OUA Men's Hockey Roundup (Jan. 22)
January 17, 2018
Queen’s 5 RMC 2
KINGSTON, Ont. (January 17, 2018) – The Queen's Gaels (12-6-3) and RMC Paladins (5-14-3) renewed their historic rivalry on Wednesday night in Kingston and for the second time this season the Gaels were able to come away victorious. Jaden Lindo(Brampton, Ont.) scored twice in the penalty filled affair to lead Queen's to the 5-2 victory. Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) was also strong in net for the Gaels, recording 27 saves in the win.
GAME FLOW
Lindo got the ball rolling for the Gaels in the first period when he sniped his third goal of the season at 6:02. The Gaels controlled play and it showed in the shot count as they led the Paladins 11-5 in the category. Queen's would head into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.
Things got interesting in the second frame as the two teams traded penalties, including a ten-minute misconduct for a check to the head served by Gaels leading scorer Slater Doggett (Oakville, Ont.). Despite the penalty trouble, the Gaels would extend their lead to 2-0 at 9:05 of the period when Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.) notched his 11th goal of the campaign. RMC was able to take advantage of a power play opportunity at 17:31 of the period when they cut the Gaels lead to 2-1 on a David Savery goal.
The Tricolour would enter the third with a one goal lead and add to it early on when Ben Fanjoy (Ottawa) recorded his fourth of the season at 2:34. Lindo would add his second of the night at the midway point of the period to put the Gaels ahead 4-1. RMC made things interesting by cutting the lead to 4-2 but Doggett put the game on ice with a minute remaining with an empty net goal to seal the win for the Gaels.
Bailie earned the win in net for the Gaels while Daniel Vautour took the loss in net for the Paladins.
Source: gogaelsgo.com
Windsor 3 Waterloo 6
After forty minutes of play in their matchup with the Windsor Lancers on Wednesday night, it looked like the luck of the Waterloo Warriors men's hockey team wasn't about to change.
The Warriors, stuck in a seven-game losing skid, were down 3-2 to the Lancers in a more-than-physical affair. They'd outplayed their opponents thoroughly, but bad bounces and untimely turnovers had all ended up in the back of their net. Meanwhile, the tilted ice was evened by a red-hot goalie at the other end, and frustrations from their winless streak were starting to bubble.
To make matters more complicated was what the game meant in the standings: The Lancers came into the evening with a five-point edge on Waterloo for the last playoff spot in the OUA West division, and a loss would severely hamper the Warriors' postseason aspirations.
But instead of wallowing in their misfortune, the Warriors chose a different path in the third period. Behind some outstanding performances of their veteran leaders, they chose to turn around their own luck – and they might have just turned around their season in the process.
Cam Nicoll (Loretto/) scored a pair of shorthanded goals, and captain Mike Moffat (Waterloo/) notched the game-winner as the Warriors exploded for four tallies in the third period en route to a 6-3 victory over the Lancers at the Columbia Icefield Arena in Waterloo.
The win improves Waterloo's record to 6-11-3, and it pulls them to within three points of the Lancers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the OUA West division, with a game in hand. Michael Morgan(Scarborough/) finished with a goal and two helpers, while Keigan Goetz (New Hamburg/) and Eric Diodati (Niagara Falls/) chipped in with two points apiece. Rookie goaltender Trevor Martin(Ardrossan/) turned aside 24 shots to earn his first career home ice win.
Meanwhile, the Lancers fell to 6-9-6, as their hold on a playoff spot became more tenuous. Alex Friesen notched a goal and an assist for Windsor, while Todd Ratchford added a pair of helpers. Jonathan Reinhart was outstanding in the Lancers crease, turning aside 42 shots – many of the highlight variety – in the loss.
But what ended on a sour note for Windsor certainly didn't start out that way, as the visitors turned the momentum from some early Reinhart saves into the game's opening goals. First, it was captain Blake Blondeel who handcuffed Martin with a zinging wrister from the left wing to make it 1-0, before Friesen took advantage of a turnover to make it 2-0 Lancers just past the midway point of the period.
Morgan got the Warriors on the board just under two minutes later, when he whacked home a pinballing rebound off a Ryan Hanes (Kanata/) point shot to cut the Lancers lead to 2-1. But that scoreline was short-lived, as Chris Scott made a move to slip a loose puck past Martin, restoring the Windsor two-goal advantage.
Late in the opening frame, though, the Warriors drew back to within one on the man advantage, when Adam Bignell (Kitchener/) floated a waist-high wrister from the point. It was deftly tipped home by Goetz, cutting the Windsor lead in half once again, and making the score 3-2 after an eventful first period.
