczkowski scored to make it 6-0, goals from Adams, Fritsch and Francyzk just 48 seconds apart put the finishing touches on an emphatic victory.
The win vaults the purple and gold into first place in the OUA West Division as they improve to 10-3-2 on the season.
As for Waterloo, they fall to 5-8-2 on the year and sit eighth in the West.
The victory also moves Laurier two wins away from clinching the first awarding of the Battle of Waterloo trophy as the Hawks now have six wins, one loss and four ties this season against the Warriors with eight games remaining.
The Hawks will wrap up the 2017 portion of their schedule on Friday night in Toronto as they take on the York Lions (10-4-1). The meeting is the second of the season between the two teams after Laurier defeated the Lions, then ranked No. 5 in Canada, 6-2 on home ice back on November 2.
Source: laurierathletics.com
Ryerson 5 Western 2
LONDON, Ont. – Their third consecutive game away from the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the Rams came away with a 5-2 victory against the struggling Western Mustangs on Thursday night. Their second consecutive win sees the Rams improve to a 10-4-1 record, and move into a tie for second place in the OUA’s Western Conference.
Wednesday’s contest saw twelve different Rams players acquire points in the victory, including five separate goal scorers on the night. Rams assistant captain Lucas Froese (Grunthal, Man.) lead the way in points with two assists throughout the evening, in a match-up that saw the visiting team follow through with improvements in their playing styles on both ends of the ice throughout the game.
It took just three minutes for the visiting Rams to get on the scoreboard, as captain Alex Basso (Toronto, Ont.) recorded his fourth goal in three games to give Ryerson a 1-0 lead early in the first period. Ten minutes later, Rams freshman forward Steven Harland (Toronto, Ont.) recorded his fourth goal on the power play to put Ryerson up 2-0 heading into the second period of action.
Following the intermission, the Rams would continue their offensive surge and dominate the ice over the next twenty minutes. For the first ten minutes of the period, the Rams defensive play took complete control of the tempo on the ice, as play was relegated predominately to neutral ice, and the Western zone. With this assistance behind him, it proved to be no trouble for freshman defenseman Andrew Mullen (Toronto, Ont.) to tuck in his first goal as a Ram thirteen minutes into the period. Not to be outdone, teammate Jared Walsh (Toronto, Ont.) would tap in is second goal of the season to put the Rams up 4-0 heading into the second intermission.
Heading into the final period down 4-0 on home ice, the Western Mustangs would need to play an intensity not exhibited all season to pull off a major upset. Veteran Mustangs forward Steven Beyers (Orangeville, Ont.) would attempt to supply the motivation necessary to accomplish this feat, as he provided the home team with their first goal of the game just four minutes into the period. The goal by Beyers seemed to provide some life to a Mustangs bench that was in need of resuscitation, as just ten minutes later Western freshman center Cordell James (Powassan, Ont.) would provide his fifth goal of the season to drag the Rams lead down to two goals with five minutes left to play in the game.
Fortunately for the Rams, freshman forward Mitchell Skapski (Abbotsford, B.C.), would not let the Ryerson lead be diminished any further, as he provided his first goal as a member of the Ryerson Rams to push the final score to 5-2.
Source: ryersonrams.ca
December 1, 2017
Windsor 3 Western 7
LONDON, Ont. – Four power play goals helped carry the Mustangs over the Windsor Lancers on Friday evening, securing a 7-3 win over the Windsor Lancers for their final game of 2017.
With the win the Mustangs head into the December break with a 5-9-2 record and only one point away from a playoff spot. The loss pushes the Lancers record to 5-6-4, maintaining their sixth place standing in the OUA West.
The Mustangs' special teams contingent stole the spotlight tonight, killing off two penalties and registering four power play goals.
"On both ends of special teams, our power play was good also, but penalty kill especially," said Cody Brown, "I took a four-minute penalty and we killed that off thankfully, and that put us in a good position for the rest of the game."
Brown put two goals on the board for Western, with both coming on the power play. Warnaar, Mitchell Brooks, Kyle Pettit, Kolten Olynek, and Anthony Stefano rounded out the scoring effort with one goal each, while #Rob Polesello# racked up three assists.
"Especially with the effort last night when the first two periods weren't good against Ryerson, but we played a good third…we tried to carry that into tonight which I think we did a pretty good job of," said Warnaar. "Everyone played well from the goalie out, [McGlynn] made some good stops and we were able to put up seven spots. You can win many games with those numbers."
Windsor put up 45 shots against Brendan McGlynn, but could only get three past the newest Mustang goaltender, with only Chris Scott, Brennan Feasey, and Ryan Shaw were successful in beating McGlynn.
The Lancers took two penalties to start the game, allowing Western to surge ahead to a two-goal lead within the first 10 minutes of play.
