NORTH BAY, Ont. – After a big 5-1 win over the Laurentian Voyageurs the previous night, the Ridgebacks held on for the 3-2 victory over the Nipissing Lakers on Friday night.
 
The Ontario Tech University men's hockey team swept their northern road trip through Sudbury and North Bay and, including their victory over Robert Morris, now have a perfect 3-0 record to start the new decade.
 
After the teams traded goals in the opening frame, the Ridgebacks controlled much of the final 40 minutes of play. Nicolas Tardif (Chelsea, Que.) provided the 3-2 go-ahead goal late in the third period and the Ridgebacks held off a late push by the Lakers, continuing their strong start to the second half.
 
Ontario Tech now returns home for a Sunday game against McGill University. This will mark the first home game for the Ridgebacks in 2020.
 

LIGHT THE LAMP

• Jacob Hickey opened the scoring for Nipissing just 8:11 into the first.
• Brennan Roy (Iroquois Falls, Ont.) evened the game with at 14:11, with a one-time blast on the man advantage.
• Jake Bricknell (Port Perry, Ont.) gave the Ridgebacks their first lead of the game at 5:51 of the second, after knocking in the loose puck off a Kyle Locke (Aurora, Ont.) point blast.
• Tardif collected a loose puck in the neutral zone before walking in a ripping a perfect wrist shot past the goalie for the 3-2 lead with just 5:31 left on the clock.
• Gael Lubwele evened the score 2-2 8:28 into the third period.
 

BETWEEN THE PIPES

• Leif Hertz (Kingston, Ont.) provided 26 saves for the win.
• Talor Joseph stopped 40 of the 43 shots he faced.
 

RIDGEBACKS AT A GLANCE

Overall Record: 11-11-3
Conference Record: 8-9-3
 
Next Game: Sunday, Jan. 12 vs. McGill University (3:30 p.m. – Campus Ice Centre)