BLUES ROLL, WHILE FILIATRAULT NOTCHES SHUTOUT FOR REDMEN
Mid West-leading Laurier remained hot with three of four points earned in two home games against Quebec visitors. Matt Grennier, Nathan Peacock and Riley Moher scored consecutive goals to help the Hawks to a 3-2 win over the Concordia Stingers at the Waterloo Rec Complex Friday. Despite being down 3-0, Concordia rallied with goals from Simon Pierre Sauve and Brad Gager but Laurier netminder Mike Thomson held on for the win, turning away 27 of the 29 shots he faced. Nick Vergeer scored a big goal and added two assists as Laurier drew 3-3 with the UQTR Patriotes Saturday in Waterloo. Samuel Beland's second goal of the night gave the Patriotes a 3-2 lead heading into the third but Vergeer tallied on the power play midway through the period to send the game to overtime. Dany Dallaire was sharp for UQTR, making 38 saves. Thomson had 25 stops in the draw. Rob Dymtruk added a goal and an assist for the Hawks, who lead the OUA with 17 points (8-1-1-0).
The McGill Redmen continued to show their defensive prowess, allowing just a single goal in two wins. Ken Morin scored the winner for McGill on the power play at 5:30 of the third as the Redmen skated past the York Lions 2-1 in Toronto Friday. Guillame Demers gave the visitors a 1-0 lead before York's Blair Grennier tied it up in the second. Mathieu Poitras made 28 saves for the win. Second-year goaltender Jean-Michel Filiatrault (pictured) got the call in the McGill net against Guelph the following day and stopped all 19 shots he faced for a shutout in a 3-0 victory, his first win of the season. Louis-Simon Allaire opened the scoring for McGill, before Sam Bloom and Lucas Madill each chipped in second-period markers to secure the win. The Redmen and Patriotes are tied atop the Far East with 15 points each, though McGill has one more win than UQTR. Prior to tying Laurier, the Patriotes beat Brock 4-2 in St. Catharines Friday. Thiery Poudrier and Johnathan Boutin had a goal and an assist each for UQTR in the win, while Sylvain Michaud gave Dallaire the night off and made 23 saves for the victory.
The defending OUA champion Lakehead Thunderwolves and Waterloo Warriors each sent messages to the rest of the Far West as they rang up 16 and 15 goals respectively in back-to-back wins this past weekend. Jeff Richards scored twice and added an assist and Tobias Whelan had a goal and two helpers as the Wolves pounded the Ryerson Rams 8-3 Friday in the first of two meeting in Toronto. Five more Lakehead players had multi-point outings, while rookie Finnish goaltender Matti Korhonen made 22 saves for his first OUA win. Mike Kavanagh, Kevin day and Sergei Frenkel scored for the Rams, who were out-shot 48-25. Lakehead won the rematch Saturday b the same scoreline, racking up 40 shots for a two-game total of 88 shots on goal. Mike Wehrstedt and Matt Soares each had two goals and an assist, while Whelan, Matt Jacques and Richard Molenaar chipped in a goal and two assists apiece. Kavanagh scored two for the Rams, with day adding the other Ryerson marker. Chris Whitley had a light night in between the pipes for Lakehead, making just 16 saves for his fifth win of the season.
Waterloo's offence erupted in an 8-5 win over the Queen's Golden Gaels Friday in Kingston, including five goals in the decisive second period alone. David Philpott scored twice for the Warriors, with David Edgeworth, Chris Golem, Sean Roche and Shane Hart all contributing three-point efforts. Curtis darling gave up three goals in the third but made 25 saves overall to earn the win in goal. Brady Olsen and Billy Burke paced the Gaels with a goal and two assists each. Saturday against RMC, Waterloo again took advantage of a big second period, scoring four goals in the frame en route to a 7-3 win over the Paladins. Darling came up big making 36 saves against a hungry RMC offence, while Golem led the way with two goals and an assist for a second straight three-point night. Paul Bradley scored twice for RMC and Roman Srutek assisted on all three Paladin markers.
Elsewhere around the league, Brad Topping stopped all 26 shots he faced and Sal Peralta had two goals and an assist as Western stomped RMC 7-0 Friday in Kingston. Tyler Harrison had a pair of goals in York's 3-2 win over Ottawa Saturday; Western and Queen's tied 1-1; Trevor Blanchard scored his second goal of the night in overtime as the Stingers beat Brock 2-1. In Sunday's only game, second-year Gryphons forward Michael nelson notched a hat trick to lead Guelph to a wild 8-7 win over the Gee-Gees.