All three of the first period goals came courtesy of special teams, with Brown starting off the scoring only three minutes into the game with a power play marker. Brooks would knock his second of the season halfway through the frame, followed by Pettit to end the period with a 3-1 advantage.
The Mustangs put up two more goals in the second, with Warnaar's goal coming a mere minute into the period, before Olynek notched his fourth goal of the season midway through the period to give the Mustangs a 5-1 lead. Feasey hit the back of the net for the Lancers in the final minute of the frame to send the game into the third with Western up 5-2.
Western didn't wait long to extend their lead to four goals as Brown scored his second power play goal of the night less than a minute into the period.
The Lancers responded late in the frame by flexing their skills on special teams and added a third goal to their total on a short-handed breakaway.
That would be as close as things would get, as Stefano would score an empty net goal with a little under three minutes remaining to give the Mustangs a 7-3 win.
The Mustangs are now halfway through the season and will be on a break until the new year. Western will face off at home against the Waterloo Warriors on January 5, in Thompson Arena at 7 p.m.
"[The break] comes at a great time for us," said assistant coach Patrick Oullet. "The guys battled really hard and our record, we're not too happy with our record. But with what we've gone through, the break is the best Christmas we could have right now."
Source: westernmustangs.ca
Laurentian 3 McGill 6
MONTREAL -- Guillaume Gauthier of Ste. Marthe sur le Lac, Que., scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner, as No.5 ranked McGill doubled the Laurentian University Voyageurs 6-3 in OUA men's hockey, Friday, at McConnell Arena.
It marked the ninth consecutive win for the Redmen over Laurentian, dating back to a 5-2 loss on Oct. 18, 2014, and improved their lifetime record to 20-5-2 record in 27 meetings overall .
"I didn't think we were particularly great tonight," admitted McGill bench boss Kelly Nobes despite a 58-25 edge in shots on goal, including a 27-7 margin in the final frame. "We had a strong third period. Special teams were good. But our first two periods weren't where they needed to be. We talked about not giving up too much early in the game but we did. We want to be better on the transition from offence to defence and in some of our defensive responsibilities."
The 27 shots in the final stanza ranked as the third highest output in a period in McGill history and was four shy of the school record -- achieved in the second period on a game against RMC on Jan. 31, 2000.
McGill was 2-for-6 on the power play and perfect on two penalty kills. Both teams allowed a shorthanded marker. The Redmen continue to lead the nation in shorthanded tallies with seven. The McGill PK unit has killed off 25 consecutive manpower situations and now ranks No.2 in the 20-team OUA with an 89.7 per cent success rate.
"To get two power play goals was good for our PP groups tonight and our penalty-kill's been rolling for a little bit, so special teams were effective tonight," said Nobes.
Five Redmen scored goals and 10 players merited points in the victory. To date, 18 different McGill players have tallied at least one goal.
"We're getting scoring from all four lines and we're getting it in different ways," noted Nobes. "We have seven shorthanded goals, our power play's scored some and we're getting it from guys on different lines. It probably makes us harder to defend and it means guys are playing the right way. To win at the end of year you need to have everybody able to contribute, so it's a good thing for us."
McGill jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period but Laurentian fought back to make it 3-2 midway through the second stanza. Gauthier's power-play tally at 16:08 of the period threw a wrench in the Voyageurs' comeback effort, putting the Redmen up 4-2. The 5-foot-10, 200-pound left winger added an even-strength marker 3:30 into the third to make it 5-3.
"He was moving good tonight," said Nobes of his sophomore who has scored five goals in his last four games after only connecting twice in his first nine contests. "Had some jump in his game. He's scored in the last four games, is shooting the puck well and getting some chances. He and Jerome Verrier and Christophe Lalonde have decent chemistry so it's good to have him getting some goals for us."
Verrier, who also hails from Drummondville, had gotten things started shorthanded at 9:53 of the first period. The economics junior also added an assist an currently ranks third in the OUA scoring race with a 5-21-26 record in 17 contests.
Sophomore Samuel Tremblay of St. Basile le Grand, Que., doubled McGill's advantage at 14:33 and defenceman Dominic Talbot-Tassi of Mascouche, Que., added another just 35 seconds after that to make make it 3-0. The shifty junior ranks now second among OUA blueliners with 17 points, including six goals, in 17 games.
Laurentian came out strong in the middle frame, with Danny Lepage scoring 1:42 into the period and Russell Nowrybringing the Voyageurs within one at 7:58. Blake Forslund made it 4-3 with a shorty at 19:44, prompting a McGill goalie change after the period.
Gauthier's second of the evening opened the third period scoring and Lalonde, a native of Mirabel, Que., capped things off with a power-play goal at 14:36.
Joe Fleschler of Westfield, N.J., started in goal for the Redmen and earned the win with 15 saves on 18 shots through 40 minutes, improving to 3-0. Louis-Philip Guindon of St. Joseph du Lac, Que., blocked all seven shots faced in the final period.
