OUA Men's Hockey Roundup (Jan. 8)
January 4, 2018
Toronto 1 Guelph 3
GUELPH, Ont. - Playing in their first regular season game in just over a month, the No. 9-ranked Gryphons picked up a 3-1 home win over the Toronto Varsity Blues. Rookie sensation Todd Winder scored Guelph's first goal, his team-leading 12th of the season, and first-year defenceman Mathieu Henderson scored on the power play midway through the 2nd period for what would prove to be the game-winner as the Gryphons picked up two more points to temporarily take over sole possession of top spot in the OUA's West Division. The Gryphons improved to 12-4-1 on the season and picked up where they left off from an impressive first half of the season by recording their ninth win in their last 10 league games. With the loss, the Varsity Blues fall to 4-12-1 and sit last in the OUA West standings.
With the exam/Christmas break accounting for just over four weeks off between conference games, both teams understandably came out of the gates a bit slow and were locked in a scoreless tie heading to the 2nd period. Todd Winder celebrates his 12th goal of the season Despite the long layoff, there were zero signs of rust when it came to the Gryphons' top rookies, with freshman forward Todd Winder and rookie blueliner Mathieu Henderson both impressing.
With the Gryphons trailing 1-0 midway through the 2nd period, Winder's quick release would beat U of T goalie Frederic Foulem to tie the game at 1-1. For Winder, who last season scored 25 goals for the Newmarket Hurricanes in the OJHL, it marked his eighth goal in the Gryphons' last eight regular season games. His 12 goals on the season leave him just one behind the OUA's leading goal scorers for the 2017-18 season.
Winder would also help draw a penalty late in the 2nd period which put the Gryphons on the man advantage to start the 3rd. The OUA West-leading Gryphs would not waste the opportunity, with first-year standout Mathieu Henderson showing off some great skill by toe-dragging around a U of T defender before firing home his 2nd goal of the season from the high slot to give the Gryphons a 2-1 lead.
The Gryphons also received a great performance in net from first year goalie Andrew Masters. The NCAA transfer from Miami of Ohio made 28 saves on the night, none more important than the sensational glove save made with 7:25 remaining in the 3rd period to preserve the Gryphs' one-goal lead. Gryphons' rookie goalie Andrew MastersVarsity Blues' rookie forward Hunter Atchison was sent in all alone and fired a shot high glove side, only to see Masters deny him with the leather.
Masters' counterpart, Frederic Foulem, was equally impressive at the other end of the ice, making several big stops throughout the night. However, with just under four minutes remaining in the final period, J.P. Villeneuve would cross the blue line and fire a wrister past Foulem on the glove side to push the U of G lead to 3-1. Villeneuve now has four goals on the year, two of which have come against the Varsity Blues.
The Gryphons will now hit the road for a Saturday night clash with the Brock Badgers in St. Catharines. It will mark the third time this regular season that the two teams have met, with Guelph winning each of the first two matchups. The Gryphons also defeated Brock during the preseason in the Badgers' annual Homecoming game. Puck drop for Saturday night's contest is set for 7:15pm at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
Source: gryphons.ca
January 5, 2018
Ottawa 2 McGill 3
MONTREAL -- Defenceman Maximilian Daigle scored the game winner with 4:20 remaining as No.5-ranked McGill rallied for a 3-2 victory over visiting Ottawa in OUA men's hockey action at McConnell Arena, Friday.
It was McGill's first game in 34 days, their third straight victory and ninth win in their last 10 games. The result improved their stellar record to 16-3-0 atop the OUA East division, avenging a stunning 6-3 loss to the Gee-Gees (8-6-3) in their only previous meeting this season, way back on Oct. 28 in the nation's capital. The Redmen are now 102-80-10 in 192 lifetime meetings with Ottawa.
It was only the second marker of the campaign for Daigle, a 5-foot-9, 193-pound native of St. Lambert, Que., who now has 15 points in 18 games since transferring to McGill this season from the NCAA's University of Vermont.
McGill dominated puck possession, outshooting Ottawa each period for a 43-23 advantage. But the score was tied 1-1 after the opening period and Ottawa led 2-1 after two, before McGill rallied with two markers in the final frame.
"We came back after a month off and were pretty good tonight," said McGill head coach Kelly Nobes, who improved his record to 224-98-3 in 325 games overall since taking over the Redmen bench eight seasons ago. "We were pretty consistent throughout the game and generated a lot of scoring chances in each period. I liked the way we stuck with (the game plan) given that we were down a goal heading into the third. We kept coming, generated lots of shots and the big difference in the game was that we got some guys to the front of the net and as a result, both of our goals were scored on scrambles in front, from second-chance opportunities."
Rookie Antoine Dufort-Plante of Montreal put the Redmen ahead 1-0 with his fourth of the season at 10:10 of the first.
