Merante shines to lead Laurier past Nipissing
WATERLOO, Ont. (January 17, 2015) – The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s hockey team slashed their recent two game slide Sunday night as they picked up a 3-1 win on home ice over the Nipissing Lakers.
WATERLOO, Ont. (January 17, 2015) – The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's hockey team slashed their recent two game slide Sunday night as they picked up a 3-1 win on home ice over the Nipissing Lakers.
The Hawks were deserving of the win, setting the intensity and sticking with it until the final buzzer. In doing so, they managed to collect a goal in each period, and left the Lakers struggling to keep pace.
The first puck of the night to find the back of the Lakers' net was from the stick of second year forward Erik Pushka of Dugald, Man., toward the end of the first.
Eager to keep the Hawks close as play moved into second period, the Lakers tied the contest early in the frame on a goal from Erik Robichaud of Timmins, Ont., during a power play. Not long after, rookie forward Trevor Sauder of Tavistock, Ont., scored his second goal of the season to put purple and gold ahead by one.
As the time dwindled down in the final period, the trailing Lakers upped the intensity to regain lost ground. Increasing aggression on both teams had players actively seeking out big hits. Despite their attempts to even the score, the Lakers only succeeded at falling further behind when captain Greg Cerilli of Barrie, Ont., fired the puck into an empty net just over fifty seconds before the final buzzer.
In addition to the solid offensive effort seen throughout the three periods, the strong Laurier defensive work was further fortified by the efforts of netminder Vinny Merante of Niagara Falls, N.Y., who made thirty-six saves in the win. Dominic Graham of Gatineau, QU., meanwhile, stopped twenty-eight on thirty shots in the loss.
With the win, Laurier rises to seventh place in the OUA West division, now tied with the University of Toronto on 18 points with a 9-11-0 record. Nipissing similarly ranks seventh in the East division, now sitting at 8-9-3 on the year.
The purple and gold will look to continue to improve their standing on Wednesday, January 20, when they travel to Windsor Arena, where they will take on the University of Windsor Lancers (10 - 8 - 3). Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game can be seen live on OUA.tv.
Source: Laurier Golden Hawks
