M-HOCKEY ROUNDUP: McGill hands Windsor first loss of season
In what can only be described as a penalty filled affair, the No. 3 Lancer men's hockey team lost their first game of the season to the McGill Redman 2-1 on Friday afternoon at South Windsor Arena.
Friday, Nov. 14
McGill 2 @ Windsor 1
In what can only be described as a penalty filled affair, the No. 3 Lancer men's hockey team lost their first game of the season to the McGill Redman 2-1 on Friday afternoon at South Windsor Arena.
With the loss, Windsor remains in first place in the OUA West division with an 11-1-0 record, while the Redman hold the second spot in the east with an 8-3-0 record.
The Lancers got on the board first when Julian Luciani scored his first goal of the season at 10:44 of the opening frame. On the power play, Luciani blasted one from the point on a pass from Kyle Hope and Matt Beaudoin to give the Lancers an early lead.
Windsor held the lead through the rest of the first period as both teams spent a majority of the period in the penalty box and playing their special teams.
Down by a goal heading into the second, the Redman evened up the score early in the second with Mathieu Pompei's third of the season.
Windsor's Ryan Green appeared to have the go ahead goal midway through the second but it was waived off by the officials, and the game remained tied at one heading into the third.
With 15:39 remaining in regulation, the Redman took a one goal lead with a marker from Pat Delisle-Houde.
Windsor swarmed the McGill net throughout the remainder of the game, but goaltender Jacob Gervais-Chouinard denied the Blue & Gold any opportunity to tie the game and send it into extra time.
At the end of regulation, McGill finished the game with 62 minutes in penalties, while the Lancers were handed 38.
Lancer goaltender Parker Van Buskirk made 18 saves in net.
Windsor will now break until Saturday November 22nd when they travel to Oshawa to take on the UOIT Ridgebacks for a pair of weekend games.
Laurentian 3 @ Western 4 (OT)
LONDON, Ont. — Stephen Gaskin capped off his two point game with the overtime winner on Friday night, burying a feed from Stefan Salituro on the rush to give Western the edge over Laurentian and send a rowdy Thompson Arena crowd of 578 home happy with a 4-3 Mustangs victory.
Gaskin's effort on the two-on-one put an end to a scrappy game that saw the two teams trade chances for the majority of play. Coming off a week that saw them more or less shut down a strong team in McGill, the Mustangs didn't exactly paint the Mona Lisa on Friday night. But for hockey fans? There was a lot to like.
And Mustangs' assistant coach David Kontzie wasn't complaining either.
"It was a great game actually— a good one to coach, to be a part of," said Kontzie after the game. "I think both teams came in and played the game plan that they wanted to. Laurentian works extremely hard, they're very well-coached, they're an aggressive team that plays between the whistles. We thought we had a decent game— we did a good job five-one five, we kept the scoring opportunities down, and the shots, overall, we managed quite well."
One thing Western did manage to do quite well for the better part of the night was neutralize Voyageurs' defence man and leading scorer Vincent Llorca. For a player who had compiled all 13 of his points in his last six games, Llorca was awfully quiet for most of Friday's game. But, with his team down a goal late in the third, the sophomore defender would change that, ringing a slap shot off the cross bar and in to send the matchup into overtime.
That play would make sure Laurentian walked away with at least a point— a point that they certainly earned after holding the fire to Western's feet— both physically and offensively— whenever they could. The emphasis there is on physically, as the two teams were going at it between the whistles all night, as evidenced by the 31 penalty minutes handed out in the third period alone.
The game started out scrappy too, with both teams making sure to finish their checks and get in each other's faces. As a result, 18 penalty minutes were assessed in the period, highlighted by a checking to the head penalty to Laurentian's Brandon Francisco that earned him a two and a ten. Both teams moved the puck well on the power play in the frame, meaning that both Dodds and Valiquette each had to make some nice saves early.
Special teams turned out to be key on the night. While just two of the seven goals were scored on the power play, the majority of play was spent with players in the box as the two teams finished with a combined 53 minutes in penalties in the game.
[Special teams were] very important," Kontzie acknowledged post-game. "We spend a lot of time on it, we've watched a lot of video of Laurentian— they've got a great power play. They move the puck very well so we knew that we had a system we had to follow and block shots and really take care of the middle of the ice and I thought today we did a pretty good job."
Fresh off of a big shutout of McGill last Saturday and being named one of the Mustangs' Athletes of the Week, Dodds looked confident early, containing rebounds with ease and locating the puck through traffic when he had to. He made a pair of solid saves in the frame, first coming all the way across his crease to rob Nick Esposto on the Voyageurs' opening power play before adding a snazzy glove save with just over five minutes left in the frame.
But after facing just five shots in the first period, Dodds would have a rough start to the second, getting beat on the first shot he faced. Nick Esposto would do the damage for the Voyageurs, keeping on a two-on-one and beating Dodds' high on the glove side. Western's sophomore backstop didn't have much of a chance on the goal, as Esposto would creep in as close as the hash marks before he was forced to get the quick wrist shot off.
