OUA Men's Hockey Roundup (Jan. 29)
January 24, 2018
Ottawa 3 UQTR 6
January 25, 2018
Laurier 2 Western 6
LONDON, Ont. – Two goals each from Cordell Jamesand Ray Huether led the Western Mustangs to their seventh straight win with a 6-2 victory over the the Laurier Golden Hawks on Thursday night at Thompson Arena.
"We just want to keep playing the way we've been playing," said James, "we've been beating good teams and if we keep rolling like this going into the playoffs I think we will be a tough team to beat."
The win gives the Mustangs an 11-9-2 record, keeping them undefeated in 2018, and moves them past Lakehead for sixth in the OUA West standings. Laurier has a 13-7-3 record following the loss, and are currently tied for third place with York after the Ryerson Rams jumped into second with an overtime victory over the Brock Badgers on Wednesday night.
James and Huether were joined by Mitchell Fitzmorris and Anthony Stefano in putting up goals for the Mustangs. James' two goals from tonight's game move him in a three way tie for second on the team with seven goals alongside Stefano and Kyle Pettit.
"We need those veterans to chip in offensively as well," said assistant coach Patrick Ouellet. "Big comeback for Cordell, playing his first game back since the Christmas break, so a great effort by those guys."
The purple and white dominated the first period, taking the lead less than a minute in with tip-in goal from James.
Huether extended that lead to 2-0 early in the second, scoring on a shot from the blue line a little less than three minutes into the frame.
James then tallied his second goal of the night midway through the period, scoring on a bad angle shot from around the goalline to give the home side a three-goal lead.
Neil Arid cut into that lead just over two minutes into the third, converting assists from Christian Mroczkowski and Kyle Jenkins to pull the Golden Hawks to within two.
Western didn't wait long to respond, with Fitzmorris scoring his second of the season only 36 seconds later to make it 4-1 for the purple and white.
The Mustangs would go on to add two more insurance markers in the frame off goals from Stefano and Huether. Matt Franczyk rounded out the scoring for Laurier to make it a 6-2 final in favour of the Mustangs.
Although the team is currently in the midst of their longest winning streak of the season, the Mustangs are trying to keep approach things on a game-by-game basis.
"We've got to throw these back behind us," said Huether. "Next game starts 0-0, we've got to come out and just play like we are and we should be alright."
Source: westernmustangs.ca
Ryerson 4 Brock 3
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – It was a night of celebration for the Rams in St. Catharines, as they snapped a three-game losing streak against the Brock Badgers on Thursday night, picking up their first win of the season against them in the process.
Heading into Thursday night’s contest, the Rams had dropped their first two games to the Badgers, marking the first time the Ryerson program had lost to Brock since the 2014-15 season.
However, at the beginning of the first period, it appeared as though the Rams were prepared to turn things around. Nearly matching the Badgers in shots throughout the first twenty minutes of action, the Rams were relentless offensively, pressuring Brock on every inch of the ice.
This effort eventually paid off, as Ryerson would be first on the board as defenseman Greg DiTomaso (Etobicoke, Ont.) would tap in an unassisted goal, his second of the season, to put the Rams up 1-0 late in the first period.
Heading into the second period the Badgers seemed determined to sweep the regular season series against Ryerson, increasing the physicality and intensity in their playing style.
This change in strategy seemed to provide dividends for Brock, as they took full control of the second period from start to finish. Six minutes into the second frame, Brock defenseman Dexter Weber (New Dundee, Ont.) put home his third goal of the season on the power play to tie up the scoreboard at one goal apiece. With less than five minutes to play in the second period, Brock would take the lead as freshman forward Cosimo Fontana (Toronto, Ont.) would put his team ahead with a break-away goal. Fontana’s contribution would quickly be followed up by teammate Josh Timpano (Orillia, Ont.), who would record his third goal of the season to put the Badgers up 3-1 heading into the final frame.
If the second period belonged to the Badgers however, the third period belong to one man: Ryerson’s Erick DeLaurentis. With two big goals in the third period the man from Markham tied up the game for the Rams in a thrilling fashion and with the team’s defensemen holding the line, the Rams were able to send this contest with Brock into overtime.
The team subsequently capitalized upon their tremendous third period in the extra frame, as senior forward Aaron Armstrong (Teeswater, Ont.) would tap in the game winning goal just one minute in to give the Rams a much-needed victory.
The win marks the first time the Rams have beaten the Badgers this season, as they gain two valuable points on the road.
Source: ryersonrams.ca
January 26, 2018
York 5 Lakehead 4
Team captain Shayne Rover scored the winning goal with just 38 seconds left in overtime to lead the York University Lions men's hockey team to a 5-4 comeback victory over the Lakehead Thunderwolves at Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ont., on Friday night.
The Lions twice trailed by two goals, including a 4-2 deficit after the second period of play. But a furious rally in the third period sent the game to the extra frame, where Rover was the hero while scoring his first goal of the season. It was a part of a three-point night as he also tallied a pair of assists in the win.
Lakehead opened the scoring just 4:12 into the game on a power play tally by Sam Schutt. The lead was short-lived, however, as Kyle Campbell netted his own power play goal at 10:37 to level the game at 1-1.