Laurentian starter Victor-Olivier Courchesne lasted just 15:08 in the Voyageurs' net, allowing three goals on nine shots before being relieved by Gunner Rivers, who turned away an impressive 46 of 49 shots but was saddled with the loss, dropping his record to 0-7.
Source: mcgillathletics.ca
Laurier 1 York 4
The York University Lions men's hockey team took on the visiting Laurier Golden Hawks in their last home game of 2017 on Friday night and wrapped up the year in style, posting a convincing 4-1 victory at Canlan Ice Sports.
The Golden Hawks had surpassed the Lions by one point in the standings and came in to Friday's game sitting in first place in the OUA West. They also handed the Lions their first loss of the season, defeating the Lions 6-2 earlier this year. On Friday, the Lions were able to redeem themselves.
Nine minutes into the first period, the Lions scored and gave themselves an early lead. This goal was scored by Trevor Petersen, and assisted by Colton Vannucci and Jack Goranson. After that, neither team scored for the remainder of the period and the Lions led 1-0.
In the second period, Nik Coric – assisted by Andrew Doyle – added another goal for the Lions less than four minutes in. Goaltender Alex Fotinos was able to hold off all of the Golden Hawks' attempts to score, and at the end of the second period the Lions were leading 2-0.
The Golden Hawks were finally able to find the back of the Lions' net at 12:04 of the third period, with Neil Aird adding their first goal of the game with the assistance of teammates Braydon Blight and Christian Mroczkowski. The Lions quickly took back control of the puck and added two more goals before the end of the game.
The first was scored by Vannucci and assisted by Petersen and Morgan Messenger. The second was a short-handed goal by Scott Feser in which he went in alone on a breakaway and was stopped, but he fired the rebound into the top right corner of the net.
The Lions have improved to an 11-4-1 season record with the win, and the Golden Hawks sit at 10-4-2, just one point back.
Source: yorkulions.ca
Guelph 6 Toronto 4
TORONTO – It's a good time for fans of the Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team. The hottest squad in the country, boasting an offence that's clicking like few others, was at it again Friday night. The No. 9-ranked Gryphons ran their win streak to nine games with a wild 6-4 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues at Varsity Arena.
The streak began against the same Varsity Blues with a 4-1 win on Aggies Night back on Nov. 2 at Gryphon Centre Arena. And Guelph (11-3-1) has been on fire ever since, racking up an incredible 50 goals over the nine games, while also allowing a hearty 29. The Gryphons are tied with the York Lions (11-4-1) at 23 points but have played one fewer game.
"We've had other stretches in previous years where we've won chunks of games but they were maybe interrupted with an overtime loss," said head coach Shawn Camp, noting the exceptional team efforts each night this past month. "But I don't recall consecutive wins like this. It's been a fun run."
Todd Winder had two goals for Guelph. The first-year centre from Uxbridge, ON, opening the scoring early in the first when he beat goaltender Frederic Foulem. And he would finish it with his team-leading 11th of the season at 5:24 of the third period to reestablish Guelph's two-goal cushion at 6-4.
Camp said Winder had shown great consistency in his first year as a Gryphon, adding to the team's offensive depth and balance.
"He's so dangerous," the coach said. "He has speed, he has skill, and he's very smart. Todd really uses his linemates very well. He's dangerous every night."
Seth Swenson, J.P. Villeneuve, Max McCutcheon (two points), and Reilly O'Connor (two points) each had a goal for the Gryphons, while Tryg Strand added three assists. Guelph goalie Jason Da Silva made 23 saves to earn his eighth win of the season.
It was a physical affair that featured six first-period goals before tempers eventually boiled over in the final few minutes of the game when a few run-ins led to packed penalty boxes.
Guelph had to come back in this one despite going up 3-1. Toronto got its first lead of the night at 4:35 of the second period immediately after Foulem had bailed the hosts out with a series of big saves. The Varsity Blues took advantage as Curtis Harvey went to the net and tipped a pass from Dean Klomp up over Da Silva for a brief 4-3 lead.
Toronto went on the power play looking to extend the margin but it was Guelph that equalized when O'Connor found McCutcheon for a timely shorthanded effort that made it 4-4 at 7:10 of the second period. O'Connor would then get in on the goal scoring at the 10:04 mark, putting the OUA West leaders in front for good.
"We settled down after the first period," Camp said. "The game was so back and forth in the first. In the second, we battled back again and once we got the lead, we took control of the game. We're continuing to score."
Camp knows the team has to play much sharper in its own end of the rink, like they did in the third, with the help of some big saves from Da Silva. There wasn't much in the way of sound defensive play in the opening period as the two teams combined for six goals, five of which came in a stretch of 10 minutes.