"Doofie had a real good game tonight, one of his better games this year," noted Nobes. "He was all over the ice, beating guys one-on-one, and creating chances with his speed and quickness. It was good to see him play with that kind of jam in his game."
Four minutes later Patrick White of Ottawa tied the score for the visitors. In the middle frame, the Gee-Gees took the lead when rearguard Medric Mercier, also from Ottawa, connected for his fifth of the season on a power-play at 5:57. In the final period, McGill's Christophe Lalonde, a junior from Mirabel, Que., struck for his team-leading ninth of the season to knot the score at 2-2, setting the stage for Daigle's heroics.
Both goaltenders came up with a number of big saves. McGill sophomore netminder Louis-Philip Guindon kicked out 21 of 23 shots and improved his record to 13-3. He leads all OUA goalies in wins, is tied for the lead in shutouts (1), ranks third in goals-against average (2.22) and is 10th in save percentage (.921). Anthony Brodeur took the loss for the Gee-Gees despite a 40-save performance. The sophomore from Morin Heights, Que., saw his record unjustly fall to 2-4.
Ottawa was 1-for-4 for the power-play while McGill was 0-for-5. One of McGill's goals came five seconds after a PP expired and erased a delayed penalty that was about to be called on Ottawa. The Redmen pulled their goalie on the play for a 6-on-5 advantage in skaters but it technically was not considered a power-play situation.
McGill (12-3-0) will play they next two games on the road, beginning with fourth-place Carleton (11-4-2) in Ottawa on Saturday (Jan. 6), followed by a confrontation against UQTR (11-3-4) in Trois-Rivieres on Wednesday (Jan. 10), Both games are slated for 7 p.m. puck drops and are expected to be streamed live on OUA.tv.
REDMEN RAP: Among the McGill lineup scratches was sophomore Alexandre Sills, who shares the team lead in goals (9) and ranks fourth in points (16 in 18 games)... With nine games remaining before playoffs, McGill would need to win every game to set a school record for victories, set in 2010-11 when they posted a 24-2-2 mark. The Redmen magic number is three points to clinch a playoff berth for the 14th consecutive year. The last time they failed to qualify for post-season play was in 2004.
Source: mcgillathletics.ca
RMC 2 Carleton 4
OTTAWA, ON – The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team opened up the new year with a 4-2 home victory over the RMC Paladins on Friday night.
The Ravens struck quickly into the first frame with Dalen Hedges (Ottawa, ON) scoring his eighth goal of the season and new addition C.J. Garcia(Pickering, ON) picking up his first point as a Raven with an assist on the tally.
Late in the first, Travis Douglas (Osgoode, ON) scored his third goal of the season to put the Ravens up by two.
With three and a half minutes remaining in the first, the Ravens surrendered a goal when forward Riley Brandt found the back of the net for the Paladins.
The Ravens outshot the Paladins by a 14-7 margin in the period.
Four and a half minutes into the second, Hedges got the puck in the RMC zone and passed it back to defenceman Evan de Hann (Ottawa, ON) who made a move around the forward covering him and fired a wrist shot past the Paladin keeper for a power play goal.
Carleton trailed the Paladins by a 15-9 margin in shots on goal but maintained the 3-1 lead entering the final period.
Halfway into the third, the Paladins cut the lead to one when Brandt sped in on Ravens goalie Matthew Jenkins (Charlottetown, PEI) and beat him for his second goal of the contest.
With three minutes remaining the Ravens cushioned their lead when Alexandre Boivin (Ottawa, ON) added his eighth goal of the season making it 4-2.
The Paladins pulled their netminder in an attempt to tie the game but Carleton held them off for the first win of 2018.
Jenkins stopped 28 of 30 shots in his second win of the season.
Carleton are back in action tomorrow against the McGill Redmen at the Ice House at 7 p.m.
Source: goravens.ca
Windsor 1 Lakehead 3
The Lakehead Thunderwolves began the second half of the OUA season on a winning note by upending the Windsor Lancers 3-1 before 1,681 fans at the Fort William Gardens on a frigid Friday night in Thunder Bay.
Chris Scott put the Lancers up 1-0 on a screened shot from the top of the face-off circle on a Windsor power play just over three minutes into the game, but that would be the only rubber to find its way past Wolves’ goalie Nic Renyard for the rest of the night.
Lakehead evened the score 4:27 into the second on a nifty wraparound goal by Trevor Hynnes, with Austin McDonald getting the assist.
The Thunderwolves took the lead with 2:05 left in the middle frame when Cooper Leitch took advantage of a Windsor giveaway and fed Grant Valiquette in the slot, who made no mistake firing the biscuit behind Lancers’ goalie Blake Richard.
Brennen Dubchak got the insurance marker at 7:19 of the third period to put the Wolves up 3-1, scoring from the doorstep while the Wolves held the man-advantage, with Jake Ringuette and Dillon Donnelly picking up the helpers.