Six minutes later Dodds would have a chance to relive almost the exact play, this time getting the better of Dylan Fitze with his glove with Fitze attempting to beat him in the same spot. On the other side of the ice, Valiquette shined for the Voyageurs, cleaning up some of his early rebound-control problems to stop 15 shots in the second after turning aside all 14 shots in the first. Perhaps his best save of the frame came on a point shot from Jake Worrad—a shot that Valiquette picked up despite heavy traffic and snagged cleanly with his glove.
Alex Micallef would end up ruining his clean sheet with just under three minutes left in the period, however, picking up the loose puck after an unsuccessful pass attempt to the front of the net and using some impressive skating skills to finish on a nifty wrap-around. Valiquette finished the night with 33 saves on 37 shots— a line that doesn't do his great performance justice.
It wouldn't take the Mustangs long to get back on the board in the third period, as Kyle De Coste found Steve Reese all alone on the goal-line with a nifty pass and Reese used the open space to walk out and front and lift a backhand shot past the shoulder of Valiquette. Laurentian responded by turning up the heat on the Mustangs, resulting in Western taking two straight penalties— one to Noah Schwartz and one to Matt Marantz.
The Mustangs would kill off the penalty to Schwartz but Laurentian would still make them pay on the five-on-four, tying the game up with Esposto's second of the night. With a big crowd forming in front of the net, Esposto took a feed from his linemate Marc-Alain Begin and snapped a shot through the small gap between Dodds and the short-side post. Ten minutes later, Adam Mckee put the Mustangs back in front, making a nifty play to tap the puck to himself near the Voyageurs' blueline before beating Valiquette over the pad on the rush.
Western will have little time to rest after Friday's back and forth game, as they welcome Nipissing to Thompson Arena on Saturday night. The Lakers also won on Friday, beating the Guelph Gryphons 2-1 in Guelph. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
Notes
Laurentian entered Friday's game as one of the top teams in the OUA for power play opportunities and lived up to their penalty-drawing reputation, finishing with a game-high seven opportunities… Western entered the game with the league's second-ranked penalty kill and lived up to their reputation too, allowing just one goal on Laurentian's seven chances… Heading in, just five players on Laurentian had suited up in all eleven games of their season, while 24 skaters on the team had gotten into at least one game. Western has had 21 players suit up this season… Western's highest penalty total before Friday was 26 against Brock on October 11, while Laurentian's was 50 against Ryerson on October 9. Nine minutes of penalties to Kyle De Coste in the third period, including a match penalty for abuse of an official, helped the Mustangs break that mark with 31… Noah Schwartz played a solid game but had his eight-match point-streak snapped on Friday, while Reese added to his team leading point total with a two point night.
RMC 4 @ York 7
The York University Lions men's hockey team dominated the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins 7-4 on Friday night (Nov. 14) at Canlan Ice Sports.
Although the Lions scored a season-high seven goals, the Paladins threatened their lead in the third period with a trio of unanswered tallies to cut a 6-1 York advantage to 6-4. However, that was as close as they would get as the Lions held on for the win.
There were a total of five exciting goals in the third, three of them from the Paladins. The Lions opened up the scoring in the final frame with a goal at 9:02 from Reid Jackman (Etobicoke, Ont.) that made the score 6-1, but at 10:08, on the power play, Christopher Smerek got a hold of the puck and tipped it to the net, which lightly hit off Brett Pinder's stick and slowly slid past Chris Perugini (King City, Ont.).
The Paladins Bruce Hornbrook smacked another goal into the net at 10:38, making the score 6-3.
With only eight minutes left and the Paladins closing the gap to three goals, Eric Louis-Seize sent a smoking puck flaming into the net at 12:55.
However, in the final dying minutes of the game, Mark Cross (Strasbourg, Sask.) picked up the puck and sent it to Michael Santini (Woodbridge, Ont.) who blasted the puck into the net at 19:44 and calmed the worries of the Lions fans with the empty-netter.
Despite the intense finish, the game began slowly and only started to pick up at 7:45 whenAdam Logozzo (Woodbridge, Ont.) swept the puck into the net, giving the Lions the lead.
The puck remained in the Paladins half for the reminder of the first period, giving the Lions confidence they could burry another goal.
Not long after, one-touch passes from Mitch VanTeeling (Brandon, Man.) and Corey Scott(Calgary) set Greg Milner (Watford, Ont.) up to sneak the puck past goalie Paul Mazzolin at 10:08 to make the score 2-0.
Before the end of the period, Hornbrook picked up the puck and slipped it to Marcus Quinlin, who sent it to Kyle Phillips who hammered a one-touch slap shot soaring behind Perugini at 14:37 to get the Paladins on the board.
However, just before the end of the period VanTeeling scooped the puck at 19:45 and sent it past Mazzolin to alter the score to 3-1 at the end of the first.