And while the middle stanza didn't include any goals, it was just as action-packed. The post-whistle physicality that simmered slowly in a few instances in the first became an outright boil in the second, as the two rivals combined for a total of nine minors and eight 10-minute misconducts in the frame. Meanwhile, the Warriors outshot Windsor 13-6 in the second, but Reinhart made some key stops to frustrate Waterloo and keep the score 3-2 after 40.
But the Warriors were determined to flip the script in the third period, and they authored the first scene before the period was a minute old: With Lee Dower (Conception Bay/) in the box and Windsor looking to extend their lead on the power play, Nicoll picked off a puck at the Lancers blue line and beat Reinhart with a backhand move to the blocker side to square the score at 3-3.
With momentum, firmly on the side of the black and gold, Waterloo's captain picked a perfect time to get the goalless monkey off his back. At the tail-end of a power play, Moffat took a Diodati feed and fired a quick wrister past the expert screen of Goetz and into the top shelf past an unsuspecting Reinhart, giving the Warriors their first lead of the game.
With under seven minutes to play in regulation, though, the Lancers got their chance to equalize when Daniel Perigo (Truro/) was whistled for a hooking minor behind the play. But any hopes the Lancers had of tying the game with a power play marker were dashed just 22 seconds into the Windsor mad advantage, when Morgan forced a turnover in his own zone and broke in on a 2-on-1 with Nicoll. A perfect pass and a rocket one-timer later, Nicoll had his second shorthanded goal of the period, and the score was 5-3 in favour of the Warriors. Mitchell Smith (Plainfield/) scored late into an empty net, salting away the biggest win of the Warriors' season to date.
Source: athletics.uwaterloo.ca
Other Scores:
Concordia 6 UQTR 8
January 18, 2018
Laurier 0 Guelph 5
GUELPH – Every good hockey team gets a lift on home ice. But the Guelph Gryphons took that concept to a new level in their biggest game on the OUA regular season schedule. The Gryphons came out flying and buried the Laurier Golden Hawks early. Guelph scored three first-period goals en route to a 5-0 win in the ninth edition of the Frosty Mug with 4,715 in attendance at the Sleeman Centre.
It was a much-anticipated battle between the top two teams in the OUA West but the No. 8-ranked Gryphons made a statement from the opening faceoff. And with the full support of the rabid Frosty Mug-record crowd, they overwhelmed the visiting Hawks, scoring the first three goals in a span of just over 12 minutes. The offensive explosion chased goaltender Chris Festarini from the net after the opening period.
"The Frosty Mug's always a special event for the guys, a chance to show our brand of hockey to folks in the community and here downtown," head coach Shawn Camp said with a hoarse voice."They were excited to go and we got off to a great start. With that kind of start, it put us in good shape for the rest of the game.
"There's such a camaraderie and excitement in the crowd. It's something special about the University of Guelph. Our students and our fans are so passionate and it's so fun to see them having fun together. It was just a wonderful event."
Captain Scott Simmonds, who got the party started with the game's opening goal, said he sensed it was going to be a good night based on the mood in the room before the game. And when the massive crowd chimed in with a stirring "O'Canada" before the faceoff, the chills only grew.
"The guys have been looking forward to this game since the start of the season," said Simmonds, sporting a nasty cut on his nose. "Last year, we saw what this crowd, these fans, and these Gryphons are made of. Every year, it seems to be getting better.
"Our guys expected it was gonna be fun – and we got off to the perfect start for that."
Marc Stevens, Manny Gialedakis, Seth Swenson, and Josh McFadden also scored for the Gryphons (16-4-1), while Cody Thompson had three assists. Guelph goalie Andrew Masters stopped all 26 shots he faced for the first shutout in Frosty Mug history.
"He's continued to play very well," Camp said of Masters. "It doesn't seem to matter who we put in the net right now. They're both (Masters and Jason Da Silva) playing very well. Andrew's been carrying the ball here in the second half and again tonight, he was terrific when we needed him."
The Gryphons got the dream start they were looking for when Simmonds made it 1-0 just 3:44 into the game, igniting an already pumped-up crowd. Guelph's captain has registered a point in four consecutive Frosty Mugs, while also topping the team in points (10-14-24).
The hosts continued to play with energy and added the second goal of the night at 8:27 of the opening period. Stevens set up in the right circle, took a pass from Gialedakis (three points) and unloaded a low one-timer that beat Festarini on the glove side.
Even at 2-0, the Gryphons stayed hungry and eventually extended the lead on a power play with 4:20 left in the first. Gialedakis, who achieved hero status with the Frosty Mug winner in 2017, teed one up from around the same spot that Stevens scored from.