With Lakehead’s Scott Gall in the penalty box in the final minutes of the game, Windsor pulled the goalie to give the Lancers a two-man advantage, but they were unable to solve Renyard and the Wolves held on for the win.
On the night, the Thunderwolves were 1-for-2 on the power play while the Lancers went 1-for-3.
Total shots on goal in the game were 26-24 in Lakehead’s favor.
With the victory, Lakehead improves its OUA record to 7-8-1 and to 10-11-1 overall.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1. Trevor Hynnes, Lakehead
2. Nic Renyard, Lakehead
3. Grant Valiquette, Lakehead
The Thunderwolves will look to collect another two points when they square off against the Lancers again at the Fort William Gardens on Saturday night.
Source: thunderwolveshockey.com
Brock 4 York 2
The Brock University men's hockey team opened the second half of the season with a 4-2 victory over the York Lions Friday night on the road.
With the victory, the Badgers extend their win streak to five games and sit just four points back of the first place Guelph Gryphons.
Brock opened the scoring five minutes into the opening period as Sammy Banga and Jeff Corbett setup Brandon O'Quinn for his sixth goal of the season. York answered with back-to-back goals to take a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. Scoring for the Lions were Colton Vannucci at the 5:58 mark and Scott Feser at 15:09.
After a scoreless second period, the Badgers evened the game 2-2 at 6:42 of the third period as Adam Lloyd and Chris Maniccia setup newcomer Cosimo Fontana for his first goal in a Brock uniform. At 13:29, Brock took a 3-2 lead as Dexter Weber found Connor Brown who beat York starter Max Shields for his fourth goal of the campaign. York pulled Shields with 1:30 left for the extra attacker.
Brock secured the victory with an empty netter from Matt MacLeod with 31 second left in regulation. Weber and Josh Timpano added the assists.
In goal, Brock starter Clint Windsor recorded 28 saves for the victory. With the win, Windsor moves into second all-time in Brock career victories with 31 surpassing Kurt Jory (30) (2008-12). Shields collected 26 saves in the loss.
The Badgers host OUA West divisional rival Guelph Gryphons Saturday night at 7:15pm at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
Source: gobadgers.ca
Waterloo 1 Western 5
LONDON, Ont. – The Mustangs started off their second semester schedule in impressive fashion on Friday night, defeating the Waterloo Warriors by a 5-1 score at Thompson Arena.
With the win, Western moves into eighth in the OUA West as the season enters the home stretch with a 6-9-2 record. Lakehead sits in seventh only one point ahead of the Mustangs, while sixth place Brock currently have a two-point lead on the purple and white. Waterloo's loss moved the Warriors into ninth place with their 5-9-3 record.
Prior to puck drop the Mustangs honoured the memory of Dan Soden with a moment of silence, as the CHRW legend passed away Thursday night. Soden was the CHRW Sports Coordinator for 14 years and served as host for the Mustang Nation show. He contributed to more than 400 live broadcasts during his time with CHRW, in addition to assisting with a seemingly endless number of interviews that allowed him to interact with students, coaches, and athletes from across campus.
Trevor Warnaar, Kyle Pettit, Mitchell Brooks, and Anthony Stephano were responsible for the purple an white goals, while Mitch Elliot was the only Warrior to beat Luke Peresinni.
Warnaar earned the first goal of the game just seven minutes in, and would be followed by Petit and Brooks before the first frame came to a close. Both Warnaar and Brooks' markers came off of scrambles in front of Warriors netminder Mike Morrison to help give the home side a 3-0 advantage after 20 minutes.
Peresinni stood tall for the Mustangs by fending off nine attempts in his first game since returning from an injury, stopping 38 shots in the victory. The former OHL Goaltender of the Year was sidelined for the first few months of the season, only seeing action in one other game this year.
"He played great," noted new Mustangs defenceman Stephen Desrocher when asked about Peresinni's performance. "I played with him in Kingston, he's always been a great goalie […] He had a great game today and I can only see him getting better from here."
His performance continued to frustrate the Warriors well into the second period, with the goaltender turning aside an additional 16 shots. Despite concentrating play in the Mustang end and seeing three power play opportunities, the black and yellow half of the scoreboard remained blank following the first two periods.
"It's definitely harder when you have the puck in your end the whole time," noted Peresinni. "You've just got to stay focused, communicate, and talk with your D to hopefully kill it off."
Following a scoreless second period, the Mustangs got back on the board following a pair of off-setting penalties saw the two teams go four-on-four early in the third, with Warnaar converting an assist from Anthony Stefano just over two minutes into the frame to give the home side a four goal lead.
Mitch Elliott responded for the Warriors midway through the period, capitalizing on a loose puck in the Mustangs crease to cut the Western lead to three goals. That would be as close as things would get, with Stefano rounding out the scoring by sending a shot past Morrison and off the crossbar into the net to secure a 5-1 win for Western.
"I probably could have came out before that, I just let it bounce off my glove," said Peresinni about the single goal that slid past him. "That's probably one I should have had, but I'm not complaining."