The Lions' goal-scoring continued into the second, when Cross deked Mazzolin, skated around the back of the net and tucked the puck into the bottom right corner for a goal at 1:45 to make the score 4-1.
At 14:34 VanTeeling took a powerful long distance shot that ricocheted off of Campbell's stick, giving the "man with a moustache" the fifth goal.
Although the Lions scored many goals, Mazzolin did a great job defending the net, saving a total of 26 of York's 33 shots. Perugini saved 21 out of 25 shots from the Paladins.
The Lions rise from seventh place to fourth in the OUA West standings after this great victory, with a total record of 5-7-0. Unfortunately, the Paladins remain at the bottom of the OUA East standings with a total of 11 loses.
Carleton 7 @ Brock 2
The Brock Badgers Men's Hockey team (3-6-1 OUA) dropped a 7-2 decision to the No. 8 ranked Carleton Ravens (9-2-0 OUA) Friday night at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
Carleton opened a 2-0 first period and were up three goals when Kaine Geldart scored his second goal of the season 5:32 into the middle stanza for Brock. Just 50 seconds later Jamie Kendra would score his first goal of the campaign to cut the Ravens lead to 3-2, but that's all the Badgers could muster on this night.
Clint Windsor suffered the loss in goal making 27 saves on 32 shots. Adrian Volpe made 12 stops on 14 shots.
Francis Dupuis picked up the as Carleton outshot Brock 46-29 overall.
Both teams were unsuccessful on the powerplay. The Badgers 0-for-5, the Ravens 0-for-2.
"We lost to the best team we've faced all year, said Brock Head Coach Murray Nystrom. "We have to put this behind us and get ready for RMC."
Queen's 2 @ Ryerson 3
TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams men's hockey team added a third win to their streak Friday night against the Queen's Gaels at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. The Rams (8-3-1) are now second in the OUA west division, after taking the game 3-2.
Both teams came up with massive shot counts, at 52-40 in favour of the Gaels (5-5-0). Rams goalie Troy Passingham (Mississauga, Ont.), who has never faced as many shots in his Ryerson career, stopped all but two in the win.
"[Queens'] plan was to shoot a lot, but I just keep fighting traffic, making the saves, and my [defence] would clear the rebounds," said Passingham.
The Rams were first on the board, with Victor Terreri (Mississauga, Ont.) banging in a rebound past Gaels goalie Kevin Bailie. A hooking penalty to Rams forward Jason Kelly (Toronto), and a shot from Queen's Kelly Jackson would tie it 1-1. Ryerson would finish the frame on the power play, adding another goal with 37 seconds left from forward Lucas Froese (Grunthal, Man.).
In the second, it was Domenic Alberga (Maple, Ont.) who struck first, firing a slap shot past Bailie.
"[Queens'] has some really good players," said Wise. "Their goalie is so good that we felt that we had to put a lot of rubber on him to get the three goals that we got."
The Gaels would add another goal from Braeden Corbeth with 6:50 to go in the third, but it wasn't enough to complete the comeback.
The Rams head to Montreal next Friday to take on the McGill Redmen (8-3-0) who currently sit third in the OUA east division.
Nipissing 2 @ Guelph 1
Guelph, Ont. – Despite outshooting Nipissing 47-29, the Gryphons were on the wrong end of a 2-1 score line Friday night at the Gryphon Centre. With the loss, the Gryphons fall to 3-6-2 while the Nipissing Lakers improve to 7-4-1.
Nipissing's fourth year goalie Kirk Rafuse (Kentville, NS) was a busy man on Friday night, turning away 46 of the 47 shots sent his way.
The Lakers had an early lead to work with after Craig Campbell (Strathroy, Ont.) opened the scoring just over four minutes into the game when his backhander went off the crossbar and in. The Lakers' lead was kept at just one goal thanks to some big saves from Gryphon goalie Keith Hamilton (Kelowna, B.C.). A nice kick save during a penalty kill, followed by a big stop on a Nipissing 2-on-1 were a few of the highlights for Hamilton in what was an impressive night for the second year man.
But the spotlight on this night belonged to Nipissing goalie Kirk Rafuse. Despite outshooting the Lakers 18-7 in the second period, the Gryphons were unable to find a way past Rafuse. His best save of the period came on MacKenzie Nichol (Listowel, Ont.) who had picked the top corner before Rafuse flashed the leather to keep it out.
With the score still 1-0 Nipissing in the 3rd period, the Gryphons would finally find the back of the net. Jordan Mock (Dartmouth, NS) carried the puck into the Lakers zone with some good speed before throwing it towards the net. Andres Kopstals (Toronto, Ont.) was able to jam it home to tie it at 1-1. Unfortunately for the Gryphons, it would not stay that way for long. Just 34 seconds later, the Lakers would re-take the lead as Dale Deon (Georgetown, Ont.) would beat Hamilton for what would prove to be the game-winner.
