AROUND OUA: Gee-Gees double up No. 8 Gaels

SCOREBOARD

Ottawa 6 @ Queen's 3

Laurentian 3 @ Western 6

Toronto 1 @ York 5

RMC 2 @ UQTR 4

Concordia 0 @ Carleton 4

Windsor 4 @ Brock 1

Nipissing 1 @ Guelph 2

Lakehead 4 @ Laurier 3

McGill 4 @ UOIT 2

Mustangs take down visiting Vees at pack Thompson Arena

LONDON, Ont. – Two goals from Luke Karaim helped the Western Mustangs break a seven-game losing streak with a 6-3 win over the Laurentian Voyageurs on Friday at Thompson Arena.
 
While the final score shows an easy win, the game was anything but. The Mustangs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead only to see that lead quickly evaporated by the middle of the second frame. However, behind the energy of more than 1,500 school children in attendance from 17 London-area schools, Western was able to rebound and take a 4-3 lead into the third which would not be relinquished.
 
"[The losses] were piling up emotionally on us so nice to have the energy of the crowd here today, said Mustangs head coach Clarke Singer. "I think we really used that in the first period to get out to that three goal lead and even when they tied it up we used it in the second to come back and play a pretty good game."
 
In the first period, Western's offence announced that it was officially back. The Mustangs jumped to a 3-0 lead on the back of a Mitchell Brooks goal as well as both Karaim markers.
 
Brooks was the beneficiary of a sweet feed in the slot from Mitchell Fitzmorris and buried the puck with ease to put Western on the board just over three minutes into the contest.
 
Each of Karaim's goals were scored after nice assists as well. First, Matt Marantz fed a wide open Karaim right in front of the net, where Karaim roofed the puck. As the period was winding down, Karaim scored his second when Ray Heuther found him at the top of the faceoff circle. Karaim would wire a slapshot home, sending the noise meter skyrocketing inside Thompson Arena.
 
"We really played with the energy that the kids brought. We didn't know what it felt like to win there for a while but it certainly feels nice right now," said Karaim.
 
Despite the strong start for the purple and white, Laurentian controlled the final few minutes of the frame and began to cut into the Mustangs lead. Just 17 seconds after Jed Rusk took his second penalty of the period, Voyageur forward Christopher Smith batted the puck out of midair amongst a scramble and beat goalie Luke Peresinni to cut the lead to 3-1.
 
After winning the ensuing faceoff, Darcy Haines streaked down the wing and sniped one low and far side, cutting the Mustangs lead to 3-2 heading into the intermission.
 
Laurentian tied the game midway through the second on a shot from the blueline by Vincent Llorca, but Western would respond late in the period to retake the lead.
 
Mike DiPaolo stripped a Voyageur defenceman in front of the net with just over two minutes remaining in the period before beating goalie Joel Vienneau glove side for his first goal of the season.
 
In the third period, Marantz recorded his first goal of the season into an empty net twenty seconds before Connor Chartier scored his team-leading fifth to settle the score at 6-3.
 
"It was really fun and it was more just we needed to get a win today so everyone was ready to go and when you have the crowd behind you it's a kick in the butt to get a win," said Marantz.
 
The Mustangs look to continue their winning ways tomorrow night against Nipissing. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Thompson Arena.

Source: Western Mustangs

Big offensive night powers Lions past Blues

The York University Lions men's hockey team exploded for five goals in a big 5-1 victory over the cross-town rival Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday night at Varsity Arena.
 
The win was the team's second in a row and ninth of the season, improving their record to 9-4-2 on the year and keeping the Lions comfortably in second place in the OUA West standings. The Blues, who have struggled all season, fell to 1-12-2 and are at the bottom of the division.
 
The Lions used quick starts in each of the first two periods to take a commanding lead they would not relinquish.
 
Greg Milner (Watford, Ont.) opened the scoring just 2:27 into the contest with his ninth goal of the year, and less than five minutes later Kyle Campbell (Halifax) found the back of the net to give the Lions a 2-0 lead after the first period.
 
The Lions dominated the period, outshooting the Blues 14-2.
 
The two-goal advantage quickly became four early in the second period as the Lions scored twice in the first two minutes of the frame to make the score 4-0. Steven Janes (Etobicoke, Ont.) scored at 1:06 and Campbell netted his second of the night at 1:50.
 