The Mustangs will be back on the ice tomorrow night in Toronto, when they take on the Ryerson Rams at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. Fans can catch all the action live on OUA.tv
Source: westernmustangs.ca
Ryerson 7 Laurier 1
WATERLOO, Ont. – It was a night of across the board offensive contributions from the Rams players as they came away with a huge 7-1 win against the Laurier Golden Hawks on Friday night in Waterloo.
In their first game of 2018, it took just twelve minutes for the Rams offense to pick up right where they had left off in 2017. Potting his fifth goal of the season, Devon Paliani (LaSalle, Ont.) gave the Rams the early lead midway through the first period. Just four short minutes later however, Laurier’s Anthony Sorrentino (Woodbridge, Ont.) would tie the game up off of a power play goal with just one minute left to play in the period, contributing Laurier’s only goal on the night.
Heading into the locker room with the score tied up at one goal a piece, the Rams came back onto the ice determined to put this game away in the second. Just eight minutes into the second period of play, Rams forward Matt Mistele (Whitby, Ont.) would tap in a loose puck to give the Rams a one goal advantage. In doing so, Mistele put himself atop the OUA’s leaderboard in goals, having scored fourteen thus far this season.
To close out the second period, teammate Vince Figliomeni (Bolton, Ont.) would contribute his third goal of the season to put the Rams up 3-1 heading into the second intermission.
As the two teams headed back onto the ice for the final period of action, the Golden Hawks appeared to be a shell of their former selves. The physicality they had played with in the first and second periods in an effort to save the game had all but disappeared in the third, as the Rams would have no problem unleashing an onslaught of goals in the final twenty minutes of play.
To begin the scoring streak came Rams freshman defenseman Gregory Di Tomaso (Etobicoke, Ont.) who contributed his first goal as a Ram just five minutes into the final frame. He would quickly be followed by fellow defenseman Matt Nosella (Etobicoke, Ont.) who would, similarly, net his first goal of the season. The Rams then saw offensive contributions from Lucas Froese (Grunthal, Man.) and Erick DeLaurentis (Markham, Ont.) to round out the period.
In what appears to be a streak in games of late, the Rams are starting to see unfamiliar names pop on the score sheet. In just this game alone, six of the seven offensive contributions came from players who have recorded five or less goals thus far this season. This kind of offensive breadth in the Rams line-up has made the team even more difficult for opposing teams to handle, as evident by the overwhelming victory this evening.
The Rams will be back in action Saturday, January 6 at 7:15 pm at the Mattamy Athletic Centre as they take on the Western Mustangs for the second time this season. Fans are encouraged to come out and support the Rams, but for those who cannot make it, the action will be streamed live on OUA.tv.
Source: ryersonrams.ca
UOIT 2 Queen’s 3
KINGSTON, Ont. (January 5, 2018) – After a long layoff over the holiday break, the Queen's Gaels (10-4-3) skated back into action on Friday night with a hard-fought 3-2 win over the UOIT Ridgebacks (10-6-1). The Gaels used the strong play of goaltender Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) and timely goal scoring of Slater Doggett (Oakville, Ont.) to get the victory. Doggett scored his team-leading 11th and 12th goals of the season to lead Queen's.
GAME FLOW
The Gaels came out flying to start the new semester as they took the action to the Ridgebacks from the opening whistle. Spencer Abraham (Campbellville, Ont.) opened the scoring at the 7:44 mark when he beat two UOIT defenders at the blue line before skating the puck to the slot and sniping his third of the season. The Gaels kept pressing and were rewarded late in the period when Doggett picked off a Ridgebacks cross-ice pass and went in all alone on UOIT netminder Tyson Teichmann before burying his team-leading 11th of the campaign.
The Gaels started the second period off on the wrong foot as they took consecutive penalties to go down on a 5-on-3 disadvantage. The Ridgebacks would take advantage and make the Gaels pay when Jesse Baird fired a shot past a screened Bailie to cut the lead to 2-1. The Gaels would continue to run into penalty trouble for the remainder of the period but would manage to survive the Ridgebacks attack with some timely saves by Bailie. Late in the frame, the tricolour would restore a two-goal lead when Doggett fired home his second of the game on a 3-on-1 rush.
The third period saw even action as the Gaels attempted to hold off the Ridgebacks and preserve the lead. UOIT would cut the Gaels led to 3-2 when Loren Ulett roofed a shot past Bailie at 9:11 of the frame. Queen's would shut things down from that point on and keep the Ridgebacks off the scoresheet to take the 3-2 decision.
Bailie picked up the win in net with 22 saves while Teichmann would take the loss with 31 saves of his own.
Source: gogaelsgo.com
Other Scores:
Concordia 4 UQTR 5
January 6, 2018
McGill 3 Carleton 2
OTTAWA -- Jerome Verrier of Drummondville, Que., scored the game-winner and added an assist as No.5 ranked McGill stretched their win streak to four with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Carleton in a key OUA men's hockey matchup played at the CU Ice House in the nation's capital, Saturday.