UOIT 4 @ Toronto 3 (OT)
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the UOIT Ridgebacks on Friday night (Nov. 14) at Varsity Arena.
With the loss, the Blues drop to 4-6-1 in the West, while the Ridgebacks are 6-6-1 in the OUA East division.
Down 3-1 late in the third period, the Blues scored two goals to even the score and force overtime. UOIT's Mike Robinson proved to be the OT hero, burying a rebound off a strange bounce 3:44 into the extra frame.
Third-year Blues forward Patrick Marsh opened the scoring when he took a pass from Dylan Heide in the high slot and buried it in the bottom right corner of the net.
UOIT evened the score four minutes later as Kevin George tapped in a close pass in front of the net. The teams were deadlocked at 1-1 after the first 20 minutes.
The Ridgebacks went ahead late in the second frame, capitalizing on a turnover and Robinson buried the rebound to put the visitor's up 2-1 heading into the final frame.
Brendan Wise extended UOIT's lead to two on the powerplay midway through the third period, but third-year defenceman Dylan Heide answered the call to bring the game within one with 2:20 to go in regulation.
Second-year forward Russell Turner forced overtime with 37 seconds remaining in the third with a goal off a beautiful wrist shot.
UOIT's Jesse Raymond posted 42 saves, while Blues goalie Michael Nishi making 30 saves in the loss.
Concordia 1 @ Waterloo 7
For three weeks, nothing went right for the Waterloo Warriors men's hockey team. On Friday night against Concordia, nothing could go wrong.
Justin Larson (Buckhorn) led an offensive explosion with two goals, Mike Morrison (Hamilton) made 40 saves, and the Warriors snapped a six-game losing streak with a 7-1 win over the Concordia Stingers at the Columbia Icefield Arena on Friday night.
Mitch Elliot (Prince George) and Phillip Fife (Oromocto) each scored their first CIS goals, and five other Warriors – Chris Chappell (Pickering), Matt Kennedy (Oro Medonte), Mike Moffat (Waterloo), and Brett Mackie (Whitby) and Riley Sonnenburg (Cambridge) – each had two-point nights. The win is Waterloo's first since October 18, and it improves their record to 5-6-1 on the season.
For the Stingers, it was their fifth loss in the last six games, dropping their record to 4-9-0. Robin Billingham took the loss, making 11 first-period saves before being replaced by Antoine Marchand, who stopped 13 shots for Concordia.
The Warriors came out of the gate looking every bit like a team that needed a victory. They opened the scoring just 52 seconds into the game when Mackie knocked a Chappell rebound home, and Larson extended the lead to 2-0 at the six-minute mark.
Concordia got on the board with a controversial marker, as the puck looked to hit the glass behind the Waterloo bench and bounce back into play before Hugo Vincent slammed home a rebound off the end boards. But instead of letting the bad bounce rattle them, the Warriors responded quickly where it mattered most – on the scoreboard.
Just 1:04 after the Stingers made it 2-1, Elliot scored his first as a Warrior to restore the two-goal lead. Then, only 23 seconds later, Larson squeaked home a wrister on the man advantage to give the Warriors a 4-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Moffat added to the lead with a point shot through traffic in the opening minute of the second stanza. It turned out to be the only goal of the period, primarily due to Morrison's outstanding play – the Stingers had four power plays and a 19-6 shot advantage in the middle frame, but they couldn't beat the Waterloo keeper.
The Warriors held the 5-1 advantage until late in the third, where two highlight-reel goals punctuated the victory. First, Fife hopped past a check on the left wing boards and cut to the net with a curl-and-drag move, beating Marchand with a wrist shot. Then, just moments later, Behenna finished off a gorgeous passing play from Chappell to round out the scoring.
The Warriors will now look to start a winning streak as they prep for a 2013 Queen's Cup rematch with the UQTR Patriotes. Puck drop with the Patroites, ranked fifth in the CIS, is slated for 6:30 PM in Waterloo.
Notes: Waterloo went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Concordia went 0-for-6…Anthony Tapper (Marmora) had an assist in his regular season debut, after missing the first 11 games with an injury…Jeff Einhorn (Red Deer), out since Oct 18 with a lower body injury, returned to the lineup.
Saturday, Nov. 17
Laurentian 3 @ Guelph 2
Guelph, Ont. – The Laurentian Voyageurs spoiled the 7th Annual Hockey Day in Gryphonville by beating the Gryphons 3-2 Saturday afternoon at the Gryphon Centre. The Annual Hockey Day in Gryphonville celebrates Guelph's rich hockey history by re-connecting Gryphon hockey alumni with current players, and bringing the hockey family together. This year Guelph honoured the men who wore the "C" from 1980 through 2013.
It would be a strong offensive first period for both teams, with four goals in the opening 20 minutes. It would be the Voyageurs who would get on the board first with a goal from Brandon Howes (Peterborough, Ont.) at 6:23. Laurentian would score again less than two minutes later on a hard shot from Nicholas Dionne (Amos, Quebec), with Brandon Francisco (Bradford, Ont.) on the assist.