The Thunderwolves wasted little time pulling ahead after that, with Cooper Leitch scoring only nine seconds after Campbell's goal and then Scott Gall stretching the lead to two only 34 seconds after that. Lakehead carried the 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
Just 33 seconds into the second period the Lions began the comeback with a goal off the stick of Scott Feser, but again a quick goal negated the headway they were making. Leitch was again the scorer, this time finding the back of the net only 17 seconds after Feser's goal for a 4-2 advantage. Those would be the only two goals of the second period.
The Lions dominated the final frame, outshooting the Thunderwolves 16-4 and getting the two goals they needed to extend the game. Reid Jackman scored at 3:48 and Colton Vannucci scored the tying goal at 9:11 to give the Lions an important point in the standings, and Rover ensured they'd get two in the dying seconds of the extra frame.
The Lions have won three straight and are now alone in second place in the OUA West standings with a 15-8-1 record for 31 points, just one point ahead of Ryerson and two ahead of Laurier. The Thunderwolves remain in a playoff spot with a 10-8-4 mark to tie Western for seventh place.
Source: yorkulions.ca
Concordia 2 Carleton 4
OTTAWA, ON- The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team used a strong second and third period effort to edge out a 4-2 win over the Concordia Stingers on home ice.
“I thought we fought through,” said Ravens head coach Shaun Van Allen. “I didn’t think we had very good legs for the first two periods, but we found a way back.”
Carleton struck first while on the power play when captain Brett Welychka (London, ON) fired a wrist shot from the slot up and over the glove of Stingers goalie Marc-Antione Turcotte.
The period ended with the Ravens holding the 1-0 advantage but trailing 14-5 in shot on net.
Seven minutes into the second the Stingers tied the game when defencemen Mathieu Desaultets placed a wrist shot up and over Ravens goalie Francois Brassard.
Josh Burnside (Brampton, ON) failed to convert on a penalty shot with Turcotte making a pad stop.
The Stingers held a 12-8 edge in shots on goal during the period.
While on the penalty kill Welychka broke in alone on the Stingers net and was awarded a penalty shot. Turcotte got the better of the Ravens captain stopping him.
The Ravens got the lead when Dakota Odgers (Spy Hill, SK) wired a snap shot off the crossbar and Burnside made up for the missed penalty shot finding the rebound and firing it past Turcotte.
The Ravens took a two-goal lead when David Weckworth (Kanata, ON) fired a slapshot from the point that Odgers got a stick to redirecting it into the net.
The Stingers cut the lead to one when they forced a turnover in the Ravens end and Curtis Gass fired a slap shot past Brassard.
With a minute left to go while on the penalty kill Brett Gustavsen (Scarborough, ON) rushed into the Stingers end and popped the puck into the empty net.
Tempers flared following the goal with Concordia’s Francis Brunelle receiving a game misconduct and Adam Chapman getting a roughing penalty from a scrum of players at centre ice.
“I always assume when we play Concordia it is going to be a physical game,” said Van Allen.
“A little bit of emotion taking over. You expect it for that type of game, but you don’t really want to see it,” he added about the end of the contest.
Source: goravens.ca
Guelph 5 Toronto 4
TORONTO – There never seems to be a shortage of goals when the Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team visits Toronto. The Gryphons scored early and often but ultimately had to come back to defeat the Varsity Blues 5-4 Friday night at Varsity Arena.
Seth Swenson scored twice for Guelph (17-5-1), including the winner at 16:59 of the second period. The fourth-year winger from Parker, Colorado opened the scoring just minutes into the game but his second of the night secured the eighth victory in the last 10 games for the OUA West leaders. J.P. Villeneuve broke down the right wing, cut to the net and found Swenson, who coolly deked Varsity Blues' goaltender Frederic Foulem to complete a Gryphons' comeback.
Guelph coughed up a two-goal leads on two occasions and after going down 4-3 on three unanswered Toronto goals, the visitors mustered a response. It started with a Josh McFadden power-play marker, a blast from the slot at 13:55 of the second period before Swenson's second ultimately decided it. Josh McFadden heads up ice at Varsity Arena
"It was a real good test for us," said head coach Shawn Camp. "We expected Toronto to come out flying because they're fighting for their playoff lives. We found a way to get the lead back and keep it.
"Some games you have to gut it out like this."
Toronto had a great opportunity to send the game to overtime with a late power play. The Varsity Blues pulled Foulem for a 6-on-4 and Matt Campagna, who had scored earlier on a penalty shot, was robbed by the right pad of Andrew Masters with under a minute remaining in regulation.
"Andrew made a very timely save to preserve the win," Camp said of his goaltender, who was came into the game in a relief appearance. Masters stopped all 17 shots he faced.
Max McCutcheon (two points) and Trevor Morbeck also scored for the Gryphons, while Cody Thompsonand Michael Stevens had two assists each. Jason Da Silva got the call in net and made 11 saves before giving way to Masters midway through the second period.