"That first goal really put them on their heels and I think we built off that," said Swenson. "We maybe could've kept it going a little longer but if we can start like that every game, we're going to be in a good spot."
Guelph dominated Laurier in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting the visitors 19-7. Festarini, who entered the night with impressive numbers (8-4-0, 2.40 gaa, .925 save percentage) was replaced by Colin Furlong to start the second period and the fourth-year backup fared no better. The Hawks took an early penalty and Swenson made them pay immediately, coming in from the left circle to wrist a shot past Furlong for a 4-0 lead on an unassisted effort at the 1:22 mark.
McFadden added Guelph's fifth of the night with a bullet from the point 1:45 into the third period.
The packed house of 4,715 fans was the third highest attendance number for an OUA men's hockey conference game. The crowd, with fans of all ages, was in full voice all night long.
Husband and wife Janet and Andy Wellwood came to their first Frosty Mug last year – and it made a lasting impression.
"I fell in love with it," said Janet, a U of G employee in Admission Services, who was wearing the red Kyle Neuber jersey that Andy got her for Christmas last month. "We got caught up with the energy and excitement in the place and we had to come back."
"I love it," added Andy. "The energy from the kids in here is something else."
Some were even newcomers to the game. Fourth-year Physics student Tomer Rockman was attending his first ever Frosty Mug and despite not being a big hockey fan, he was impressed with the event and particularly the crowd.
"It's great to see everyone out here cheering for the Gryphons," Rockman said.
Guelph is now 6-3-0 in nine Frosty Mugs. And the win gave the Gryphons some breathing room over second-place Laurier.
"It's apparent that guys are pretty hungry to continue winning and Laurier was an excellent test tonight," said Camp. "Their special teams are outstanding, they have great balance on their lines and their D move the puck very well.
"It was good for our guys to get a good jump on them early and we felt that was important to establish our game early on."
Source: gryphons.ca
January 19, 2018
Western 6 Lakehead 2
THUNDER BAY, Ont. – A four-goal first period helped the Western Mustangs earn a convincing 6-2 victory against the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Friday night at the Fort William Gardens.
The win gives Western a 9-9-2 record and pulls the Mustangs to within two points of the Thunderwolves for sixth place in the OUA West standings. Friday's victory also extends the Mustangs season-long winning streak to five games.
The Mustangs struck quick, hard, and frequently in the win, scoring three goals on six shots in the first ten minutes of the game, while Luke Peressini made 27 saves to earn his fourth win of the season.
The purple and white got a bit of luck early on, with the home team taking a too many men penalty only 40 seconds into the game. The Mustangs league-leading powerplay capitalized on the opportunity, with Ray Huether putting the Mustangs up 1-0 in the dying seconds of the penalty.
The Mustangs continued on their offensive rampage, exploiting a fallen Thunderwolves defender, with Matt Watson finding the back of the net on the resulting three on one, with Rob Polesello notching the assist.
Less than a minute later the Mustangs struck again, as a dump and chase by Jonathan Laser ended up on net, taking a funny hop in front of Lakehead netminder Nic Renyard and ending up across the goal line.
Up 3-0 early on, the Mustangs weren't finished, with Pettit recording his seven goal of the year with a little more than two minutes left in the opening period.
The Lakehead offence had difficulty generating chances early on, with many of their shots either getting blocked or going wide of the net. Despite facing a lack of high-quality chances, Peressini made his presence in the crease known, coming up big several times for the Mustangs in the first period, and denying Lakehead the opportunity to get on the board.
The rest of the game was a much tighter affair, with both teams being held to no goals for the first half of the second frame. However, a boarding penalty against the Thunderwolves saw the impressive Mustangs powerplay take to the ice, making quick work off the face-off to score their second powerplay goal of the game in the first few seconds of the man advantage.
Despite the Mustangs scoring their five straight goals, Lakehead was not to be counted out, rallying to score their first goal of the game a mere minute after the Mustangs fifth goal of the night. Matt Alexander got his team on the board, circling the net and scoring on a delayed penalty call against the purple and white.
Not to be outdone, the Mustangs managed to restore their five goal lead a few minutes later, after a prolonged period of sustained pressure in the Lakehead zone allowed Theo Lewis to bury the puck with less than five minutes left in the frame.
Lakehead got the last word in, scoring the final goal of the game three minutes into the third, with Devin Fullum earning a spot on the scoresheet.
The Mustangs penalty kill went four for four tonight, and proved to be a crucial part of the win, that saw the team move two points behind the Thunderwolves in the OUA West standings, while the powerplay went two for two.
Source: westernmustangs.ca
Windsor 1 Toronto 5
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team defeated the Windsor Lancers 5-1 on Friday, January 19 at Varsity Arena.
