RYERSON GETS FIRST W, WHILE MUSTANGS KEEP ROLLING
Clarke Singer's Western Mustangs added to their OUA-best record taking both ends of a home-and-home with the Windsor Lancers this week. The Powerful Mustangs tallied five goals in a wild second period to defeat the Lancers 6-2 at the John Labbatt Centre in London Thursday. Craig Kennedy had two goals and an assist for Western, while teammate Kevin Richardson added a goal and an assist. Jordie Preston scored both of Windsor's goals and also had 18 penalty minutes. Western had 28 shots on goal, including 17 in both the second and third frames. The Mustangs needed overtime to rack up their league-best 17th victory in Windsor Saturday, as star Mike Rice potted the winner on the power play at 0:43 of the extra period. Chris Rowan had a goal and an assist for Western, while Brad Topping needed to make just 16 saves in net for the win, his sixth on the year. Preston and Kyle Trudell scored for Windsor.
The Ottawa Gee-Gees showcased some offensive firepower with 12 goals in two wins, the first a 5-3 upset of the No. 10 UQTR Patriotes. James Smith and Paul Gauthier had a goal an assist each as the Gee-Gees tallied three times in the second period. UQTR's Mathieu Gravel, tied for second in OUA scoring with 13 goals and 14 assists, scored once and set up another goal. Ottawa then manhandled the Concordia Stingers 7-0 Sunday, scoring three times in the first period and four more in the second. Mathieu Blanchard made 29 saves for the shut-out, while Billy Triantafilos scored twice. Ben McLeod had a goal and two assists for the Gee-Gees, who improve to 10-6-1-1 on the year, good enough for third in the tough Far East.
Division leaders the McGill Redmen put their first loss of the season (4-2 to UQTR Tuesday) behind them as they knocked off the Stingers 4-2 Friday. Shawn Shewchuk scored his eighth and ninth goals on the season for McGill, while Mathieu Poitras made 23 saves for the victory. Trevor Blanchard and Karl Gagne scored for Concordia. McGill is 13-1-2-0 after 16 games.
One night after reigning CIS Player of the Year Joel Scherban set the Lakehead all-time goal-scoring record in a 4-0 win over No. 9 Waterloo, the Thunderwolves came up short in an 8-5 loss to the Warriors. Waterloo's Doug Spooner had a hat-trick and three assists for a six-point night, while Kevin Hurley set up three goals in a penalty-filled affair. The teams combined for 111 penalty minutes. Curtis Darling made 42 saves for the win, while Lakehead's Matt Jaques scored twice. Scherban was held pointless.
OUA scoring leader Jesse Pyatt had two goals and two assists as the Guelph Gryphons skated past the Brock Badgers 7-6 in a wild game at the U of G Thursday. Pyatt scored the winner on the power play with just 16 seconds left in regulation, lifting the Gryphons to their fifth win on the season. Matt Willoughby had a goal and two assists for Guelph. Jonathan Labelle scored twice and set up two more for the Badgers, while Josh Bonar chipped in a goal and three assists. Guelph also lost 4-2 to the York Lions Saturday. Steve Chabbert scored the winner at 5:03 of the third period and added his second of the night, to go along with two assists, 40 seconds later to ice the game. Tyler Harrison also had two for York, who are tied atop the Mid West with the Laurier Golden Hawks with 21 points.
The Toronto Varsity Blues won their fifth and sixth games of the season defeating Queen's 5-2 Friday and RMC 5-3 Saturday. Queen's had built a 2-0 lead but Toronto tied it after 40 minutes, before burying three in the third period to steal the game away at Varsity Arena. Four Blues had multi-point nights, while Brian Dunnigan made 25 saves for the victory. Dunnigan was busy against RMC, making 39 saves for his second win in as many nights, while Ray Smegal enjoyed a huge night, scoring twice and assisting on all three other goals. Smegal is tied for third in OUA scoring with 12 goals and 14 assists.
Mark Voakes had two goals, while Matt Grennier and Rob Dymtruk had a goal and an assist each as Laurier beat Brock 4-2 Saturday in Thorold. Justin Day turned away 28 of the 30 shots he faced to grab his eight win on the season.
(Photo: Windsor goalie Jay Ewasiuk lands a blocker punch on Western's Mike Rice. Photo by Craig Glover.)