The two teams combined for 10 goals the last time they met in Toronto, a 6-4 Guelph win back on Dec. 1. And they were well beyond that pace early in a fast-paced first period as Guelph jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead.
Swenson scored his seventh of the year just 3:04 into the game and McCutchen doubled the lead at the 6:24 mark. But Toronto prevented the Gryphons from running away with the game when Scott Kirton got one past Da Silva at 8:22.
The Gryphons didn't let up and Morbeck scored his seventh for a 3-1 lead, Guelph's third goal on its first nine shots. The Varsity Blues answered just 1:22 later when Campagna found the back of the net on a penalty shot at 13:47, completing the scoring in a wild opening period.
Toronto erased the deficit just 56 seconds into the second after Hunter Atchison buried a rebound. And the Varsity Blues grabbed their first lead of the game on the power play at 10:38, their third straight goal. Curtis Harvey beat Da Silva, who was then pulled for Masters.
Source: gryphons.ca
UOIT 2 Nipissing 3
It was old-time hockey at Memorial Gardens as the Nipissing Lakers men's hockey team hosted the UOIT Ridgebacks.
In a physical playoff-like battle, the Lakers picked up a key 3-2 victory as they push towards the post-season, with a shot at climbing the OUA East Division standings.
After a scoreless first period, Nipissing put together one of their better periods of hockey, maybe all season, in the second.
They found the back of the net twice as Danny Desrochers and Brett Jeffries each scored.
Desrochers redirected a Dylan Staples pass on the doorstep to make it 1-0 Lakers just before the midway point of the game.
Colin Campbell also earned an assist on the game's opening goal.
About five minutes later, Jeffries tallied his first career OUA goal to give Nipissing a 2-0 advantage after 40 minutes.
UOIT cut into the Lakers' lead with a goal early in the third period.
Three minutes later, Colin Campbell restored the two-goal cushion thanks to an unbelievable individual effort.
Campbell outskated the UOIT defender, made a move with one hand and finished the play off sliding the puck into the net.
Once again, the Ridgebacks would cut into the Nipissing lead, scoring on the power play with just under seven minutes remaining in the game.
And despite late power play chances and pressure, the Lakers and goalie Brent Moran held on for the victory.
Moran finished with 35 saves picking up the win, with the final shots reading 37-32 in favour of UOIT.
Source: nulakers.ca
Waterloo 4 Windsor 7
The Windsor Lancers men's hockey team took to the ice for a pivotal playoff implication game with the Waterloo Warriors. Both teams are in the midst of sub .500 campaigns and desperately need a win in an effort to stay afloat in the OUA playoff race. The Lancers were able to stave off a two goal deficit to win big 7-4 and keep their head above water in the hunt for the post season.
GAME STATS
The Lancers special teams had a fantastic outing, scoring on three of their six power plays. The Warriors on the other hand only managed to score on one of their six power plays. All in all, 72 combined penalty minutes were served in the game.
Both Lancer goal tenders allowed two shots in, Jonathan Reinhart faced 22 shots in relief of starter Blake Richard who faced 10 shots. Warrior goalie Trevor Martin stopped 37 of the 34 shots he faced in net.
Lancer Ryan Shaw netted two goals for the Lancers and was the only player to register multiple goals on the night.
GAME FLOW
The Warriors got things going in a hurry when Mitch Elliot beat Blake Richard on his first shot of the game to put Waterloo up one early. The Lancers battled back quick with an Ian Parker goal 11 minutes later on a power play. The next two goals belonged to the visiting Warriors as Joey Champigny and Markson Bechtold each scored.
The second period however, would be coloured Blue and Gold as the Lancers scored five unanswered goals. Alex Friesen made the most of a power play opportunity to shrink the Waterloo lead to one. Later, at the 11:20 mark of the second period, the Lancers scored again when Ryan Shaw beat the Warriors' Martin to tie the game at three. Kody Gagnon gave the Lancers their first lead with seven minutes left in the second and two minutes later, Ryan Shaw scored the eventual game winner as the Lancers went on to win 7-4.
Source: golancers.ca
RMC 3 Laurentian 4
On Friday night, the Voyageurs men's hockey team beat the visiting RMC Paladins 4-3 in overtime to earn their second win in a row.
The game ensued in a clear cut motive as both teams needed the win. The Voyageurs opened the scoring on the powerplay as Richard Therrien scored his team leading 10th goal at 7:55. Dylan Fitzeand Blake Forslund both assisted on the play.
RMC was quick to answer, however, as Rhett Willcox beat Mackenzie Savard in net at 8:53 to the tie the contest, neither team dropped in intensity as the battle prevailed.
RMC would add another late in the period as Willcox scored again at 18:37, sending both teams to the first intermission with the Paladins up 2-1.
The Voyageurs powerplay stayed hot as Xavier Couture tied the game on the man advantage at 10:51 with his seventh goal of the year. This time Brent Pedersen and Nicolas Dionne picked up helpers on the play.
RMC found a way to score again late in the period, as Bruce Hornbrook found the back of the net at 18:55, again sending the teams into the intermission with the Paladins up by one.