The Blues finally got on the board mid way through the third period on a power play goal by Aidan Wallace, who capitalized on a rebound to put the puck away. However less than one minute later the Lions restored their four-goal lead on a goal by Derek Sheppard (Ajax, Ont.) to round out the scoring.
 
Rookie goaltender Mack Shields (Saskatoon) continued his tremendous start to the season with just one goal allowed on 15 shots. His counterpart, Michael Nishi, made 26 saves in the loss.
 
The Lions have one more game before the end of the fall semester and will return to home ice at Canlan Ice Sports on Saturday night (Nov. 27) to take on the Windsor Lancers. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm.

Source: York Lions

Carleton contains Concordia in 4-0 win at home

OTTAWA, ON — While forcing their opponents' hand at both ends of the ice, the Ravens men's hockey team shutout the Concordia Stingers with a 4-0 victory Friday night at the Ice House. From start to finish, the Ravens continuously forced the play back into the Stingers' end, leaving their opponent's offence scrambling for any sort of attack.

BOX SCORE

"That was probably our best 60 minutes of the year in terms of being very strong defensively and finding success on special teams," says Ravens head coach Marty Johnston, whose team only surrendered 16 shots on the night. "All areas were good. Tonight was a big credit to the guys."

The last time these two teams faced-off, the Stingers' top-ten offence powered their way to a 3-2 win after consistently being one step ahead. However, Friday's matchup showed no resemblance as the Ravens' lock-down defensive play allowed far fewer shots and took far fewer penalties.

"As a D-unit, we've had lots of injuries and a lot of different guys have had to step up," admits Johnston. "I don't think we've had the same six-man unit all year, but, tonight, the forwards contributed too. They came back and were responsible, not leaving our defence out on an island."

This defensive effort was evident from the get-go as a combined total of three shots were allowed in the opening five minutes. With their respective five-man lineups in front of them halting all opposing attacks, Ravens' goaltender Francois Brassard (Gatineau, QC) and Stingers' backstop Philippe Cadorette both patiently waited for their first real challenge of the game.

As the opening frame progressed, the game was seemingly on course for a scoreless 20 minutes, but after a net-front drive from first-year defenceman Josh Burnside (Brampton, ON) drew an interference penalty, the Ravens' power-play found themselves with a chance to break the stalemate.

With 17 seconds left on the man-advantage, a narrowly-missed point shot from Burnside rebounded off the left-side back boards to the stick of Corey Durocher (Ottawa, ON) whose quick snap-shot found the top-right corner of the Stingers' net. On his fourth goal in two games, Durocher's eventual game-winner gave the Ravens a 1-0 lead.

From there, the ice slowly began to tilt in the Ravens' favour. After multiple blueline stops from Owen Werthner (Ottawa, ON) and Tyler Akeson (Ottawa, ON) forced the Stingers' attack to turnover the puck, the Ravens' forwards were able to turn the play around and put their opponents on their heels.

In the final minute of an opening period that saw the Ravens outshoot the Stingers 10-4, Michael McNamee (Perth, ON) managed one last rush from centre ice to the near hash marks of the offensive zone. After side-stepping a Concordia defenceman, a McNamee pass found a rushing Brett Welychka (London, ON) for an easy backhand bury past a frozen Cadorette.

The Ravens' 2-0 lead would remain unchanged for the entirety for the second period as both teams saw a handful of the lineups enter the penalty box. After a late stick-check from Stingers' forward Anthony De Luca set off a net-front melee, both teams began to take exception with one another, resulting in a combined 12 minutes of roughing and unsportsmanlike penalties.

To the Ravens' fortune, the Stingers' penalty trouble carried over into the early minutes of the third period. After a Ryan Van Stralen (Prescott, ON) slot shot rebounded off Cadorette, a net-front Adam Chapman (Barrie, ON) reeled in the loose puck and tucked it past the sprawling Stingers' netminder. The Ravens' second power-play goal of the game pushed their lead to three with nearly 17 minutes left to be played.

But with the Ravens' defence continuing their lock-down effort, little changed as Concordia struggled to find any sort of offence and generated only three shots in the final 20 minutes.

With four minutes left on the clock and the Ravens nearing victory, a net-front Travis Douglas (Osgoode, ON) picked up the rebound from a Hayden Hulton (Kingston, ON) shot before sliding the puck past Cadorette's stretched left pad. Douglas' first of the season sealed the game for the Ravens, who now improve to a 9-6 record.