The win puts the Blues at 7-13-1 in their season thus far and marks their third straight victory at home.
Toronto wasted no time to get on the scoreboard, scoring on their first two shots on net. The first was courtesy of Max Lindsay, who finished off a nice 2-on-1 with Aidan Wallace just 1:50 into the game. The second goal came just over three minutes later as Connor Bebb deflected in a Josh Hanson point shot.
U of T added to their lead later in the frame as Wallace finished off a nice pass from Justin Brand. The Blues were up 3-0 after 20 minutes of action.
With just five minutes left in the second period, third-year Blues forward Matt Campagna scored with a quick snipe through traffic on Lancer goalie Blake Richard. Campagna would score again with just 4.5 seconds left in the second period to make it 5-0 for Toronto heading into the second intermission.
The Lancers spoiled the shut out as third-year forward Justice Dundas scored on a powerplay early in the third period.
Rookie netminder Frederic Foulem made 23 saves in the win.
Source: varsityblues.ca
Carleton 0 McGill 4
MONTREAL, QC — The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team left Montreal empty handed following a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the nationally ranked McGill Redmen.
Carleton took a total of 44 minutes in penalties to McGill’s 28 minutes and it ended up being the difference. The Redmen scored three times on the power play while the Ravens were unable to convert on any of their five power play opportunities.
Carleton defenceman CJ Garcia (Pickering, ON) led the Ravens in penalty minutes with 12 minutes coming in one call for head contact in the first period with a two-minute minor for head contact and 10 minutes misconduct for a check to the head.
Adam Chapman (Barrie, ON) and Frederic Gamelin were each given 10 minute misconducts and roughing minors after Ryan Van Stralen (Prescott, ON) was sent to the box for boarding early in the third period.
The Ravens made a comeback effort in the third pulling goalie Francois Brassard(Gatineau, QC) with over three minutes remaining but Redmen forward Antoine Dufort-Plante sealed the win for his club putting the puck into the empty net.
Brassard stopped 26 out of 29 shots in the losing cause, while Louis-Phillip Guindon was perfect, stopping all 17 of the Ravens’ shots.
The game had an attendance of 1,012 fans to see the Redmen face Carleton in what McGill was marketing as the ‘Carnival Game’.
The Ravens have struggled against McGill this season getting only one point in three games. The teams play one more time on January 27 in Montreal.
Source: goravens.ca
York 3 Ryerson 2
Colton Vannucci scored the go-ahead goal with just over seven minutes remaining to give the York University Lions men's hockey team a 3-2 victory over the Ryerson Rams in front of a raucous crowd at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in the inaugural game of the Subway Series on Friday night.
More than 300 Lions fans travelled downtown on the new Line 1 TTC subway extension for the game and were treated to a thriller between two of the top teams in the OUA West standings. The win boosts the Lions' season record to 13-8-1 to keep them in fourth place in the division, one point behind Ryerson and Laurier and just one point ahead of Brock.
The Lions scored a pair of goals before the Rams were able to add one. Josh LaFrance scored in the first with the assistance of Justin Bean and Daniel Nikandrov. Stefano Pezzetta scored just three minutes into the second and was assisted by Ben Verrall and Derek Sheppard.
The Rams added their first goal of the game in the second period. Alex Basso scored single-handedly on a power play.
Basso added another power play goal in the third period, this time assisted by Gregory DiTomaso and Steven Harland, to tie the score 2-2.
However, Vannucci came to the Lions' rescue by adding another goal for the Lions, assisted by Trevor Petersen and Sal Filice. The Rams couldn't recover and the Lions won in regulation to earn the important two points.
Source: yorkulions.ca
Guelph 1 Brock 3
The Brock University men's hockey team knocked off the No 8 ranked Guelph Gryphons by the score of 3-1 Friday night at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
Brock opened the scoring 2:41 into the first period as Brandon O'Quinn and Patrick Volpe setup Ryan Purvis for his second goal of the season.
After a scoreless second period, the Badgers would take a 2-0 lead 35 seconds into the third, as Chris Maniccia added a power play marker beating Guelph starter Andrew Masters. Sammy Banga and Ayden MacDonald added the assists. Three minutes into the period, Guelph would cut Brock's lead in half 2-1, as Max McCutcheon and Todd Winder found Cody Thompson who collected his seventh goal of the campaign. The Badgers regained the two goal lead at 7:52 as Dexter Weber and Maniccia setup Cosimo Fontana for his third goal in five games.
In goal, Clint Windsor recorded 32 saves for the victory. Masters collected 25 saves in the loss.