Fitze would get his second point of the night early in the third period as he tied the game at 1:47 with his seventh goal of the season. Jacob Smith picked up the lone assist on the game-tying goal.
Fitze's goal would be the only goal of the period, despite the Vees outshooting RMC 11-8 in the final period, and the teams were heading for overtime.
In the sudden death period, Derek Varrin secured the victory for the Vees at 1:21 while goaltender Savard picked up the assist.
With the win, the Voyageurs are now on a two-game winning streak and are two points out of the final playoff spot. The Vees will look to make it three in a row as they host Queen's on Saturday night.
Source: luvoyageurs.com
January 27, 2018
Guelph 5 Laurier 3
WATERLOO, Ont. – As the No. 8-ranked team in the country and the first-place team in the OUA West division, the Gryphons men's hockey team has handled most of the challenges thrown their way to this point in the 2017-18 season. Saturday afternoon's game at Laurier presented the Gryphs with a new challenge: dealing with a tight turnaround. The Gryphons, who were less than 24 hours removed from a hard-fought Friday night victory over Toronto, would handle the tight turnaround challenge just fine, winning 5-3 over the Laurier Golden Hawks in a Saturday afternoon affair at the Waterloo Recreational Complex.
"Any time you have to play a back-to-back situation, it is going to be tough, especially when both games are on the road," said Gryphons assistant coach Justin Stevens. "The guys were resilient today. They stayed positive, kept pushing and found a way to win."
Trailing 3-2 midway through the third period, the Gryphons got a pair of goals from Cody Thompson as well as an empty netter from Michael Stevens to secure the 5-3 road win. With the victory, the Gryphons improve to 18-5-1 on the season and now sit four points clear of second-place York for top spot in the OUA West division. The Gryphons also have a game-in-hand on the Lions. Laurier meanwhile fall to 13-8-3 and sit fourth in the standings.
Gryphons rookie goalie Andrew Masters made 24 saves for the win, including several big stops in the opening period, none better than a pad save to deny Laurier during a 2-on-0 break. The Gryphons would strike twice in the opening period, with rookie blueliner Mathieu Henderson (Brantford, ON) firing home his 3rd goal of the season to give the Gryphons a 1-0 lead midway through the first. With less than a minute to go in the opening frame, the Gryphon lead would grow to 2-0 thanks to a highlight reel effort from first-year phenom Todd Winder. Winder would undress a Golden Hawks defender before going five-hole on Laurier goalie Chris Festarini. It was Winder's team-leading 14th goal of the season, putting him just three goals behind the top goal scorers in all of U SPORTS.
After Laurier stormed back to tie the game up at 2-2 with a pair of second period goals, the Gryphons would find themselves on an extended short-handed situation early in the third period after Josh McFadden was given a 10-minute major for charging. The Golden Hawks would take advantage on the power play, with Erik Pushka scoring at the 2:47 mark to put Laurier ahead 3-2.
The Gryphons would respond at the 9:02 mark when third year forward Cody Thompson (Mississauga, ON) would tip home Mark Raycroft's point shot to tie the game at 3-3. Thompson, a former member of the OHL's Mississauga Steelheads, would strike again with 1:20 remaining in regulation, potting a rebound past Festarini to put the Gryphons ahead 4-3 with his 2nd of the night and 9th of the season.
The empty netter from Michael Stevens would cap a dominant third period by the Gryphons, who outshot the Hawks 13-4 over the final 20 minutes of play.
Saturday afternoon's game, which was a re-match of the Frosty Mug played nine days prior, also featured plenty of rough stuff, with the two teams combining for 51 minutes of penalties, including a pair of 10-minute misconducts (one by each team).
Source: gryphons.ca
Ryerson 3 Toronto 4
Third-year forward Matthew Campagna tallied four assists in leading the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team to a 4-3 overtime victory over the Ryerson Rams on Saturday night (Jan. 27) at Varsity Arena.
With the win, Toronto's fifth in their past seven games, the Blues improve to 9-14-1 and even the season series with Ryerson at 2-2. The Rams drop to 14-7-3 with four games remaining in the regular season.
Toronto sealed the victory just 20 seconds into overtime as Campagna went end to end, skated the puck into the crease but Rams netminder Taylor Dupuis poke checked it right to second-year defenceman Willy Paul, who buried it to seal the win.
The Blues opened the scoring on their first powerplay opportunity of the game as Aidan Wallace tipped in a Matt Campagna point shot 8:56 into the first frame.
The Rams evened the score though as Lucas Froese finished off a cross-crease pass from Steven Harland seven minutes later.
The game was tied at 1-1 at the first intermission.
Ryerson scored two goals 48 seconds apart, both off of turnovers in the Toronto zone, as Cavin Leth and Aaron Armstrong put the visitors up 3-1.
U of T would cut the deficit before the period ended. Third-year defenceman Matt Heffernan buried a long rebound off of a Casey Knight shot for his first goal of the season.
The Rams were up 3-2 heading into the final frame.
Toronto evened the score midway through the third period as second-year defenceman Justin Brand finished off a nice tic-tac-toe passing play with Campagna and Max Lindsay.