The result, combined with other scores around the league, clinched a playoff berth for the 14th consecutive year as the division-leading Redmen improved to 17-3-0 but could still finish anywhere from first to seventh in the topsy-turvy OUA East, sometimes referred to as the "division of doom". McGill upped their lifetime record against the Ravens to 32-24-1, including a 2-1 overtime victory in Ottawa earlier this season. The teams will tangle two more times in Montreal during the coming month.
Carleton (11-5-2), which dropped to fifth place, 10 points behind McGill in the standings, led 1-0 after the opening period but the Redmen rallied for a 3-2 lead after two. The final frame was scoreless.
Forward Josh Burnside put the Ravens on the scoreboard just 98 seconds after the opening faceoff. But McGill, which killed off a late double minor assessed to Verrier at 19:45 of the first period, turned the tide on the Ravens with a flurry of second-period goals, by Christophe Lalonde (10th) at 3:40, defenceman Dominic Talbot-Tassi (7th) at 7:23 and Verrier (7th) at 11:37.
"Lally's getting to the blue paint in front of the net and is being rewarded for that," offered Nobes on Lalonde, a junior from Mirabel, Que., who has compiled a lofty 8-5-13 record in his last eight contests. "He needs to keep doing that as it will help us down the stretch."
A too-many-men penalty assessed to McGill late in the middle stanza proved fruitful for Carleton when sniper Brett Welychka converted at 19:37. But the Redmen played a near-perfect game the rest of the way and snuffed out any potential threats.
Verrier, who also assisted on a power-play marker by Talbot-Tassi, now ranks third in the OUA scoring race with 30 points in 20 games. He trails Concordia's Anthony Beauregard (13-30-43) and Ryerson's Matt Mistele (14-19-33).
"I liked our jump tonight. We played a well-structured game, with three good periods," said Redmen bench boss Kelly Nobes. "Our special teams were quite good. We were on the penalty-kill a lot and performed solidly there, as well as scoring once on the power-play. We made some mistakes that need to be cleaned up, but all in all, it was a pretty good weekend (including a home-ice win over Ottawa the night before)."
McGill went 1-for-5 with the man-advantage and killed off seven of eight shorthanded situations. The Redmen PK unit is now ranked third in the OUA with an .833 success rate. They sit fractions of a percentage point behind Laurier and York, who are tied atop the PK leaders at .885.
McGill, which leads the nation in shots on goal, had a 24-21 advantage in that department as goaltender Louis-Philip Guindon, a sophomore from St. Joseph du Lac, Que., made 19 saves, a number of them spectacular, to improve his record to 14-3. He continues to lead all OUA goalies in wins, has moved up to second place in goals-against average (2.20) and sits ninth in save percentage (.920).
"LP made some key saves and gave us good stability back there, especially on the PK," added Nobes.
Ravens sophomore Francois Brassard of Gatineau, Que., was beaten three times on 24 shots and took the loss, dropping to 8-5.
McGill continues to lead the league in both scoring (81 goals) and goal-differential with a plus-35 between goals for and against. The next closest teams are Concordia ( 29), UQTR ( 22), Carleton ( 22) and Ryerson ( 21).
The Redmen, who have eight games remaining before playoffs, will travel to Trois-Rivieres on Wednesday (Jan. 10) to take on the third-place UQTR Patriotes (12-3-4) in a 7 p.m. start that is slated to be streamed in French on OUA.tv.
McGill returns home on Friday (Jan. 12) to face fourth-place Queen's (11-4-3). A near-capacity crowd is expected at McConnell Arena as it will be the Gaels much-anticipated first return since they swept McGill 2-1 and 4-2 in the OUA Eastern best-of-three final last spring. This season, McGill won the only meeting between the longtime rivals, registering a 3-2 conquest in overtime at Kingston on Oct. 27.
Source: mcgillathletics.ca
Windsor 4 Lakehead 5
JOHN PAYETTA - The Lakehead Thunderwolves treated the 1,844 fans at the Fort William Gardens to one of the best games of the season, coming from behind twice to defeat the Windsor Lancers 5-4 in overtime on Saturday night.
Although the Wolves come out strong right from the opening face-off, Windsor struck twice midway through the first period to stake the Lancers to the early lead.
Adam Burnett fired a one-timer past Lakehead goalie Devin Green high on the blocker side on a Windsor power play at 10:11, and Ian Parker finished off an odd-man rush at 11:34 to put the Lancers up 2-0 heading into the second.
Jake Ringuette beat Lancers’ netminder Jonathan Reinhart 6:36 into the middle frame while the Wolves were short-handed to narrow the gap to 2-1, with the helpers going to Devin Fullum and Austin McDonald.