Source: gobadgers.ca
Nipissing 3 Queen’s 4
KINGSTON, Ont. (January 19, 2018) – The Queen's Gaels (14-5-3) held on in the final moments to preserve a 4-3 win over the Nipissing Lakers (8-11-2) on Friday night. The Lakers mounted a furious rally in the final minutes of the game, but the Gaels did just enough to hold on and skate away with a valuable two points. Slater Doggett(Oakville, Ont.) set a new career high in assists with four to lead the Gaels attack while also tying his career best for points in a game also at four. The Gaels outshot the Lakers heavily in the game but were never able to put the game out of reach, despite having three two-goal leads.
Prior to puck drop, Gaels forward Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.) was honoured as this year's Murray Douglas Scholarship Recipient. For more information click here.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels came out extremely strong in the first period, controlling play from the opening whistle. After multiple high-danger scoring opportunities, Queen's was finally able to open the scoring at the 14:10 mark when Luke Edwards(Kingston, Ont.) buried a rebound past Lakers goalie Brent Moran on a delayed penalty. The Gaels would continue their dominance in the period, outshooting the Lakers 15-4 overall. They would head to the intermission leading 1-0.
After a dominant first period, the Gaels once again came out strong in the second frame. Ryan Bloom (Calgary, Alta.) stretched the Gaels lead to two with his seventh of the season at 6:56 after a nice rush up the ice led by Doggett and himself. Nipissing would respond just under seven minutes later off of a bad Queen's turnover just inside their own blue line. The Lakers took advantage and cut the Gaels lead to one. Eric Ming (Williamstown, Ont.) would respond shortly after that with his fifth of the campaign just as a Gaels five on three power play expired. Bloom made a nifty move to beat a Lakers defender before dishing the puck to Doggett, who found Ming in front of the net to finish the beautiful play off. The Lakers would again respond, cutting the Gaels lead to 3-2 with less than a minute left in the period.
Queen's would strike first in the third period, stretching their lead to 4-2 on a one-timer scored by defenceman Warren Steele (Williamsburg, Ont.) on a setup by Doggett, his fourth primary assist of the evening. Nipissing would add a late goal with 2:32 remaining to make things interesting, but the Gaels held off the Lakers' final push to get the 4-3 victory.
Jacob Brennan secured his seventh win of the season in net for the Gaels, making 21 saves while Moran took the loss in net for the Lakers.
Source: gogaelsgo.com
January 20, 2018
Western 3 Lakehead 2
THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Two goals from Anthony Stefano, including the overtime winner, led the Western Mustangs to their sixth consecutive win with a 3-2 victory over the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens.
The win gives Western a 10-9-2 record, and puts the Mustangs one point behind the 10-8-3 Thunderwolves for sixth place in the OUA West standings.
Stefano's two goals were his fifth and sixth markers of the season, and put the freshman forward into a tie for third among all Western players. Mitchell Brooks joined Stefano on the scoresheet, notching his fourth goal of the year.
Luke Peressini got the win in net for the purple and white, turning aside 40 of the 42 shots sent his way, while Devin Green made 34 stops in the loss.
An early goal from Austin McDonald put Lakehead up on the board just over two minutes into the contest, setting up the back and forth pace for the rest of the game.
The first period finished with an even playing field going into the second frame with a goal from Brooks in the 17th minute.
A loose puck allowed Lakehead to take the lead late in the second period on a goal from Brennen Dubchak, but the Mustangs refused to end the period on a deficit. With less than two minutes left in the frame, Stefano charged past the Lakehead defense to tie things up.
The third period ended without another goal being added to the board, setting the stage for an overtime finish.
Stefano sent the Mustangs off with a win at 1:19 of the extra frame, converting an assist from Spenser Cobbold and wiring the puck into the net to clinch a 3-2 victory.
Source: westernmustangs.ca
Brock 0 York 3
The York University Lions men's hockey team picked up its second victory of the weekend on Saturday night with a 3-0 win over the Brock Badgers at Canlan Ice Sports.
The win was a crucial one for the Lions, giving them a 14-8-1 record for 29 points and moving them back into second place in the OUA West standings. They also created a three-point cushion on the Badgers, who are now at 11-7-4 and in fifth place.
Goaltender Mack Shields showed the form that earned him OUA West rookie of the year and U SPORTS all-Canadian honours last year, picking up his second shutout of the season with a 27-save performance.
The score was close throughout, but the Lions controlled play for much of the game. The Badgers outshot the Lions 14-12 in a scoreless first period, but after that it was all the Lions. They outshot the Badgers 40-27 in the game, including 28-13 over the final two periods, and were finally rewarded for their efforts in the middle of the second period on a power play goal by Kyle Campbell that made the score 1-0.