After a composed 16-save performance, Friday's win marked the first shutout of Brassard's 12-game U Sports career. Although he saw nearly half the shots he usually faces, Brassard was stellar when called upon, both through his saves and his puck movement.

"Anybody that gets to see [Brassard] live gets a real appreciation of how well he can help our breakout by moving the puck," says Johnston. "I'm really happy for him, I thought he was excellent."

After the victory moves them into a tie for fifth in the OUA East, the Ravens will quickly prepare for their Saturday-night matchup with the UQTR Patriotes. With their upcoming opponents riding a four-game win streak, the Ravens will need another strong showing from their entire roster.

"We're going to have to be as good defensively tomorrow night as we were tonight," explains Johnston. "We'll be in tough, that roster's impressive."

Source: Carleton Ravens

Badgers fall 4-1 to Lancers

The Brock University men's hockey team dropped a 4-1 decision against the University of Windsor Friday night at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.

Windsor opened the scoring just 3:04 into the game when Chadd Baumann buried a powerplay goal from Dylan Denomme and Steve Anthony to give the Lancers an early 1-0 lead that they would hold for the rest of the period.

In the second period, Windsor extended their lead to 2-0, on a Blake Blondeel goal with assists from Mike Christou and Dylan Seguin at 6:45.

The Lancers would further extend their lead to 3-0 at 14:29 of the third period on their second powerplay goal of the night, this time coming from Ian Foubert with assists from Kyle Hope and Sebastian Beauregard.

Brock's lone tally came at 17:51 in the third period when Chris Maniccia (St. Catharines, ON) scored a powerplay goal with assists from Sammy Banga (Windsor, ON) and Adam Lloyd (Orleans, ON).

Windsor would add an empty netter from Justice Dundas at 18:56.

In goal, Brock's Adam Beukeboom stopped 31 of 34 shots against for a save percentage of .912 in the loss. Windsor's Blake Richard stopped 19 of 20 shots in the victory.

The Badgers next action comes Saturday November 26th against the Waterloo Warriors at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.

Source: Brock Badgers

Gryphons win 2-1 over visiting Lakers

GUELPH, ON – An up-and-down season for the Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team is once again on the upswing.
 
The Gryphs are back above the .500 mark after a tight 2-1 victory on Friday night at the Gryphon Centre over the visiting Nipissing Lakers. It was their third straight win, with only one game left before a long holiday break that won't see the Gryphons back on the ice until the New Year.
 
"We're above .500 again, and we want to stay that way," head coach Shawn Camp said of his club, which now boasts an 8-7 record in the highly competitive OUA West Division.
 
"We look forward to seeing if we can finish off the first half with a big win (on Saturday). It's really critical that we have a good effort again."
 
A win is a win, and Camp was happy to claim Friday's victory despite it being much closer than perhaps it should have been. The Lakers came to town having won only four of 13 games so far this season, but they gave the Gryphs a tough battle.
 
"Nipissing's a team that just doesn't stop working. While we had some good chances early, we were not able to capitalize on them, and as a result the game stayed tight," Camp said.
 
"In the third period we bent but didn't break, which was really good to see for our guys. Good to see that we can grind out a low-scoring, tight game like that."
 
The Gryphs got the only goal of the first period as Trevor Morbeck scored his sixth of the season, picking up a rebound and tucking it behind Nipissing netminder Domenic Graham.
 
Guelph counterpart Scott Stajcer stood tall to keep the Lakers off the board, and got some help from his goal posts, including one shot from Nipissing's Steve Deeg that caught both the post and the crossbar just past the midway point of the second period.
 
Less than a minute later, Tryg Strand of the Gryphs was rewarded for some hard work that saw him beat all five Nipissing skaters to a loose puck in the slot and put it past Graham for what turned out to be the winning goal.
 
"Right away, he saw where the puck was going, he outworked guys to get to the puck, and he had a great shot on the play. Great to see him get rewarded for that hard work," Camp said of Strand, a third-year winger from Invermere, BC.
 
Erik Robichaud of the Lakers did finally solve Stajcer on a two-man advantage early in the third period, but the veteran goaltender shut the door after that – albeit with some more help from his goal post.
 