Lakehead’s Billy Jenkins was hauled down on a breakaway an awarded a penalty shot a few minutes later, but was thwarted by Reinhart who made plenty of big saves throughout the contest.
Brennen Dubchak evened the score with 1:45 left in the second stanza by knocking home a rebound from the edge of the crease while the Wolves held the man-advantage, with Ringuette and Dillon Donnelly getting the assists.
Cooper Leitch gave the Wolves their first lead of the game with a wrister that handcuffed Reinhart and slipped between his glove and pads 7:19 into the third, with Callum Fryer and Joseph Leonidas assisting.
Despite being outplayed at this point, Windsor stole Lakehead’s momentum with a pair of quick goals. Alex Friesen got the first one at 11:33, and Brennan Feasey rifled a screened shot past Green on the power play less than three minutes later to put the Lancers back in front 4-3.
Lakehead pulled Green for an extra attacker with 1:30 showing on the clock and the Wolves swarmed the Windsor zone, getting several good scoring chances. It looked like time would run out until Dubchak fed Donnelly who charged in on the right side and fired a hard shot that Reinhart stopped, but Billy Jenkins swatted the rebound into the back of the net with just 10 seconds to go, sending the game into overtime.
Windsor’s Justice Dundas crashed into the Lakehead net and was called for goaltender interference 1:34 into the extra session, giving the Wolves a four-on-three power play.
Lakehead turned that advantage into a flurry of activity around the Windsor goal, and Dylan Butler slammed the puck home from close range with Matt Alexander and Ringuette assisting, giving the Thunderwolves the victory.
The win improves Lakehead’s OUA record to 8-8-1 (11-11-1 overall), and moves the Wolves up one notch into sixth-place in the West Division.
Total shots on goal in the game were 47-26 for the Thunderwolves.
Lakehead went 2-for-4 on the power play on the night, while Windsor was 2-for-3.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1. Jake Ringuette, Lakehead
2. Brennen Dubchak, Lakehead
3. Billy Jennkins, Lakehead
The Thunderwolves be on the road next weekend to take on the York Lions Friday night before travelling to Guelph for a clash with the Gryphons the following evening.
Source: thunderwolveshockey.com
Laurier 3 Waterloo 2
WATERLOO (January 7, 2018) - The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s hockey team snapped a two-game losing streak on Saturday night as they rallied to defeat the Waterloo Warriors 3-2, clinching the inaugural Battle of Waterloo trophy at Columbia Ice Field.
Laurier's victory was the eighth of the year for the Golden Hawks over their cross town rivals across all team sports in regular season play, bringing their season record to eight wins, two losses and four ties against the Warriors. With five games remaining in the season series, the Hawks have officially secured the series in the first year of competition.
Returning to the ice, Saturday's game presented a much tighter result compared to the last time these two teams met when the purple and gold dominated the ice with a 9-0 shutout win during Laurier's annual School Day Game.
The Hawks (11-5-2) opened the scoring midway through the first period as Danny Hanlon (Waterloo, Ont.) converted on a 5-on-3 powerplay to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
The advantage was shortly lived, however, as Waterloo's Ryan Hanes (Kanata, Ont.) scored a short-handed goal, leaving the two teams tied at one after 20 minutes.
Heading into the second frame, the Hawks struggled to control the puck as Hanes scored his second goal of the night pushing the Warriors to a 2-1 lead.
Laurier would respond with a shorthanded tally of their own as Will Cook (Port Stanley, Ont.) evened up the score.
Before the period was out, Jeremy Pullara (Vaughan, Ont.) put Laurier back in the lead, netting his sixth goal of the season.
With a scoreless third, the Hawks captured the win both on the ice and in the city as they took home the Battle of Waterloo.
Pullara paced the way for Laurier as the rookie forward also added an assist to record his third multi-point game of the season.
Colin Furlong (Cambridge, Ont.) got the start in goal and stopped 16 of 18 shots through 40 minutes of play. He was replaced in net to start the third period by Chris Festarini (Oakville, Ont.) who closed out the contest by turning aside all seven shots he faced.
On the other side of the ice, Waterloo’s Trevor Martin (Ardrossan, Alta.) turned aside 28 of the 31 shots sent his way.
Next up the Hawks will hit the road to face the Windsor Lancers (6-7-4) in a weekend doubleheader on Friday, January 12 and on Saturday, January 13 at Windsor Arena.
Source: laurierathletics.com
Western 4 Ryerson 3
TORONTO, Ont. – An overtime goal from Matthew Watson capped off a third period comeback and gave the Western Mustangs a 4-3 win over the U SPORTS No. 10 Ryerson Rams on Saturday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The win is the third straight for the Mustangs, bringing the purple and white record to 7-9-2 with ten games remaining. Western continues to occupy the eighth and final playoff spot in the OUA West, and also snaps the Rams four-game winning streak.
Watson was one of three goal scorers for the Mustangs, with Ray Heuther scoring the team's first goal of the game, while Stephen Desrocher tied the game with a pair of goals in the third period.