The Gryphons started well on the Varsity Arena ice, sending a few early shots Foulem's way before Winder would get them on the board. The rookie stripped the puck off a Toronto player and got one past Foulem 5:38 into the first for a 1-0 lead.
Swenson scored exactly four minutes later, completing a nice passing sequence, with Manny Gialedakisand Trevor Morbeck picking up assists. Toronto would get one back 38 seconds after Swenson's goal when Phil Chadder beat Da Silva though the momentum didn't last long. Sixty-one seconds later, Villeneuve gathered a puck to the right of Foulem and fired it into the net for a 3-1 lead.
Guelph has been scoring at an incredible rate of late but have allowed its fair share, as well. The Varsity Blues cut the lead back to a single goal when Max Lindsay scored with 5:21 left before the home team equalized in dramatic fashion. Toronto had a final rush up ice in the dying seconds of the period and while Da Silva made a great save on an initial shot, the rebound fell to Willy Paul, who quickly shot from the slot and scored with just 0.7 seconds left for a 3-3 tie after 20 minutes of play.
Source: gryphons.ca
Nipissing 4 Concordia 6
The results didn't show it, but the Nipissing Lakers men's hockey team put together two strong games this weekend on the road.
Closing out the first half of the season, the Lakers faced the Concordia Stingers and McGill Redmen, losing 6-4 Friday night and 4-3 Saturday night.
On Friday, the Lakers trailed 2-0 early, before scoring late in the first period to draw within one heading into the first intermission.
Brett Hargrave continued his tear, scoring a power play goal in the dying second of the period.
Guillaume Naud and Matt Donnelly earned assists on the goal.
Concordia went up 3-1 early in the second, but Nipissing responded, scoring twice in less than a minute and a half.
Colin Campbell cut the deficit to one and Hargrave, with his second of the night, tied the game.
Naud assisted on both goals, while Brody Morris and Erik Robichaud added helpers as well.
The Stingers pulled away in the third period, as the teams entered the final frame even at 3-3.
The final four goals in the game came within a stretch of just over three minutes.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, three came from the Stingers, as they built up a 6-3 lead, before Deverick Ottereyes scored on the power play.
Morris Danny Desrochers drew assists on the final goal of the game.
Concordia outshot Nipissing 42-26 on their way to the win.
Source: nulakers.ca
UQTR 3 UOIT 4
OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT men's hockey team was able to pull off an impressive 4-3 overtime victory against the UQTR Patriotes Friday night.
The Patriotes went into the game sitting in second place in the eastern conference, meanwhile the Ridgbeacks were sitting in seventh. Although, this seemed to have no effect on the Ridgebacks during Friday night's game even when they were down 3-2 late into the third period.
"Overall, I thought we played really well, we were able to bounce back when we gave up the lead late in the third," said head coach Curtis Hodgins. "The boys kept fighting and we found a way to win against a top team."
It was a very fast paced game for the whole 60-plus minutes, with there being no recorded penalties the whole night – until after the final goal in overtime. The first period ended goalless with the Ridgebacks outshooting the Patriotes 10-7.
UQTR jumped out to the early lead in the second period when Timothe Simard put one in the back of the net just 1:20 into the action. Moments later the Ridgebacks answered when Ben Blasko (Kingston, Ont.) beat the goalie top shelf to tie the game at one. Midway through the second the Ridgebacks scored again when Loren Ulett (Port Perry, Ont.) was able to beat both defenders and take the puck to the net for a one-on-one with the goaltender, which he won.
As the third period progressed, UQTR eventually got the jump on the Ridgebacks when a pass from behind the net resulted in a one-timer goal scored by Christophe Boivin. UQTR scored again just moments later when Mathieu Lemay deked his way through the Ridgebacks defencemen and buried the puck glove side, giving them back the lead.
When the result was not looking promising for the Ridgebacks, trailing 3-2 late into the third, Mike Robinson (Stouffville, Ont.) came to the rescue and tied the game up with just under two minutes left to go. Robinson is currently on a nine-game point streak, including his goal which is his 13th of the season and the two assists he picked up in Friday night's game.
"He has been producing a lot for us, he definitely has a knack for scoring goals and he's got some great hands. It's really great to see him step up and perform the way that he has been," said Hodgins.
As the game headed into overtime it only took 1:38 for Jesse Baird to take off on a breakaway and roof the puck over Sebastien Auger's shoulder to give the Ridgebacks the thrilling overtime win.
Other notable performances from Friday night's game came from Blasko who picked up a goal and an assist and goaltender Tyson Teichmann (Belleville, Ont.) who made a total of 21 saves.
Source: uoitridgebacks.com
Carleton 7 Ottawa 2
OTTAWA, ON — The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team trounced the cross-town rival uOttawa Gee-Gees 7-2 at Minto Sports Complex on Friday night.
Carleton, coming off a four-game losing streak, including a loss to the Gee-Gees in the Colonel By Classic, exploded in the first period scoring six of their seven goals in the first period.