But the Gryphons would respond when a shot from Jordan Mock would rebound right to Scott Simmonds (Uxbridge, Ont.) who would bury it from the slot. It was only fitting that on a night in which past captains were being honoured, that current captain Daniel Broussard (Fayetteville, NC) would get on the scoresheet when his slapshot from the point found the back of the net to tie it at 2-2.
Unfortunately for the Gryphons, Laurentian would re-take the lead in the 2nd period thanks to a nice wrist shot from Francisco that beat Andrew D'Agostini (Scarborough, Ont.). The Gryphons would pull the goalie to get the extra attacker on the ice in the dying moments of the third period, but would be unable to find the equalizer as Laurentian would hold on to win it 3-2.
D'Agostini made 30 saves on the night. For a second straight game, the Gryphons peppered the net with shots – finishing with 37. With the loss, the Gryphons drop to 3-7-2 while Laurentian improves to 6-5-1.
The Gryphons will hit the ice again Friday November 21st against the UQTR Patriotes with the puck set to drop at 7:00 p.m.
UQTR 2 @ Waterloo 3
Matt Kennedy (Oro Medonte) had seen this all before.
He'd seen UQTR goaltender Guillaume Nadeau steal the show in the first four minutes of overtime, and he'd seen his own netminder, Mike Morrison (Hamilton), steal it for the sixty minutes prior to that. He'd also seen three different pucks – one off his own stick – hit iron behind Nadeau. So when Kennedy had a chance to end the game in the extra period, you could hardly blame him for leaning into his shot just a little harder than usual.
Kennedy rapped home a rebound, his second goal of the night, on an overtime power play to give the Warriors a massive 3-2 win over the UQTR Patriotes at the Columbia Icefield Arena on Saturday night.
Kennedy and Justin Larson (Buckhorn) notched three points apiece for the Warriors, who won their second game in a row to move to 6-6-1 on the season. Meanwhile, the Patriotes, ranked 5th in the nation, saw their four-game winning streak snapped as their record fell to 9-1-1.
Morrison was outstanding for the Warriors between the pipes, turning aside 37 shots for his second straight victory. Nadeau was nearly as good for the Patriotes, making 37 stops of his own in the loss.
The game marked the first time since the 2013 Queen's Cup that the Patriotes visited Waterloo, and both teams came out of the gates like a title was at stake. The visitors opened up the scoring when Billy Lacasse converted on a quick passing play, but it was not without its controversy – the puck looked to have cleared the Waterloo zone just before the goal, but the play was ruled onside.
The Warriors weren't discouraged by the early deficit or the circumstances surrounding it, as Larson drew them equal with a heavy wrist shot that just snuck through Nadeau and barely over the goal line. Just over three minutes later, and after yeoman's work behind the net by Anthony Tapper (Marmora), Kennedy one-timed a gorgeous backhand feed from Larson over Nadeau's glove hand for a 2-1 Waterloo lead after 20 minutes.
UQTR continued to pressure in the second, but Morrison made save after save – including an unbelievable diving blocker stab to maintain Waterloo's 2-1 lead. However, he couldn't hold the fort forever, as Tommy Giroux converted a one-timer top shelf to equalize the score midway through the second.
With just under a minute to play in the second, a Brett Mackie (Whitby) head-checking penalty set off a large melee that saw five players – three of them Warriors – assessed 10-minute misconducts. One of those penalized was Waterloo captain and defensive workhorse Joe Underwood (Canton), so the Warriors would be forced to roll only four defencemen for the bulk of the third period.
The penalties seemed to dictate Waterloo's game in the first half of the third frame, as they put all their attention and will into defensive zone coverage and shot blocking. Once the penalty boxes emptied and each team had a full bench, the pace evened out and each team failed on late opportunities to win the game in regulation.
The Warriors looked like the more dangerous club in overtime, and only Nadeau's heroics (and a Chris Chappell (Pickering) shot off the goal post) kept the game knotted early in the extra frame. With just over 90 seconds remaining in the 4-on-4 session, UQTR captain Tommy Tremblay was sent off for hooking Colin Behenna (Waterloo), and the Waterloo power play went to work.
Using four forwards on the 4-on-3 advantage, Chappell dragged the puck to the goalmouth and created a fire drill in the UQTR slot area. Larson's rebound chance was kicked out by Nadeau, but it landed right at the feet of Kennedy, who slammed home the emotional game-winner.
It was a dramatic way for the Warriors to close out their first half home schedule, as they'll head to a four-game road trip to end the fall semester. The first leg of the trip will be in Kingston, as the Warriors face off against RMC next Friday night at 7:00 pm.