Rookie netminder Frederic Foulem made 13 saves before leaving the game due to injury. Veteran Andrew Hunt came in to finish the game and ended the night with 12 saves in the win.
Source: varsityblues.ca
Carleton 1 McGill 6
MONTREAL -- Christophe Lalonde of Mirabel, Que., tallied twice and added a helper as No.5 ranked McGill manhandled the Carleton Ravens 6-1 in OUA men's hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.
The result gave division-leading McGill a four-game season series sweep over the third-place Ravens and was the sixth consecutive conquest of Carleton, improving the Redmen record to 34-24-1 in 59 lifetime meetings overall since the rivalry began in 1968.
The Redmen led 1-0 after the opening period, 4-1 after two and added a pair in the final stanza. McGill outshot the visitors 43-26, including a stunning 19-1 performance in the first period, where the Ravens registered their first shot -- on a power-play -- with just 11 seconds remaining. It marked the fifth time in team history that McGill had limited an opponent to only one shot in a period but was still one shy of the school record, which occurred on Jan. 22, 1994 in the second period of a 5-0 home-ice win over Toronto.
The contest featured 19 penalties and McGill was especially brilliant on special teams, going 2-for-6 on the power-play and neutralizing nine of 10 man-advantage situations for Carleton, while scoring a shorthanded goal. The Redmen PK unit is tops in the 20-team OUA and second in the nation with an 89.3 per cent efficiency. Only StFX is better at 91.9.
"We were very happy with how we controlled the game on special teams," said McGill bench boss Kelly Nobes, who improved his lifetime record to 369-267-14 in 650 career games over his 17 years at McGill, Laurier and RMC. "I also liked our start tonight. We were real strong in the first period and pushed the pace... and that kind of set the tone for the rest of the game."
Lalonde, a 24-year-old arts junior, connected for both PP markers, giving the Redmen a 1-0 lead at 7:54 of the first and making it 3-1 at 9:39 of the second. The feisty 5-foot-9, 188-pound forward now leads the Redmen in goals with a career-high 13 and ranks second in points with 21, which matches his best accomplished last year.
"Lally can score goals and gets the hard ones, in the blue paint," Nobes said. "His first was like that tonight on the power-play and we need him playing like that for us to continue having success. But at the same time, we are getting contributions throughout the lineup. If you look at our goal distribution, they're spread across a large range of guys and that's going to be important for us going down the stretch."
Lalonde, one of five different Redmen scorers in the game, is one of three to reach the 10-goal plateau and six others are within reach of that mark.
After Brett Welychka tied the game at 1-1 with his 11th marker on a power-play at 2:37 of the middle period, McGill responded with five unanswered goals. Sophomore Samuel Tremblay of St. Hubert, Que., made it 2-1 with the game-winner, his 11th goal at 8:18 of the middle frame. Lalonde followed just 81 seconds later and then defenceman Nathan Chiarlitti of Maple, Ont., made it 4-1 at 17:49. Antoine Dufour-Plante, a freshman from Montreal, made is 5-1 with his sixth at 3:51 of the third and fan-favourite Frederic Gamelin of St. Polycarpe, Que., added the cherry on top with his fifth, a shorthanded tally at 14:55.
The Redmen lead the nation with eight shorthanded goals, four shy of the team's single-season record.
Play-making centre Jerome Verrier collected three assists and now ranks fourth among all U SPORTS assist leaders. The economics junior from Drummondville, Que., sits second in the OUA scoring race with a 10-27-37 record in 25 games. He is nestled between Concordia's Anthony Beauregard (17-38-55) and Ryerson's Matt Mistele (14-19-33).
Goaltender Louis-Philippe Guindon saved 25 of 26 shots for the victory, improving his record to 17-5. The science sophomore from St. Joseph du Lac, Que., leads the country in wins, is ranked second in the league and fifth nationally in goals-against average (2.16) and owns a save percentage of .919. Guindon had a brief scare with 6:05 remaining in the contest when he was hit by a puck on his helmet. Back-up netminder Jacob Gervais-Chouinard, who was dressing for the first time this season after graduating last year, began to warm-up behind the bench but Guindon was able to continue. Gervais-Chouinard, the team's No.1 goalie in the four previous seasons, is on call as one of the Montreal Canadiens emergency goaltenders. He was replacing back-up Joe Fleschler, who was injured last week.
Sophomore Francois Brassard started for the Ravens and took the loss, dropping to 10-8. He was beaten four times on 31 shots before being yanked after two periods. Justin Nichols, also a sophomore, played the final period and conceded two goals on a dozen shots.
With three games left to play, McGill sits atop the OUA East with a 20-4-1 record and has reached the 20-win plateau for the fifth consecutive season and the eighth time in nine years. The Redmen have now assured themselves of finishing no worse than second place and can clinch the regular-season pennant with a victory in Trois-Rivieres on Wednesday, Jan. 31. That date will mark the 142nd anniversary of McGill's first-ever game, in 1877.
The UQTR Patriotes are in eighth-place at 8-16-1 after forfeiting 19 points due to an ineligible player. The Pats, who also have three games remaining, are in a three-way fight with RMC (6-14-4) and Laurentian (7-16-1) for the eighth and final playoff berth in the division. Should they finish eighth, they would likely meet archrival McGill in the OUA quarter-finals, slated to begin on Valentine's Day.
