HAWKS UPSET MCGILL, WHILE LANCERS' PRESTON GRABS CIS SCORING LEAD
Laurier couldn't follow up on the big win in Montreal as the Hawks gave up five goals in the opening frame en route to a 7-2 loss to the Ottawa Gee-Gees in the nation's capital Saturday night. Nick Vernelli had two goals and an assist for the Gee-Gees, who improved to 4-6-1-1 with the victory. Eight Ottawa players had multi-point night. Martin Bricault made 31 saves for the Gee-Gees, earning his third win on the season.
While the OUA leading Hawks slipped in their second game of the weekend, McGill rebounded from the disappointing loss in a huge way, blanking the visiting Brock Badgers 8-0. Jean-Michel Filiatrualt earned his second shutout of the season in as many start, turning away all 17 shots by the Badgers. Teddy Kyres and Benoit Arsenault scored twice each and Chris Churchill-Smith added a goal and two assists as the Redmen upped their record to 8-1-1-1 for 18 points, topping the Far East with the UQTR Patriotes. McGill scored twice each in the first and second periods before finding the back of the net four times in the third.
After a wild 8-7 win against Ottawa back on November 12, the Guelph Gryphons took part in two more tight affairs, taking three of four points on the road in a 5-5 OT draw with the Concordia Stingers Friday and a big 5-4 OT win over the Patriotes the following night. Trailing 3-2 in the third against Concordia, Guelph got a power-play marker from Chris Baker at 2:32 of the frame and a short-handed effort from Marshall Blue less than nine minutes later to send the game to overtime. Adam Jennings made 39 saves in the Gryphs' goal, while Blue, Matt Willoughby and Thomas LaPlante each had a goal and an assist. Jesse Goodsell scored twice for the Patriotes and Mike Baslyk chipped in a goal and two helpers to lead all players with three points.
The Waterloo Warriors rode their clicking offence to another pair of wins this week as they crushed the Mid East leading Toronto Varsity Blues 9-1 Friday and then dumped the Ryerson Rams 5-2 Saturday. Sean Roche and Shane Hart had a goal and three assists each for the Warriors, while Mike Della Morra scored twice and added a helper. Doug Spooner and David Philpott each had a goal and two assists. Rookie goaltender Jimmy Bernier got the call in net and made 31 saves for his second win of the year. He's undefeated in the OUA at 2-0-1 in his three decisions. Simon Barg had the lone goal for the Blues. Della Morra, a fourth-year centre from Peterborough, scored two more in the win over Ryerson, bringing his season tally to five goals. Curtis Darling was solid, making 27 saves for his seventh win, helping Waterloo improve to 9-2-1-0 for 19 points, tops in the Far West along with the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
Lakehead kept pace with the Warriors by taking two games against the Queen's Golden Gaels this past weekend, both 6-2 decisions. Jeff Richards scored twice and added an assist in the first victory Friday in Thunder Bay. Richard Molenaar added a goal and an assist and Chris Whitley made 25 saves for the win as Lakehead raced to a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes. Cameron Chapman and Blake Pronk had third-period goals for the Gaels. In the rematch, Tobias Whelan had a goal and two assists and Matt Soares chipped in a goal and a helper as the Wolves followed a similar script, establishing a four-goal lead after two periods before closing out the game in the third. Thunder Bay native Matthew Iorianni made 25 saves in net as he picked up the first win of his OUA career.
The Western Mustangs had a light week with just one game on the schedule but they made it count, beating the Blues 3-2 Sunday to keep pace with Waterloo and Lakehead in the Far West. Steve Benedetti had a goal and an assist, while Ryan Hare also scored for the Mustangs. Brad Topping was sharp making 33 saves for the win in net. Anthony Pallotta and Chris Gray scored for Toronto.
In other OUA action, the Windsor Lancers took a pair from the RMC Paladins this weekend, winning 5-3 Friday and 9-3 the following night. Dillon Stokes had a hat-trick in the second meeting, while also chipping in an assist for a four-point night. Alex White had a goal and four assists in the game and Jordie Preston scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season, which leads both the OUA and the CIS. UQTR beat the York Lions 3-2 Friday, while the Lions also dropped a 6-3 decision to Concordia Saturday.
(Photo: Windsor's Jordie Preston is tops in the CIS with 14 goals.)