"The posts were friendly to me today. I enjoy that," Stajcer, a fourth-year player from Cambridge, said with a smile.
 
His grace under fire came in handy as the Lakers refused to fold, buzzing around the Guelph net and threatening right up until the final seconds. Stajcer ended up making 28 saves to secure the victory.
 
"He's a very calming influence for our team, which is so critical when it gets hectic like it did late in the game," Camp said of his goalie, who was the starting goalie for the Ontario Hockey League title-winning Owen Sound Attack in 2011.
 
Stajcer, for his part, was happy to give the credit to his defencemen.
 
"The D played great, kept (the Lakers) to the outside, and I got to see a lot of the shots," he said, adding the focus now shifts to Saturday's game against the Laurentian Voyageurs.
 
"The first half of the season hasn't gone the way we planned. But we've got a great team, and we want to keep winning. Going into the break with four straight wins would be huge. Plus, it's Hockey Day in Gryphonville, so everyone will be pretty pumped up. It should be fun."
 
Puck drop is at 3 p.m. and will be one of the highlights of Hockey Day in Gryphonville, which sees a large contingent of men's hockey alumni back on campus for the day.
 
Festivities for the day include an alumni shinny game at 12 noon, and an evening banquet in which the 1996-97 Gryphons squad will be honoured in what is the 20^th anniversary of their CIAU championship.

Source: Guelph Gryphons

Delisle-Houde tallies shorthanded marker as Redmen run Ridgebacks, extend win streak to four

OSHAWA, ONT -- Team captain Patrick Delisle-Houde of Quebec City, scored a shorthanded goal and added a helper as fifth-ranked McGill doubled the No.7-ranked University of Ontario Institute of Technology 4-2 in a key OUA men's hockey confrontation at the Campus Ice Centre, Friday.

The result avenged a shocking 5-2 home-ice loss to the Ridgebacks on Oct. 8 and improved McGill's record to 10-2 lifetime against UOIT. It was McGill's fourth consecutive victory on the season and helped them leap-frog past UOIT in the OUA East standings as the Redmen took over a three-way share of the top spot with a 10-2-1 record, one point ahead of UOIT (10-5-0), which slipped to fourth behind UQTR (10-4-1) and Queen's (10-4-1).

McGill, which had a 35-25 advantage in shots, led 2-0 after the opening period, 3-0 after two and extended that lead to four goals in the final stanza before conceding a pair of markers in the late stages of the contest.The Redmen looked sharp on special teams, going 1-for-4 on the power-play and killing off all six shorthanded situations.

Delisle-Houde, a fifth-year centre, opened the scoring with his second "shorty" of the season after not scoring any in OUA play over his first four campaigns. The 25-year-old master's student in kinesiology ranks third in the league with a team-leading 10 goals in 13 games. He also set up Mathieu Pompei 's seventh of the season, a power-play marker at 13:37 of the final period to give McGill a 4-0 lead. Pompei has 26 points in 14 games and tied for the OUA scoring lead with Carleton's Michael McNamee (8-18-26), who has played one more game.

Other McGill markers were scored by rookies Guillaume Gauthier to make the score 2-0 and Alexandre Tremblay, who gave the Redmen a three-goal bulge.

The Ridgebacks finally broke freshman goaltender Louis-Philip Guindon 's bid for a shutout when Ben Blasko found the back of the net at 14:21 of the third and team captain Cameron Yuill added another at 17:30, with the goalie pulled, making for a bit of a hairy finish.

Guindon, a 21-year-old who played for Drummondville and Rimouski in the QMJHL, saved 23 of 25 shots, improving to 7-2 on the season. The 6-foot-1, 183-pound native of St. Joseph du Lac, Que., is ranked second among league leaders in wins and fourth in goals-against average (2.23), to go along with a .909 save percentage.

UOIT starter Tyson Teichmann was beaten four times on 31 shots and took the loss as his record tumbled to 5-3.

McGill (10-2-1) now faces a key matchup in Kingston on Saturday (Nov. 26), where they will confront eighth-ranked Queen's (10-4-1) with the winner moving into sole possession of first place in the 10-team OUA East.  The game will be webcast live on OUA-TV at 7:30 p.m. with live stats available online. The Ridgebacks (10-5-0) will try to rebound when they host Ottawa (6-6-2) on Saturday afternoon.

Source: McGill Redmen