Ryerson relied on rookie David Miller, John Carpino, and Alex Basso to generate goals, while Steven Harland picked up two assists in the loss.
Luke Peresinni picked up his second straight victory in the Mustangs net, turning aside 37 shots, while Taylor Dupuis made 32 saves for the Rams.
The game opened with Western firing right out of the gate and dominating in the first minutes, and keeping the Rams off balance. The Mustangs were consistently outskating their Ryerson counterparts while playing an aggressive defence that allowed little time for the Rams to set anything up once moving into the Western end.
Since November 3 the Rams have been able to put up at least one goal in the first frame of every regulation contest, but the traditionally high-scoring team struggled against Peresinni and the thriving Mustang defensive corps. Ryerson's offence was in part hindered by the absence of Matt Mistele, the second leading scorer in the OUA. The former Sarnia Sting forward left the ice mid-way through the first period with an injury and did not return for the remainder of the game.
With their lead scorer on the bench, Miller stepped up and scored the first goal of the game eight minutes into the second period after capitalizing on a pass threaded through from Steven Harland.
Western responded just under five minutes later with a goal of their own from Heuther, and the game settled back into the back-and-forth battle that dominated in the first period. The neutral zone saw limited action, as frequent turnovers and interceptions kept the action concentrated in offensive zones.
The teams remained locked in the tight battle until a last minute shot from Carpino. The puck hit the crossbar and crossed the goal line with only 0.5 seconds left on the clock to close out the second period.
The third period was arguably the most tightly contested, with both teams upping the energy.
Basso sent the puck past Peresinni just two minutes in to extend Ryerson's lead to 3-1, but Western would soon even out the score.
In his second OUA contest after joining the purple and white roster over the Winter break, Desrocher proved himself to be one of the most valuable members of the rookie class with a pair of goals only three minutes apart. His would be the final goals of regulation, with the game moving into 3-on-3 overtime to determine a winner.
The five-minute period began with the Rams enjoying a one-man advantage as the Mustangs waited out the end of a penalty from the previous period. Despite opening with the disadvantage and a flurry of shots sent towards Peresinni, the game remained tied until Watson scored the game winner with just over two minutes remaining in the extra frame to secure a 4-3 win for the purple and white.
Western returns to home ice for their next contest on January 12, when they'll host the Waterloo Warriors for a rematch of the January 5 game that saw a commanding 5-1 Mustangs victory. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m., and fans can catch all the action live on OUA.tv
Source: westernmustangs.ca
Guelph 2 Brock 1
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – The Gryphons men's hockey team continued their winning ways with a hard-fought 2-1 road win Saturday night in St. Catharines versus the Brock Badgers. Marc Stevens scored :44 seconds into the game and standout rookie Todd Winder scored the game-winner midway through the 2nd period to give the Gryphons their 11th win in their last 12 regular season games. Freshman goalie Andrew Masters impressed, making 39 saves for the win as the Gryphons improved to 13-4-1 on the season and remain atop the OUA West standings.
"Tonight was a great team win for us," said Gryphons head coach Shawn Camp, now in his 11th season in charge of the U of G men's hockey program. "We know that, going into the second half of the season here, we're going to have to find ways to win low-scoring games if we want to be prepared for the playoffs, and tonight the guys kept their composure against a tough Brock team that really were working hard. We received some great goaltending and killed off some big penalties late. It was a nice all around effort."
The Gryphons got off to a hot start Saturday night at the Seymour-Hannah Centre, with former Guelph Storm forward Marc Stevens opening the scoring less than a minute into the opening period. After centre Manny Gialedakis won the draw, a point shot from Josh McFadden was stopped, but Stevens would jump on the rebound for his 11th goal of the season.
Finding a way past Brock goalie Clint Windsor proved to be a tall task on Saturday for the Gryphons, with the Badgers' netminder making 39 saves on the night, several of which were highlight reel material. The Gryphons, who came out flying and outshot Brock 22-12 in the opening period, were unlucky not to have more than just a goal to show for their play early on. Included in the list of big-time saves by Brock's goalie was an acrobatic stop on Gryphons' captain Scott Simmonds midway through the 1st on a nicely set up backdoor play.
With the game tied 1-1 midway through the 2nd period, the Gryphons would get a spark from a familiar source in freshman forward Todd Winder. The Uxbridge native would add to his red-hot rookie campaign by cutting into the middle of the Brock defence before firing a shot through the five-hole of the Badger goalie to give the Gryphs a 2-1 lead. For Winder, it marked his ninth goal in his last nine games and gives him 13 on the season, moving him into a tie for 3rd amongst the top goal scorers in all of U SPORTS.
The Gryphons will next be in action on Thursday, Jan. 11 when they travel to Waterloo to face the Warriors (5-10-3). The Gryphons won 6-3 over Waterloo back on November 11 at the Gryphon Centre in their only previous meeting with the Warriors this season.