Six minutes later they added to the lead when team goal-scoring leader Josh LaFrance scored his 10th of the season for a 2-0 advantage for the home team.
That was more than enough for Shields, who shut the door in the third period. Trevor Petersen added an empty netter with time winding down to round out the scoring.
Brock goaltender Clint Windsor was strong in net despite the loss, making 37 saves on the 39 shots he faced.
Source: yorkulions.ca
Ryerson 3 Toronto 4
Third-year forward Ryan Kirkup scored the game-winning-goal as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team defeated the Ryerson Rams 4-3 on Saturday, January 20 at Varsity Arena.
With the win, the Blues improve to 8-13-1. It marks Toronto's first victory over Ryerson since a playoff win on February 14, 2015, their fourth win in the past five games and their fourth straight victory at home.
Toronto came out strong with third-year forward Matt Campagna capitalizing on a turnover in front of the Rams net and set up veteran defenceman Corey Jackson just 1:32 into the game. The Blues were up 1-0 after 20 minutes of action.
Campagna then extended the Blues lead to two, finishing a loose puck in front of the Ryerson net just 1:10 into the second period.
The Rams would respond six minutes later with a goal from third-year forward Erick DeLaurentis, then an equalizer goal from rookie forward Steven Harlan at the 12:49 mark. Ryerson took the lead with a powerplay goal, courtesy of Aaron Armstrong, with just two minutes left in the second period.
However, the Blues would bring the contest back to a tie as rookie forward Hunter Atchison buried a rebound off of a Justin Brand point shot, ending the second frame at 3-3.
Seven minutes into the third period, Atchison would return the favour to Kirkup, setting him up for what would stand as the game-winning goal.
Rookie netminder Frederic Foulem made 16 saves in the win.
Source: varsityblues.ca
Waterloo 5 Laurier 4
For the second straight game, the Waterloo Warriors men's hockey team faced season-defining adversity in the third period. And for the second straight game, it was their captain that helped lift them to the biggest win of their season to date.
Mike Moffat (Waterloo/) scored twice in regulation – including the game-tying goal in the third period – and then added the shootout winner, as the Warriors secured a 5-4 victory over the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday night at the Waterloo Rec Complex.
Waterloo pushed back in the third period after surrendering an early 3-0 lead, leading to their second straight victory. Earlier in the week, the Warriors ended a seven-game losing streak against the Windsor Lancers, in which Moffat's first goal of the season held up as the eventual game-winner. The Warriors improved to 7-11-3, and now sit just one point back of Windsor for the eighth and final playoff spot in the OUA West division.
Keigan Goetz (New Hamburg/) notched a goal and an assist against the Hawks, while Daniel Perigo(Truro/) added a pair of helpers. Eric Cimino (London/) also scored for Waterloo, while Trevor Martin(Ardrossan/) turned aside 27 shots for the victory.
Laurier got goals from Brandon Robinson, Erik Pushka, Christian Mroczkowski, and Jacob Hetherington to storm back from the three-goal first period deficit. Colin Furlong took the loss, stopping 20 of 21 shots in relief of Chris Festarini. The Hawks saw their record fall to 13-6-3 on the season, as they jockey for positioning at the top of the OUA West.
The Warriors seemed to carry the momentum of their emotional win over the Lancers into the first period of Saturday's game, as they swarmed the Hawks right from the opening faceoff. Moffat opened the scoring just over five minutes into the game, and Cimino doubled the Waterloo lead just over two minutes later when he walked into a loose puck from the line and blasted a rocket slapper past Festarini.
Later in the frame, Goetz made it 3-0 when he whacked home a rebound on the power play. The marker extended the rookie's goal-scoring streak to three games, and gave him a team-leading 12 goals on the season. That tally also chased Festarini from the Laurier crease, in favour of Furlong.
Robinson got one back for Laurier just before the end of the first, as he took the give-and-go feed from Pushka and beat Martin to the blocker side to make it 3-1 after 20 minutes. The Hawks seemed rejuvenated by that goal, and carried the play for the bulk of the second period, until Pushka's marker late in the frame cut the Waterloo lead to 3-2 heading into the third.
In the final stanza, Laurier scored twice within the first three minutes to take over the lead – first, Mroczkowski netted a goal to tie the score at 3-3, before Heatherington followed up the play as the trailer, and rifled home a blast to give Laurier a 4-3 advantage. But with exactly 5 minutes left, the Warriors' captain struck: After a Cam Nicoll (Loretto/) one-timer was kicked away by Furlong, Moffat slid the rebound home to send the game to overtime tied 4-4.