Source: mcgillathletics.ca
Brock 3 Western 2
LONDON, Ont. – An overtime goal from Josh Timpano handed the Mustangs their first loss of 2018 and snapped the team's seven-game winning streak, as the Brock Badgers defeated Western by a 3-2 score on Saturday night at Thompson Arena.
"It's alright. Fifteen points in the last eight games, it's alright," said Mustangs assistant coach Patrick Ouellet on the mood in the dressing room following the team's first loss since December. "You never want to lose obviously, but you know it's coming at some point. We only played 20 minutes tonight I thought, but the third period was by far our best period. The first 40 was really sluggish and wasn't good. But, when you go on a winning streak like that it's bound to happen, and it happened tonight."
With the overtime loss Western moves to 12-9-3 on the year and are in sixth in the OUA West standings. Brock improves their record to 12-8-5, and are currently tied for fourth in the West with the Laurier Golden Hawks.
"With the standings as tight as they are we'll take whatever points we can get," said Trevor Warnaar "I know we made some mistakes and we didn't have the best start I didn't think, but we showed we're still a good team and we're going to compete every shift. I know we finished strong, we had a good third [period], and collecting points is big in the standings right now and we're just going to keep going."
Timpano's goal came at 3:21 of the extra period and served as the veteran forward's fourth goal of the season and second in as many games. Brandon O'Quinn and Cosimo Fontana provided the other two goals for the Badgers, while Clint Windsor made 33 saves in the win.
Zach Core and Spenser Cobbold supplied the offence for Western, registering their second and seventh goals of the year, respectively. Luke Peressini suffered his first loss of the 2017-18 campaign in the Mustangs net, making 22 stops on Saturday night.
Brock opened the scoring just 23 seconds into the game, as the puck slipped out from behind the goal line and in front of the Mustangs net where O'Quinn tapped it in to give the Badgers an early lead.
Despite the early advantage for the Badgers it would be a back and forth affair for the remainder of the period, with each team sending eight shots towards the opposing netminder. The Mustangs pressed late in the frame thanks to consecutive power play opportunities, but were unable to break the deadlock, sending the game into the first intermission with Brock leading 1-0.
Western responded midway through the second period, as Core picked up the puck and skated into the zone before firing a shot from near the top of the faceoff circle to even things up at 1-1.
That lead wouldn't last long, as some nice tic-tac-toe passing from the Badgers deep in the Mustangs zone finished with Fontana going high on the glove side to regain the lead for Brock a little less than five minutes later.
Just as the first period opened with a quick goal so too did the third, with the Mustangs tying the game at 2:45 of the frame. Cobbold picked up a rebound in front of the Badgers net, moved across the crease and sent it past a sprawling Windsor to make it a 2-2 game.
Cobbold's goal would prove to be the final one of regulation and set the stage for an overtime finish. The Badgers clinched the win at 3:21 of the extra period as Timpano converted a pair of nice passes from Skylar Pacheco and Ayden MacDonald to send the visiting team away with a 3-2 victory.
The Mustangs are back in action next week with a busy schedule that sees the team play three games in four days.
"Big week next week, we know we've got three games in four nights, so a lot of rest – not much hard intensity at practice," said Ouellet. "It'll be a lot of flow drills and making sure we're sharp on special teams."
"It's going to be a busy week, it's going to be a tough week, guys are going to be doing whatever they can to prepare. It's huge, we're going to be playing teams that we're jockeying for spots, it's a busy week coming up and we're just going to keep pushing," said Warnaar on the team's approach for the coming week.
Source: westernmustangs.ca
York 4 Lakehead 0
Despite getting significantly outshot, the York University Lions men's hockey team won its second straight game against the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Saturday night with a 4-0 victory at Fort William Gardens.
Starting goaltender Mack Shields, York' reigning male athlete of the week, continued his tremendous play with an impressive 38-save performance to earn the shutout between the pipes.
The Lions started off the scoring early in the first period with a goal from Josh LaFrance just five minutes into the game. He was assisted by Shayne Rover, who had a big game the night before with two points and the winning overtime goal.
Morgan Messenger scored a short-handed goal with a minute left in the period to give the Lions a 2-0 lead at the end of the first. Messenger was assisted by Reid Jackman.
The Lions extended their lead to 3-0 with another shorthanded goal, this time from Jackman late in the second period. Messenger had the assist on this tally.
Alex Mowbray scored into an empty net at the end of the third period, assisted by Stefano Pezzetta and Jack Goranson, to round out the scoring.
The Lions now have a 16-8-1 season record and a four-game winning streak two weeks away from playoffs. They remain alone in second place in the OUA West Division, two points back of the Guelph Gryphons but with one less game left to play.
Source: yorkulions.ca
UQTR 2 Ottawa 5
Saturday night, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees men’s hockey team avenged a mid-week loss to the UQTR Patriotes with a 5-2 win on home ice as part of the Alumni Day festivities.