Source: gryphons.ca
UOIT 0 Queen’s 3
KINGSTON, Ont. (January 6, 2018) – It was deja vu on Saturday night at the Memorial Centre as the UOIT Ridgebacks (10-7-1) were back for a rematch of Friday night's game with the Queen's Gaels (11-4-3). Tonight's game ended much like Friday night's as the Gaels were able to secure another victory, this time in the form of a 3-0 shutout. Queen's controlled play from the opening whistle on the way to their fourth straight win.
GAME FLOW
Queen's came out flying in this one, with Eric Margo (North Vancouver, B.C.) igniting the Gaels early on with several big hits. The Tricolour were all around the net in the first period, and they were rewarded at 13:54 of the frame when Duncan Campbell (Brandon, Man.) took a great feed from Jaden Lindo (Brampton, Ont.) and buried a shot top shelf past Ridgebacks goalie Brendan O'Neill. The Gaels would keep attacking and added a second goal at 18:07 when Francesco Vilardi (Kingston, Ont.) finished off a beautiful Slater Doggett(Oakville, Ont.) rush with his first of the season.
Starting the second period with a 2-0 lead, the Gaels didn't take their foot off the gas. Ryan Bloom (Calgary, Alta.) finished off a great tic-tac-toe play from Doggett and Eric Ming (Williamstown, Ont.) to give the Gaels a 3-0 lead just over a minute into the frame. Queen's controlled the play for the remainder of the period but were unable to add to their lead, heading into the third period leading 3-0.
Although he wasn't tested much during the first two periods, Jake Brennan (Halifax, N.S.) had to be sharp for the Gaels in the third period as the Ridgebacks had many opportunities to cut into the 3-0 lead. Queen's was able to kill off a powerplay midway through the period thanks in large part to Brennan. UOIT would pull O'Neill with just under five minutes remaining to make a comeback but were unable to get any great scoring chances with the extra man. The Gaels were unable to add an empty-netter, and the game would finish with a final score of 3-0.
Brennan earned the shutout win in net for the Gaels, making 17 saves while O'Neill took the loss in net for the Ridgebacks.
Source: gogaelsgo.com
Laurentian 2 Nipssing 1
On Saturday night, the Voyageurs men's hockey team doubled the host Nipissing Lakers 2-1 earning their first victory in the new year.
The Lakers opened the scoring when Danny Desroschers scored at 14:55 on the powerplay, giving Nipissing a 1-0 lead after one period.
After a scoreless second period, the Voyageurs took over in the third.
Derek Varrin scored early at 2:59 to tie the game on a partial breakaway after a lead pass by Kaden Ruest. Dylan Fitze then gave the Vees the lead on a solo effort at 12:00 as a won a race to the loose puck with the Lakers' goalie, chipped it past him and slotted the puck into the open net.
The Voyageurs held on to the lead until the final buzzer, securing the 2-1 win to begin 2018.
Newly acquired MacKenzie Savard was solid in his first start for the Voyageurs, stopping 32 shots to earn his first OUA win.
The Voyageurs return to the ice Friday night when they host the Carleton Ravens at 7:35pm at Countryside Arena.
Source: luvoyageurs.com
Other Scores:
RMC 4 UQTR 5
Ottawa 0 Concordia 2
January 7, 2018
York 3 Toronto 5
Four different players scored as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team defeated the York Lions 5-3 on Sunday, January 7 at Varsity Arena.
The upset breaks the Blues seven-game losing streak and marks their first win of the New Year.
Rookie forward Hunter Atchison tallied two goals, while first-year netminder Frederic Foulem made 21 saves in the victory.
After a scoreless first period, sophomore defenceman Justin Brand opened the scoring for the Blues, carrying the puck up the ice and cutting to the middle to snipe the puck past Lions goalie Mack Shields.
The Blues took a two-goal lead seven minutes later as third-year forward Matt Campagna capitalized on a York turnover and beat Shields under his glove.
York finally got on the board with just five minutes left in the second frame with a goal from Giusten Annetta to bring the score to 2-1.
Atchison restored Toronto's two-goal lead though, finishing off a nice passing play from Curtis Harvey; however, the Lions would respond yet again within a minute with a goal from Trevor Petersen, ending the period with the Blues up 3-2.
Toronto again took a two-goal advantage 3:51 into the third period. Aidan Wallace skated up the left side of the ice, passed to Campagna, who quickly passed to Max Lindsay, who made no mistake in finding the back of the net.
But, yet again, Lions forward Josh LaFrance would make it one goal game with a quick goal at the halfway point of the frame. Atchison ended the back-and-forth affair with a late empty net goal, ending the game at 5-3.
The Blues resume regular season action on Thursday, January 11 as they take on the Ryerson Rams at Mattamy Athletic Centre. Puck drop is set for 7:15 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on OUA.tv.
Source: varsityblues.ca