Notes: The Warriors went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Patriotes went 0-for-2…Tapper had two assists, giving him three points in two games since returning from injury…Waterloo played with only five defenceman and 13 forwards, as Jeff Einhorn (Red Deer) was shelved once again due to injury…Warriors Joe Underwood (Canton), Ryan Hanes(Kanata), Mitch Elliot (Prince George), Mike Moffat (Waterloo) and CIF P.A. announcer Jay Shaw had their heads shaved in the first intermission as part of the Think Pink cancer awareness and fundraising campaign.
Nipissing 2 @ Western 4
LONDON, Ont. — Marc Nother made 32 saves in his first career CIS home start and his teammates helped make sure that performance would be enough for his first-ever CIS win, netting four goals in a penalty-filled second period to walk away with a 4-2 victory over the Nipissing Lakers at Thompson Arena Friday night.
"Marc played great," said Mustangs head coach Clarke Singer post-game. "It was nice to get him a CIS win and you know he made a couple of big saves for us as the game went on and you need those from your goalie and he gave it to us tonight. He deserved the win."
Nother sure started out on the right note. Just over two minutes into the first period, Stefan Salituro was booked for high sticking and the third-year goaltender bailed him out, making the initial save on the attacking forward before sprawling out to make a follow-up desperation stop with his outstretched left pad. He would make at least five more saves before the first five minutes ticked off the clock, as Nipissing largely outplayed Western for much of the first frame.
But Lakers' backstop Kirk Rafuse did have to be sharp early too, turning aside a number of solid Western chances to finish with 12 saves in the frame. His team would back up his performance by putting up the only goal of the period, as Colin Campbell beat Nother 15 minutes in to break the scoreless tie and send the Lakers' into the intermission up 1-0.
That lead wouldn't last long, however, as the Mustangs would get two goals from defenceman David Corrente before the midway mark of the second. The third-year's first tally came off a slap shot from the point that just barely dribbled over the line and his second was the product of a nice play from Luke Karaim, who fooled Rafuse into thinking he was keeping on a two-on-one before sliding the puck over to Corrente for the tap-in at the last moment.
Heading into Saturday night, the Mustangs had gotten just one goal from a defensive core that Singer said before the season he hoped would contribute more offensively. But some extra work on that area in practice this week appeared to pay off in Western's two weekend games, as defensemen were in on all eight goals that the Mustangs scored.
"We actually put quite a focus on it this week in practice— we thought we have worked on it but we really put a focus on it this week" Singer said when asked about getting offence from the backend. "The D were in on all four goals last night and then tonight they had another great night and, most importantly, besides the points they're creating offence with their play, jumping up in the rush as well as being involved off the cycle."
Matt Marantz would get the other two goals for the Mustangs before the period finished, wiring a point-shot through a couple of screens to put Western up 3-1 before providing a response to the Lakers' only goal of the period with just 14 seconds left on the clock. Nipissing's tally came from Jacob McDowell, who made up for taking his team's first two penalties of the night by jamming the puck past Nother on what originally appeared to be a dead play.
The third period would be goal-free, perhaps due to the fact that both teams cleaned up their acts after opening the game with two messy periods. Western racked up 18 penalty minutes in the first period compared to Nipissing's two, while the second period saw both teams spending some quality time in the box with 12 two-minute infractions handed out between the squads.
It wasn't just Western's discipline that improved in the final frame either. The referees put the whistles away and with them went Western's sloppy play, as the Mustangs began to make some crisp first passes and execute their systems a bit cleaner than they had earlier in the night. Sure, Nipissing buzzed, finishing with eight shots in the period, but for the Mustangs didn't look like they were in danger of giving up their momentum at any point in the frame.
"We had a good third— we played how we need to do in the third," said Singer. "We forechecked hard, we managed the puck, we kept the third guy high, we took advantage of their [defence] on the cycle— that was the game plan. I thought we were a little loose with the puck and our discipline the first couple of periods but we got the points. It's nice to get the points."
It's especially nice to get the points considering the tough schedule that lies ahead for the Mustangs. Western has won all seven of their home games so far this season but they won't have the luxury of playing at Thompson Arena again until January, as their next six games will take place on the road against some tough, tough competition.
"I can't remember in my career when we've played our last home game in Thompson Arena in the first half in the second week of November," Singer said. "But that's what the schedule dictates and we've got six incredibly difficult games on the road. We're happy we got the points now but we've got to focus on next weekend.
The first stop on the road will see the Mustangs travel east to take on the Concordia Stingers in Montreal. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
Notes
Nipissing has had a near monopoly on rookie performers so far this season. Well, sort of. Five of the top 18 rookie leaders and two of the top 10 are from the university— making them the most represented team in both categories heading into Saturday. Only one of those five players— Colin Campbell— got on the board on the night… With 31 penalty minutes last night and 40 on Saturday, Western broke their 2014-15 singe-game penalty minute record for the second consecutive game. Before this weekend their previous high was 26 against Brock on October 11… Marantz is now tied with Steve Reese for the team lead in goals with five. Six of his points and all five of those goals have come in the last six games as the Calgary native is hot at the moment.