The Ravens sniped their first three goals in the span of two minutes with a goal from Brett Welychka (London, ON) sandwiched between Jared Steege’s (Cobden, ON) 12th and 13th markers, which leads the league for rookies.
That would be the end of the night for Gee-Gees starter Graham as he was replaced by Anthony Brodeur.
Brodeur would fair no better against the Ravens’ high flying offence as he allowed a power play goal from Adam Chapman (Barrie, ON) one minute after replacing Hunt.
Two minutes later, Ryan Van Stralen added the first of his two on the night with Dalen Hedges (Ottawa, ON) and Travis Douglas (Osgoode, ON) getting assists.
Hedges added a goal of his own on the power play to close out Carleton’s highest offensive period of the season.
Van Stralen added his second of the night and seventh of the season on the power play for Carleton to extended the lead to 7-0.
uOttawa scored two goals on the power play in the final six minutes of the game.
The game had a total of 36 penalty minutes with 18 a side and the Ravens finished 3-for-8 on the power play.
Second-year tender Francois Brassard (Gatineau, QC) stopped 34 of 36 shots for his eighth win of the campaign.
Source: goravens.ca
Other Games:
Waterloo 4 Brock 5
December 2, 2017
UQTR 2 UOIT 3
OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT men's hockey team won 3-2 on Saturday to sweep the UQTR Patriotes in back-to-back games, capping off the first semester with their eighth straight win.
The victory continues the Ridgebacks longest win streak in program history, which was previously set at five games to start their 2016-2017 season. It was also a major weekend as UOIT was 1-14 against UQTR all-time heading into Friday, with their first conference victory against the Patriotes coming in their final conference game of 2017.
"To finish with eight straight wins is great - at one point we were sitting at 2-5-1 - we have to give our hockey club full credit, the guys have really bought in to what we are doing here and it shows," said head coach Curtis Hodgins.
The Ridgebacks opened the scoring midway through the first period when Alex Yuill (Wellington, Ont.) scored on a power play. Nearing the end of the period UQTR answered with a goal of their own as Deven St-Hilaire fired the puck on net and it just snuck by goaltender, Brendan O'Neill(Ilderton, Ont.).
Heating up in the second, the Ridgebacks came out looking determined scoring twice, both coming off the stick of Malik Johnson (Montreal, Que.). The first one came from a wrist shot that made its way through both defencemen and Alexandre Belanger. Johnson's second goal was a bit harder to come by as he had to shake a defender off of him and drag the puck around Belanger in the crease to put the puck in the back of the net.
UOIT went into the third period with a two-goal lead and all things looked promising until just under 14 minutes had passed and UQTR scored. The goal came off of a Patriotes power play when Jason Lavallee blasted a slapshot from the point and into the back of the net. Despite UQTR pulling their goalie with 1:32 to go, the Ridgebacks were able to hold onto their lead until the end of the game.
A 33-save performance by O'Neill gave him his fourth win of the season helped the team to their eighth straight and 10th of the season.
"His performance was outstanding, he made great saves all game long even when we had the two- goal lead. I can't say enough about him and the way Teich played for us Friday night," said Hodgins.
Along with great goaltending performances the Ridgebacks have been doing an impressive job producing. In Saturday's game Ben Blasko (Kingston, Ont.) picked up two assists, increasing his point streak to seven games. Mike Robinson also picked up two assists as well now reaching a 10-game point streak.
The Ridgebacks are now in the holiday break and won't play again until January 5 when they face the Queen's Gaels on January 5 and 6 in Kingston.
Source: uoitridgebacks.com
Nipissing 3 McGill 4
MONTREAL -- Rookie Keanu Yamamoto of Spokane, Wash., tallied two goals, including the game-winner, as No.5 McGill wrapped up the first semester with a 4-3 win over the Nipissing University Lakers in OUA men's hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.
The Redmen outshot their guests 49-26 and improved their lifetime record to 21-4-0 overall against the Lakers.
McGill now enters the month-long exam and holiday break atop the OUA East division with a 15-3-0 record and 30 points in the standings, four ahead of Concordia (12-2-2), which holds two games in hand. The Redmen have won two of three regular season meetings with the Stingers and will confront them once more, on Feb. 9 in the annual Ronald Corey Cup rivalry game at the Loyola campus.
"It's been a good first half (of the season) for us," said head coach Kelly Nobes, who improved his record to 223-98-3 in 324 games overall behind the McGill bench. "Lots of growth for a group with a lot of young players. We set ourselves up for a good second half but that's where the real hockey's played. We've got some really tough opponents in the second half and a challenging playoff ahead of us, so that'll be the tale of the tape. That'll be where we'll see more growth, be battle-hardened and get ready for the playoffs."