Laurier had a couple chances to end it in the extra session, but Martin made a huge glove stop on a 2-on-1 early in overtime, while Robinson rang a shot off the post later in the five-minute period. The nailbiting affair was sent to a shootout, where each team's first shooter was turned aside. Then, after Anthony Sorrentino and Nicoll each scored in the second round (the latter with a gorgeous backhand deek to the roof), Martin stymied Anthony Conti to put the game on Moffat's stick once again. The captain picked his way in and made no mistake, as he picked the top corner over Furlong's left shoulder to give Waterloo the 5-4 decision, and set off a huge celebration for the black and gold.
Source: athletics.uwaterloo.ca
Laurentian 0 Queen’s 4
KINGSTON, Ont. (January 20, 2018) – Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) earned his 50th career regular season win in style on Saturday night with a 4-0 shutout as the Queen's Gaels (15-5-3) defeated the Laurentian Voyageurs (5-15-1).
Bailie made 26 saves on the night as the Gaels started strong and were able to shut down the Voyageurs attack all night long. Two first period power play goals helped Queen's jump out to an early lead they would not relinquish as they won their third straight game.
GAME FLOW
The Tricolour came out firing in this one as Ryan Bloom (Calgary) was able to open the scoring just 1:31 into the game on a power play deflection goal off an Eric Ming (Williamstown, Ont.) shot. The power play stayed hot as Queen's would add another power play marker at 10:46 when Warren Steele(Williamsburg, Ont.) fired a one-timer past Voyageurs goaltender Mackenzie Savard. Queen's would enter the second period with a 2-0 advantage.
Luke Edwards (Kingston, Ont.) added to the Gaels lead midway through the second period on a weird deflection that found the net off of his body to make the score 3-0 heading into the third period.
Queen's continued their suffocating style of play in the third period as they were able to keep the Voyageurs off the scoresheet and preserve Bailie's big night. Alex Stothart (Ottawa) would round out the Gaels scoring at 15:14 with a wrist shot that beat Savard for his first of the season.
Bailie picked up the historical win in net for the Gaels while Savard took the loss in net for Laurentian, making 28 saves.
Source: gogaelsgo.com
Nipissing 0 UOIT 3
OSHAWA, Ont. – UOIT men's hockey all-time win leader, Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.), had his 40th on Saturday night with a 32-save shutout over the Nipissing Lakers.
The 3-0 victory was his fourth OUA shutout since joining the Ridgebacks in 2014-15.
"Every game is a battle now with six or seven games left, so we just wanted to be patient with this game and wear them down as the game went on," said head coach Curtis Hodgins. "I thought our game got better in the second and third for sure, but that's two evenly matched teams and that was a hard-working game."
Ben Blasko (Kingston, Ont.), who has had points in all but five Ridgebacks' games this year, opened the scoring 2:54 into the second period. After a Lakers turnover in the slot, he deked and held on to beat an outstretched Domenic Graham and give UOIT a 1-0 lead.
The goal was his seventh of the season and gave him his team-leading 26th point.
"Ben has been really good all year and has been one of our offensive catalysts," said Hodgins. "He's a very smart, headsy player. The thing I like most about him is that his complete game has come a long way. He's a crafty, smart hockey player and when he goes, our team goes."
Before the end of the second Tyler Mayea (Burlington, Ont.) beat a screened Graham with a blast along the ice from the point, giving the Ridgebacks 2-0 lead at the 15:45 mark.
In a fairly calm game, which only had 16 penalty minutes, Nipissing got into penalty trouble early in the third and on their second power play of the period the Ridgebacks capitalized as Brennan Roy (Iroquois Falls, Ont.) scored his fourth of the season from the top of the faceoff circle to ice the game with 11:25 to go.
Graham made 39 saves in the loss for the Lakers, who will now prepare for a rematch against the Ridgebacks in North Bay next Friday night.
For the Ridgebacks they wrap up their weekend at home on Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. against the Laurentian Voyageurs at the Campus Ice Centre.
As of Saturday night, UOIT now sits two points back of Carleton for fourth in the OUA eastern conference and two points ahead of Ottawa.
Source: uoitridgebacks.com
Other Scores:
Ottawa 4 McGill 3
January 21, 2018
Laurentian 3 UOIT 2
On Sunday night, the Voyageurs men's hockey team, led by Dylan Fitze's three-goals effort, topped the UOIT Ridgebacks 3-2 to split the weekend with one win and one loss.
The Ridgebacks opened the scoring on the powerplay at 4:42 when Loren Ulett found the back of the net behind Mackenzie Savard. Fitze answered immediately after for the Voyageurs at 5:08, tying the game at 1-1. Jacob Smith assisted on the goal.