Carleton 4 @ York 3 (SO)
The York University Lions men's hockey team fell to the No. 8 nationally ranked Carlton Ravens 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday (Nov. 15) at Canlan Ice Sports after coming back from a 3-1 loss in the third period.
With the start of the third Tyler Mort (Keswick, Ont.) took a powerful long distance shot at 2:14 off of a power play, closing the gap to a one goal difference.
Only a few minutes later Michael Santini (Woodbridge, Ont.) buried the puck in the back of the net at 18:41, sending the fans screaming and tying the game at 3-3 by the end of regulation.
With no goals scored in overtime the game moved onto extra overtime in a three-on-three, five minute match which ended scoreless.
With the end of the overtime periods, the game went into penalty shootouts where Mitch Maraschiello (Buffalo, N.Y.) saved two shots, but the final shot by Michael Lomas slid through his grasp and gave the Ravens a 4-3 win.
Rookie goalie Maraschiello was hammered left, right and centre by the Ravens the entire game but saved many shots, giving the Lions a chance at breaking the Raven's six-game winning streak. Maraschiello dove, kick, slid and caught a total of 50 saves out of 53 shots.
The game began quickly with numerous shots from the Ravens fired at Maraschiello who held a firm ground. Maraschiello saved a whopping total of 19 shots in the first period only.
The Lions opened up the scoring with a bullet from Adam Logozzo (Woodbridge, Ont.) at 7:25.
With only two seconds left of the first, the puck finally squeezed through Maraschiello after a diving attempt, giving Mitch Zion a goal for the Ravens.
The Ravens did not waste any time with the start of the second period when Zion intercepted a Lions pass and sent the puck to Mitch Porowski who sent the puck to the back of the net despite a diving attempt from Maraschiello at 1:18.
At 7:68 the Ravens hammered three consecutive shots at Maraschiello, two of which he saved and one of which went to the back of the net but was disallowed by the referee. The score was still 2-1.
The Lions fumbled the puck twice in front of the net at 10:42, giving Michael Lomas the opportunity to pounce on the puck and score a third for the Ravens.
The Lions played an outstanding game, making the Ravens work hard all the way to the end to extend their winning streak to seven games.
The next game for the Lions is Friday (Nov. 21) against the Laurentian Voyageurs in Sudbury, Ont.
RMC 1 @ Brock 9
Many hockey players have stories about their past and present teammates, but when your teammate is also your roommate and takes every class with you it's even more special.
That's the case with first year Brock Badger Men's Hockey players, goaltender Clint Windsor and forward Yanni Rallis.
That special bond was put to the test Saturday night at the Seymour-Hannah Centre after Rallis trying to bump his opponent off the puck crashed gruesomely face first into the stanchion by the Brock bench. Rallis laid unconscious for a number of minutes in front of silent, stunned crowd before being stretchered off the ice and taken to hospital via ambulance after a 20 minute delay.
As Rallis lay on the ice surrounded by his parents, emergency personnel and doctors, a number of his teammates including his roommates , Andrew Radjenovic, Gregory Jambrosich and Windsor circled the 21-year old Hamilton native.
"It was a scary moment for sure. You never want to see one of your teammates go down, especially your best friend," said Windsor who played minor hockey with Rallis for close to 12 years. "We were trying to get his mouthguard out because he couldn't breathe and just talking to him telling him to battle through it – come on Yanni you got this. We have a tight knit group at our house, we all grew up together, you never want to see that. It was scary."
Rallis did give the thumbs up as left the ice on the stretcher bringing the crowd to full roar.
"We just knew it was time to kick some ass," Windsor added. "We just wanted to do it for Yanni."
And do it for Yanni was definitely the mantra of the night. The Brock forward left 5:13 into the second period with the Badgers on top 3-0, and they rallied behind Rallis the rest of the way enroute to a 9-1 victory over the RMC Paladins.
Windsor made 29 saves for his first career OUA victory.
Badgers Head Coach Murray Nystrom echoed many of his goaltenders comments.
"It's scary, because you just don't know in the initial moments how serious it is," Nystrom said. "It was good to rally behind Yanni and our games have been very tense and stressful – we don't get many games like this. And Clint (Windsor) was sound and that's what you need from your goaltender on any given night."
Brock outshot RMC 36-30 overall as seven different goal scorers found the back of the net. Jordan Gignac and Taylor Fielding scored two goals each, while Tyson Dallman, Radjenovic, Mason Malkowich, Jamie Kendra and Dylan MacEachern added singles.
The Badgers improved to (4-6-1 OUA) with the victory, while RMC fell to (0-12-0).
As of late Saturday night, Rallis was reported to be alert, in good spirits and resting comfortably in hospital.
The entire Brock Badger community is wishing Yanni a full and healthy recovery.
McGill 5 @ Lakehead 1
The Lakehead Thunderwolves fell 5-1 to the McGill Redmen in front of 3021 fans at the Fort William Gardens on Saturday night.