“It’s huge, special teams were a major factor. Obviously going three-for-five on the power play and going four-for-four on the penalty kill on our end is huge,” said assistant coach Brent Sullivan following the game. “(Anthony Brodeur) was huge as well, nice to see him bounce back after [Wednesday’s game]. It’s big, we need to build momentum though and take it into next weekend.”
After conceding an early goal midway through the opening period, the Gee-Gees rallied back with a pair of power play goals. First, Connor Sills buried a loose puck in the crease to tie the game, then Mitchell Gibson scored on a quick wrist shot to take the lead and close out the period.
In the second period, the teams exchanged chances with quick breakouts each way. Anthony Brodeur made the best of his 38 saves with a flash of the leather on a UQTR breakaway. A blast from the point would eventually beat Brodeur and find the top corner to tie the game minutes before intermission.
Early in the third period, the Gee-Gees turned to the cycle game in hopes of restoring the lead. Médric Mercier collected a puck at the blue line and unleashed a slap shot into the top corner of the net. Moments later, Quinn O’Brien tapped in a rebound to extend the lead.
Mercier’s flare on offence would persist later in the frame. Off the draw to open a power play, Mercier released another slap shot from the point. This time, the puck went bar-down and into the net, bringing the fans to their feet with the highlight reel goal.
“(Adam Beveridge) made a good pass over to me, I tried to get all I could on there and it was enough to get it,” said Mercier.
Earlier in the week, the Patriotes defeated the Gee-Gees 6-3 in their first meeting of the season. The Gee-Gees trailed 4-3 late in the game before a pair of empty net goals deflated hopes of a comeback. Cody Drover lead the way offensively, tallying two primary assists.
The Gee-Gees will return to the ice on Friday, Feb. 2 when they travel to Concordia to take on the Stingers for the final time this regular season.
Source: geegees.ca
Waterloo 2 Windsor 1
In a virtual must-win game for their playoff aspirations, a pair of veteran Waterloo Warriors propelled their club to a huge two points.
Mike Morrison (Hamilton/) returned from injury to make 24 saves - plus three more in the shootout - and Mike Moffat (Waterloo/)scored the only shootout goal to give Waterloo a 2-1 victory over the Windsor Lancers on Saturday night at the South Windsor Arena.
The victory gave Waterloo a split of the weekend doubleheader with the Lancers, after Windsor claimed a 7-4 victory on Friday night. The Warriors now sit two points behind the Lancers for the last playoff spot in the OUA West division, with Waterloo holding a game in hand on Windsor.
Nick Halagian (St. Catharines/) scored the only regulation time goal in Waterloo's victory on Saturday, while Windsor captain Blake Blondeel tied the game at 1-1 with seven minutes to play in the third. Jonathan Reinhart took the loss between the Lancer pipes, turning aside 26 shots.
The second leg of the doubleheader was a defensive, tight-checking affair, but the drama ratcheted up a level once regulation expired. First, Morrison made a huge glove save early in the extra session, before Reinhart robbed Michael Siddall (St. Mary's/) on a breakaway in overtime. Then, Morrison and the Warriors penalty-killing unit went to work after Daniel Perigo (Truro/) was assessed a tripping penalty, weathering a storm in which the Lancers barely left the offensive zone for the entire two minutes.
Those efforts sent the game to a shootout, where the goaltenders took over: Morrison and Reinhart traded saves through the first two rounds of the shootout, until Moffat made a gorgeous deke to the forehand to beat the Windsor keeper. Reinhart argued - perhaps that his pad was pushed in by Moffat's stick, or that the post was dislodged before the puck crossed the line – but the goal stood. Morrison then completed the dramatic win by stymieing Kyle Hope, giving Waterloo an integral two points.
The win became especially important given the events of the first game between the two teams on Friday night, as the Lancers scored six straight goals to claim a 7-4 victory. Ryan Shaw scored twice for Windsor, while Alex Friesen added a goal and two assists for the Lancers. Meanwhile, Perigo notched a goal and a helper, and Moffat chipped in with two assists for the Warriors in a losing cause. Joey Champigny (East Angus/), Mitch Elliot (Prince George/), and Markson Bechtold (Strathmore/) also earned goals for Waterloo.
Reinhart earned the victory, stopping 20 shots after replacing Blake Richard at the start of the second period. Trevor Martin(Ardrossan/) made 27 stops to take the loss in the Waterloo net.
The Warriors jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 20 seconds in, thanks to a one-time blast from Elliiot. The Warriors were able to extend their advantage to 3-1 early in the second, but Friesen scored a power play goal to cut the Waterloo lead to 3-2 just moments later.
Then, just past the midway point of the middle stanza, the Lancers exploded: Shaw got on the board first, before Kody Gagnon gave Windsor their first lead of the game. Then, Shaw tallied again, and Ryan Taylor found twine, giving the Lancers four straight goals in a span of just 7:31. All of a sudden, a promising Waterloo lead had become a 6-3 deficit after forty minutes. The clubs exchanged goals in the final frame, giving Windsor the 7-4 victory.