Near the end of the first frame, Alex Yuill regained the Ridgeback's lead at 15:28, putting UOIT up 2-1 heading into the first intermission. Both teams had 11 shots on goal in the first 20 minutes.
Source: luvoyageurs.com
Concordia 4 Ottawa 3
The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees Men’s Hockey team overcame an early deficit, but narrowly fell short in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Concordia Stingers on Sunday night.
“Big point, at times we were the better team, at times we fell asleep. But considering the opposition we had this weekend, we’re satisfied with that. ” Head Coach Patrick Grandmaître said following the game.
Within the first five minutes of the game, Ottawa found themselves already trailing by a pair of goals, forcing Grandmaître to use his timeout. Mathieu Newcomb kickstarted the comeback late in the frame, with a far-side shot beating goaltender Marc-Antoine Turcotte. Just two minutes into the second, Newcomb buried a blast from the top of the circle on the power play to tie the game.
Concordia managed to regain the lead midway through the frame with a quick passing play to get the puck past Graham Hunt. Animosities boiled between the two clubs as the game progressed, with special teams units hitting the ice often on both sides. For the second time in the game, Ottawa would rely on an early goal in the period to things up. This time, Kevin Domingue raced in uncontested and buried his 16th goal of the season with a quick snap shot.
Following a tightly contested third period, neither team was able to score a go-ahead goal, and the game progressed to overtime. In the extra frame, Domingue used his foot speed to outrace a defender and get a prime shot on goal. Concordia collected the puck, the went to other way searching for a chance of their own.
Hunt made the first save, then found himself out of position, but regained composure in time to make the second save. Hunt’s acrobatic efforts weren’t enough however, as the Stingers found a way to convert on their next opportunity and take the win. “Our expectations are growing with this group,” Grandmaître said. “We’re showing we can play with anybody. Winning these types of games is not easy, so we’re doing a lot of good things, but to beat these top teams you probably need a full game. I would say ours was 75 to 80-percent full tonight.”
Source: geegees.ca
UQTR 2 Carleton 4
OTTAWA, ON- The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team stormed back in the second and third periods to defeat the Université de Quebec à Trois Riviéres (UQTR) Patriotes 4-2 on home ice.
“It wasn’t a very good first period for us tonight,” said Ravens coach Shaun Van Allen.
“The guys really stepped up in the second period, were really determined on the puck. We got more pucks to the net and made it difficult for UQTR.”
Four minutes into the first period the Ravens surrendered the game’s first goal when goaltender Francois Brassard (Gatineau, QC) made a stop on Patriotes forward Julien Gagne and thought he had froze the puck, but forward Jason Lavallee poked it through.
Despite protest from Carleton players and the coaching staff the gaol stood and gave the Patriotes the early 1-0 lead.
The first period ended with UQTR on top and dominating the Ravens in shots by a 14 to 5 margin.
In the second, the Ravens power play got on the board to tie the contest when Adam Chapman (Barrie, ON) found the rebound from C.J Garcia’s (Pickering, ON) point shot and chipped it up over Patriotes goalie Sebastien Auger for his fourth goal of the year.
The power play struck again for the Ravens, just before time was set expire in the second, when Chapman fed Matthew Sozanski (Calgary, AB) and wired a slap shot through traffic past Auger.
The Ravens outshot UQTR 16 to 5 in the second frame.
Seven minutes into the third Jared Steege (Cobden, ON) jumped onto a rebound in front of the UQTR net and popped it up and over Auger for the 3-1 lead.
UQTR cut the deficit to one on the power play when Gagne took a pass from forward Devon St-Hilaire and fired a wrist shot up over Brassard’s blocker.
With 40 seconds left, while on the power play, UQTR pulled Auger for the extra attacker but the gamble ended up costing them when Alexandre Boivin (Ottawa, ON) took a wrist shot from just inside the blue line that went into the empty cage, sealing the victory for the Ravens.
Brassard stopped 30 of 32 shots in his 17th game of the season for his 9th win.
The Ravens finished 2 for 5 on the power play while only giving up one goal on the penalty kill. Boivin’s empty net marker came while shorthanded.
“Usually if you win the plus minus on special teams you’re going to win a lot of hockey games,” said Van Allen.
UQTR were forced to forfeit 20 games dating back to the 2016-17 season due to the use of an ineligible player and giving teams that originally lost two points.
“It is unfortunate and quite a few teams get rewarded for not winning,” said Van Allen of the situation.
“You feel for them. They work really hard and they get 16 points taken away from them. They now drop to eighth and are not an eighth seed by any imagination.”
Source: goravens.ca