The team could set a single-season record for wins -- surpassing their 24-2-2 mark attained in 2010-11 -- should they win all 10 of their remaining games (before playoffs). The Redmen offence currently ranks third in the OUA (4.17 goals per game), while the defence sits second (2.32 GAA).
"Our transition from offence to defence needs to be quicker, our play in our own end needs to be better, and that just comes with experience, time and playing better teams," offered Nobes, not content to sit back after the strong first half. "We still have more growth to do in those areas and we will (see it), because we've seen lots of maturing in our team so far and we expect that to continue."
Nipissing led 1-0 after the first period on a goal from Travis McEvoy at 5:26, but the middle frame was all McGill, which held a suffocating 29-3 advantage in shots on net. The school record for most shots in a period is 31 achieved on Jan. 14, 2000 in the middle frame of a 13-0 whitewash against RMC.
Yamamoto, a 5-foot-7, 166-pound forward, was playing in front of his parents for the first time this season as they made the long trek in from Spokane, Wash. He tied things up just 66 seconds into the second period and Jerome Verrier of Drummondville, Que., put the Redmen ahead 47 seconds after that. It was the sixth marker of the season for Verrier, who sits third in the OUA scoring race with 27 points in 18 games.
Teammate Frederic Gamelin of St. Polycarpe, Que., added a power-play marker at 7:37 and Yamamoto closed things out with 27 seconds left in the stanza, registering his seventh goal and 15th point in 18 contests.
Lakers top point-scoring forward Erik Robichaud cut the lead in half with his sixth goal, on the man-advantage, only 45 seconds into the third. That snapped McGill's penalty-killing streak at 27 consecutive manpower situations.
Nipissing's Tyler Brown made it 4-3 at 10:03 and the Lakers pulled their goalie for an extra attacker in the final minute but couldn't get the equalizer.
McGill goaltender Louis-Philip Guindon of St. Joseph du Lac, Que., turned away 23 of 26 pucks as his record improved to 12-3 on the season. He leads all OUA goalies in wins, ranks fourth in goals-against average (2.23) and owns a .922 save percentage.
Nipissing's Brent Moran made 45 saves on 49 shots in a losing effort as his record tumbled to 3-8.
The Redmen were 1-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty-kill. McGill's PP now ranks 15th in the league at 15.3 per cent, while the PK unit is second in the OUA and seventh in the nation with an 89.0 per cent success rate.
"You never know how guys are going to adjust to the league," noted Nobes, whose roster features seven freshmen, eight sophomores. eight juniors and five seniors. "We're pretty happy with the way that our younger guys have stepped up and have quickly adapted to the pace of our league, and how much we're getting contributions from everybody. Our offence is very spread out and that's a credit to our veteran players who are getting better, but also to our young guys that have gotten better as we've played our 24 games (including preseason)."
Source: mcgillathletics.ca
Carleton 3 RMC 0
OTTAWA, ON — The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team defeated the RMC Paladins, 3-0, at Constantine Arena in Kingston on Saturday night in their last game before the holiday break.
The Ravens’ evening got off to slow start, with bus trouble on the way to Kingston delaying the start of the contest and resulting in a lacklustre first period effort from the visitors.
The first stanza finished scoreless with Carleton being outshot 11-6.
Early in the second, with the Ravens on the power play, Fabian Walsh (Gloucester, ON) snuck a wrist shot through a tight window past Paladins starter Daniel Vautour for the 1-0 lead.
The Ravens held the 1-0 lead with goalie Matthew Jenkins (Charlottetown, PEI) staying sharp and stopping some dangerous RMC chances. Carleton fired 14 shots on the Paladin net in the period.
At the end of the second, Carleton forward Brett Gustavsen (Scarborough, ON) was assessed a five-minute boarding penalty and handed a game misconduct.
On penalty kill, Brett Welychka (London, ON) stripped the Paladins of the puck at the Ravens’ blueline, sped in on Vautour, outwaited the keeper, then tucked it in the net for the 2-0 lead.
The Paladins called a timeout with 39 seconds remaining in the third with the goalie pulled and a faceoff in the Carleton end but Ryan Van Stralen (Prescott, ON) put the end to any chance of an RMC comeback firing the puck into the empty net.
Third-year netminder Jenkins stopped all 38 shots from the Paladins earning his first ever U SPORTS shutout in his first start of the year.
Ravens head coach Shaun Van Allen praised his team’s efforts in the win.
“I thought this was a real character win for us tonight,” said Van Allen. “We didn’t get there till late and sometimes in the last game before the break, it is easy for guys to lose focus. I thought we did a really good job competing with an RMC team that battles hard.”
Source: goravens.ca
Toronto 2 Brock 4
The Brock University men's hockey team defeated the University of Toronto Varsity Blues by the score of 4-2 Saturday night at the Seymour Hannah Centre.
The Badgers opened the scoring eight minutes into the first period as Matt MacLeod and Adam Lloyd set up Patrick Volpe for his first goal of the season.