Source: athletics.uwaterloo.ca
RMC 4 Nipissing 3
There's one thing for sure, the Nipissing Lakers and RMC Paladins know how to entertain.
The Lakers and Paladins hit the ice and added another chapter to a growing rivalry as the Lakers hosted their ninth annual Military Appreciation Night.
The game went down to the wire, with the Paladins scoring with 15 seconds left to come away with a by a 4-3 win over Nipissing.
The Paladins struck first, scoring the lone goal of the first period that involved a number of big hits and a lot of physical play.
Nipissing answered and quickly erased their one goal deficit, scoring three goals in the second period to take a 3-1 lead to the dressing room after 40 minutes.
Goals by Colin Campbell, a beauty by Danny Desrochers and a perfect redirect nby Lucas Brown put Nipissing up by two after two periods.
Desrochers also earned an assist, finishing with a pair of points.
RMC, however, refused to go away and scored twice in the third to tie the game at three, setting up a dramatic finish.
The shotclock was controlled by the Paladins, finishing 43-30.
Brent Moran finished with 39 saves in the loss, but was outstanding the entire game.
Source: nulakers.ca
Concordia 3 UOIT 5
OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT men's hockey team bounced back from a loss on Friday night with an upset 5-3 victory over the No. 10 ranked Concordia Stingers in a hard-fought affair at the Campus Ice Centre.
As the playoffs quickly approach, each game matters for the Ridgebacks. They are currently sitting in fifth-place in the OUA eastern conference, just one point ahead of the Ottawa Gee-Gees.
"At this stage we may not move too much in the standings so our goal is to just keep playing good hockey and hit the playoffs full stride," said head coach Curtis Hodgins.
The Ridgebacks 5-3 victory over the nationally ranked Concordia Stingers marked the first time they had beat them in regular season action since their meeting in January of 2016.
The Ridgebacks victory also came on a special night as they hosted their annual Bell Let's Talk night in support of mental illness and mental health awareness.
In the opening frame the Ridgebacks wasted no time getting started as Mike Robinson(Stouffville, Ont.) buried a cross ice pass from Kyle Locke (Aurora, Ont.) just 2:05 into the period. The goal was Robinson's 16th of the season, an OUA career high for the fourth-year veteran.
Not long after William Gignac answered for the Stingers when he was able to put one past Tyson Teichmann (Belleville, Ont.).
Teichmann left the game after the second period due to injury but would combine with Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.) for a total of 39 saves in the win.
As the second period started the Ridgebacks would again get off to a quick start, scoring just 1:29 in to the action. Ben Blasko (Kingston, Ont.) was able to beat both the defender and the goalie as he deked the puck around the goaltender's pad and into the net. Blasko has already well surpassed his career high in points with 31, while last season he came away with 21.
Another Ridgebacks goal would come shortly after as Danny Elser (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) potted in his own rebound, scoring on the power play and increasing the lead to 3-1.
Alex Yuill (Wellington, Ont.) also scored in the third period for the Ridgebacks but would take a penalty shortly after for holding. The penalty led to Concordia scoring a power play goal to bring the game within two.
In the final period, Josh Maguire (Cobourg, Ont.) found himself on a breakaway as a Concordia defenceman lost the puck in his feet. Maguire was able to capitalize on the defencemen's mistake and took the puck to the net for a goal.
Not long after, Dominic Beauchemin roofed one top shelf for the Stingers, again decreasing their deficit to two. However, that was all they would be able to produce as the Ridgebacks would hold them off for the 5-3 victory.
UOIT's penalty killing unit allowed a power play goal against, their first since Dec. 2nd against UQTR. UOIT's power play has scored in four straight games.
Source: uoitridgebacks.com
Queen’s 3 Laurentian 1
SUDBURY, Ont. (January 27, 2018) - The No.10 Queen's Gaels (16-5-3) took their second straight victory over the Laurentian Voyageurs (7-16-1) with a 3-1 win on Saturday night in Sudbury.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels were quick to strike in their lone game of the week as defenceman Spencer Abraham (Campbellville, Ont.) opened the scoring on a near end-to-end rush. The Gaels captain circled back into his own zone then rushed the puck past two Voyageurs in the neutral zone. He skated over the Laurentian blue-line and fired a wrist shot through the legs of Mackenzie Savard to put the Gaels on the scoreboard.
Moments later Laurentian got caught for too many men on the ice and the Gaels headed to the power play.
Darcy Greenaway (Wilton, Ont.) potted his 12th goal of the season on the man-advantage, and the Gaels were quickly up 2-0.
In the second, both teams had their chances, but it was Laurentian that was finally able to beat Gaels starting goaltender Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont,). At the 17:39 mark Luke McCaw struck for his third of the season to make it a one-goal game.
After 40 minutes the Gaels were still clinging to their 2-1 lead.
The third period saw both teams clamp down on defence as Queen's only had seven shots on goal and Laurentian just four.
The Gaels were able to extend their lead to 3-1 as Alex Row (Elizabethtown, Ont.) scored his third of the season.
Queen's held on for the victory and improved to 16-5-3 on the season while moving into sole possession of second place in the OUA East.
Source: gogaelsgo.com