Lakehead took an early 1-0 lead when Ryan Magill fed Mike Hammond, who fired the puck high to beat McGill goalie Karel St. Laurent just 6:14 into the game.
When the action resumed, McGill evened the score when Jonathan Brunelle beat Lakehead netminder Justin McDonald at the 8:45 mark. That was all the scoring in the first period, due in large part to some big saves made by McDonald in the Wolves' net.
Samuel Lebrecque gave the Redmen the lead just over two minutes into the second period, and then at 15:54, Neal Prokop made it 3-1 for McGill after McDonald mishandled the puck on a clearing attempt. Less than 30 seconds later, Guillaume Monast scored on a deflection to give the Redmen a 4-1 lead heading into the third.
Hammond and Magill both had good scoring chances in the final frame but were stymied by St. Laurent, and then with 3:06 left on the clock Simon Tardif-Richard was left all alone in the slot and rifled the puck high on McDonald to round out the scoring at 5-1 for McGill.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1. Karel St. Laurent, McGill
2. Justin McDonald, Lakehead
3. Neal Prokop, McGill
Lakehead will head to Kingston next weekend for a pair of games against the Queen's Golden Gaels.
Source: Lakehead Thunderwolves
Queen's 2 @ Toronto 1
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team fell 2-1 to the Queen's Gaels on Saturday, November 15 at Varsity Arena.
With the loss, the Blues drop to 4-7-1 in the West, while the Gaels improve to 6-5-0 in the OUA East division.
The Blues opened the scoring early in the first period when third-year forward Christian Finch skated across the high slot and wired the puck into the top right corner of the net on the powerplay.
Third-year Gaels forward Andrew Wiebe evened the score 3:55 into the second frame with a powerplay marker of his own and the two teams remained tied 1-1 heading into the final frame.
Wiebe notched his second of the night, the eventual game-winner, 41 seconds into the third period with a shorthanded goal.
Blues netminder Michael Nishi posted 27 saves in the loss.
The Varsity Blues are back in action next Saturday, November 22 as they head to Montreal to take on the McGill Redmen. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
Concordia 3 @ Laurier 6
With seven players having at least a multi point night, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's hockey team soared past the Concordia Stingers 6-3 Saturday night at the Waterloo Recreation Complex.
Ryan Lopes of Brampton, Ont., and Derek Schoenmakers of Kitchener, Ont., led the way for the gold and purple, each netting two goals and adding an assist. Captain Tyler Stothers of Oakville, Ont., Mike Webley of Stittsville, Ont.,Zach Lorentz of Waterloo, Ont., Matt Provost of Oakville, Ont., and Kyle Morrison of Mississauga, Ont., all had two points on the game to help the Hawks bounce back from a loss last week to Ryerson in Laurier Brantford's annual Homecoming game.
Laurier's offence came out on a mission tonight. They were able to find the back of the net three times in the first period with the last one coming off the stick of Schoenmakers on the power play with only nine second left in the first period.
The offence would not stop there as they scored the next two goals to take a 5-0 lead early in the third. The Stingers would push back scoring three goals in the final frame, netting two of them on the power play. In the end the deficit was too much, and the Golden Hawks came out on top 6-3.
Concordia outshot Laurier 45 to 37 on the night, but lucky for the Hawks, goaltenders Vinny Merante of Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Harrison Pharoah of Bracebridge, Ont., were able to shut the door to help seal Laurier's fourth victory of the season. Merante stopped all 18 shots he saw before he was forced from the game with an injury, while Pharoah made 24 of 27 saves on the night in relief to earn the victory.
Stingers' freshman goaltender Antoine Marchand of Montreal, Ont., picked up his first career OUA loss Saturday night. Before he got replaced in the second period, he allowed three goals on 12 shots. Robin Billingham of Ottawa, Ont., stopped 22 of 25 shots in relief for Merchand.
Sunday, Nov. 16
UQTR 7 @ Laurier 0
The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's hockey team suffered their seventh loss of the season at the hands of the No. 5 UQTR Patriotes Sunday night as they fell 7-0 at Waterloo Recreational Complex.
For the first time this season the Golden Hawks were held off the scoreboard. The Patriotes outshot the Hawks 53 to 19 on the night.
Tommy Giroux of Quebec City led the way for the Patriotes scoring his first career OUA hat trick and adding two assists on the game. UQTR took full advantage of their opportunities on the power play, scoring four of their six tries.
Laurier goaltender Harrison Pharoah of Bracebridge, Ont., picked up the loss, stopping 46 of the 53 shots he faced.
Patriotes goaltender Francis Desrosiers of St-Eustache, Que., got the win as he turned aside all 19 shots Laurier fired at him to pick up his second shutout of the season.
With the loss the Golden Hawks record drops to 4-7-0 and they now sit in second last in the OUA West division.
Laurier will hit the road next weekend to take on the 9-2-0 Carleton Ravens Friday night. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. at the Carleton Ice House.