Brock would take a 2-0 lead seven minutes into the second period as Chris Maniccia and Brody Silk found Jeff Corbett who beat Toronto starter Michael Nishi for his second goal of the campaign.
Toronto would get on the board 1:37 into the third period as Max Lindsay set up Matt Campagna for his second goal of the season. Brock would regain the two goal lead at the 5:33 mark as Nate Looysen recorded his second goal of the season with Ayden MacDonald and Josh Timpano adding the assists. Midway through the third, Toronto's Justin Brand added a power-play marker to make it 3-2. With the goalie pulled, Brock would add an empty netter with seven seconds left in regulation as MacDonald added his seventh goal of the season.
In goal, Clint Windsor recorded 23 saves for the victory, as he moved into a tie for second all-time in Brock career victories with 30. Toronto's Nishi recorded 27 saves in the loss.
Source: gobadgers.ca
York 2 Ryerson 5
TORONTO – In a rematch against a cross-town rival, the Rams offense proved to be too much this time around for the visiting York Lions, as they came away with a 5-2 win on Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. With the win, the Rams firmly established themselves in second place in the OUA’s Western conference.
Going into Saturday night’s game, the Rams had just come off of a four-game road trip that saw them acquire five out of a possible eight points.
While Ryerson would be the team to eventually come away with the win, it would be York that would be the first team to place themselves on the scoreboard. Eleven minutes into the evening’s opening period, Lions forward Reid Jackman (Etobicoke, Ont.) would open up the scoring. Fortunately for the Rams, freshman forward Cavin Leth (Taber, Alta.) would have an answer, tying up the scoreboard just a minute later off of a powerplay goal. In the dying minutes of the first period, Lions forward Scott Feser (Red Deer, Alta.) would tuck in his teams second, and final goal, on the evening to give York the lead heading into the intermission.
Coming back onto the ice for the second period, the Rams would play with the level of intensity that they have become notorious for throughout the league. Eight minutes into the period, Mitchell Skapski (Abbotsford, B.C.) would contribute his second goal of the season, off of a spinning backhand in the slot, to even up the scoreboard at two goals a piece. Not to be outdone, Figliomeni would similarly tap in his second goal on the season to give the Rams their first lead of the evening three minutes later. And, of course, no Ryerson scoring-streak would be complete without Leth making a contribution as the freshman, whose name has become synonymous with multi-goal game performances, tucked away his second goal on the evening with five-minutes left to play in the period.
With Ryerson up 4-2 with one period left to play, it would be up to their defensive effort to maintain the lead. This, however, proved to be little trouble for the Rams, as the improvements they have made to their defensive-play relegated much of the third period's play to the neutral zone. With Ryerson netminder Taylor Dupuis (New Liskeard, Ont.) preventing all of York’s 11 third-period shot attempts from finding the twine, it would remain 4-2 throughout the final 20 minutes of play, until Leth fired home his third-goal of the night on an empty net with just 30-seconds left to play.
When asked about whose performance stood out to him the most evening Brooks selected defenseman Jared Walsh (Toronto, Ont.), stating “he makes all the plays defensively, and he’s depended on…he does all the little things so well.”
Of special note throughout the past few games, and in tonight’s game in particular, are the scoring contributions of Ryerson players who are seldom seen on the score sheet. In the past two games alone, Walsh, Figliomeni, Andrew Mullen (Toronto, Ont.) and Mitchell Skapski (Abbotsford, B.C) have all contributed either their first or second goal of the season in two consecutive Rams victories.
Source: ryersonrams.ca
Laurentian 4 Concordia 9
On Saturday night, the Voyageurs men's hockey team lost their final game of the first half of the season 9-4 against the Concordia Stingers.
The first period was a scoring exhibition for both teams. The Voyageurs kicked things off by way of Kaden Ruest on the powerplay as he beat Marc-Antoine Turcotte on the powerplay at 7:07. Russell Nowry and Brent Pedersen assisted on the play.
Concordia answered with a tying goal just over a minute later as the Stingers got a powerplay goal of their own when Alexis Pepin scored at 8:28.
Just over a minute after that, the Voyageurs regained their one goal lead when Cray Roberge scored at 9:38 giving the Vees a 2-1 lead. Pedersen picked up his second assist of the period on the goal.
The Vees then followed up their goal with another, this time shorthanded by way of Danny Lepage at 11:15, yet again assisted by Pedersen.
The Stingers, clearly motivated by the Voyageurs early effort, stormed back in the remaining eight minutes of the first period with five unanswered goals.
Massima Carozza first brought Concordia back within one at 12:27 on the powerplay.
Just over a minute after that, Scott Oke tied the game at 3-3 with the Stingers still on the powerplay.
In the final four minutes, the Stingers would score three more goals with the final two coming on the powerplay. Concordia got their goals from Phillippe Charbonneau, Phillippe Sanche, and another from Oke. Concordia took their 6-3 lead into the first intermission.
The Voyageurs came out strong to start the second period as Richard Therrien scored at 5:19 to bring the Vees within two and the score to 6-4.
However, the Stingers again responded with a cluster of unanswered goals.
Charles-Eric Legare scored at 8:28 to restore the Stingers' three goal advantage.
Shorly after that, Pepin scored his second of the game at 10:18 for Concordia's eigth goal of the evening.
Anthony Beauregard would add his first of the game nearing the end of the second period and sending both teams into the second intermission with Concordia leading 9-4.
Both teams seemed to be all tapped out offensively after the flurry of action in the first 40 minutes as neither team managed to get on the board in the third period.
Source: luvoyageurs.com
Guelph 1 Windsor 4
The Lancer men's hockey team split their final two games of 2017. Windsor fell 7-3 to the Western Mustangs Friday night before rebounding on Saturday to defeat the Guelph Gryphons 4-1 at South Windsor Arena.
Windsor heads into the break with 6-6-4 record and are in sixth place in the OUA west division.
Lancer goaltender Jonathan Reinhart had a day between the pipes, stopping all but one of the 22 shots that came his way. Jason Da Silva stopped 20 of the 24 shots he faced for Guelph.
The Lancers had a great day from their special teams. The penalty kill was plus one as they netted a short-handed goal, without surrendering one. The power play got the job done as well with the unit scoring on one of its five outings.
The Lancers accumulated 25 minutes of penalties in the win. The Gryphons were slightly more disciplined, only spending 14 minutes in the sin bin.
GAME FLOW
The first period was a hotly contested one, with both teams struggling to assert themselves early. The Lancers got on the board late in the first period when Jake Brown beat Jason Da Silva with help from Konner Haas and Adam Burnett at the 18:52 mark. The Lancers took the 1-0 lead into the intermission.
In the second period the Lancers came out as the better team, finally starting to control the pace of the game. Near the eight-minute mark the Lancers added some insurance to their lead when Kody Gagnon scored with assists from Blake Blondeel and Todd Ratchford. Later in the period, Kyle Hopeblew the game open with a shorthanded goal for the Lancers, pushing their lead to 3-0 going into the second intermission.
In the third the Gryphons broke Jonathan Reinhart's shut out effort when Seth Swenson scored at the 3:28 mark of the final period. Shortly thereafter, the Lancers restored their lead to three when Chris Scott beat Da Silva on a power play at the 6:50 mark. The Lancers went on to win 4-1 and the Gryphons lost for the first time in nine games.
Source: golancers.ca
Ottawa 2 Queen’s 3
KINGSTON, Ont. (December 2nd, 2017) – The Queen's Gaels (9-4-3) earned a come from behind 3-2 overtime victory on Saturday night over the Ottawa Gee-Gees (8-4-3). After Slater Doggett (Oakville, Ont.) tied the game for Queen's in the third period, Darcy Greenaway(Wilton, Ont.) ended the game with a beautiful individual effort with less than two minutes remaining in the extra frame.
GAME FLOW
The first period was a defensive battle as neither team wanted to give up an inch in the defensive end. Ottawa outshot the Gaels 13-12 but many of the shots for both sides were from the outside, in non-dangerous spots. Gaels goaltender Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) was strong on a few instances in the opening frame, stopping the Gee-Gees every time they had a close encounter. Ottawa netminder Anthony Brodeur was also solid in the opening frame, turning aside all 12 Gaels shots. The two teams would head into the first intermission tied 0-0.
Queen's got the second period started on the right foot just over six minutes in when Alex Row (Elizabethtown, Ont.) notched his first career U Sports goal on a feed from Ben Fanjoy (Ottawa, Ont.). Ottawa answered back just over a minute later when Jonathan Bourcier finished off a tic-tac-toe play to beat Bailie and tie the score 1-1. Then, late in the period, Ottawa was able to beat Bailie once again with a quick play off of a faceoff that Connor Sills finished off to take a 2-1 lead into the break.
After leaving the game in the second period with an apparent injury, Gaels leading goal scorer Doggett returned in the third period just in time to save the game for the Gaels. He buried his tenth of the season at 4:16 of the third period to tie the game 2-2 and give the Gaels new life. The teams would trade chances for the remainder of the third, with neither side being able to add another goal, forcing overtime.
With less than two minutes remaining in overtime, Greenaway took the puck from his own end, skated all the way up ice past two Gee-Gees players and wristed a laser behind Brodeur to complete the comeback and send the Gaels home with a well-deserved 3-2 victory. The goal was Greenaway's tenth of the season.
Bailie earned the win in net for Queen's with 30 saves while Brodeur took the loss in net for Ottawa, registering 37 saves.
Source: gogaelsgo.com