February 4, 2008
BROCK CLINCHES FIRST ROUND BYE IN PLAYOFFS, WHILE LAKEHEAD TAKES TWO FROM LAURIER
Lakehead 7, Laurier 5
In a game marred by an overabundance of penalties; the No. 5 Lakehead Thunderwolves earned a weekend sweep over their OUA Far West divisional rivals Laurier with a 7-5 win Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. The Wolves fought back from a 3-1 deficit two thirds of the way into the second period and then exploded for five goals in the third to get the win.
The Wolves now have a 21-3-1 OUA record (25-7-1 overall); good for 43 points and the best record in the OUA. Lakehead remains in first place in the very competitive OUA Far West Division; five points ahead of Western and nine ahead of Laurier. Laurier's OUA record goes to 15-9-2; good for 32 points and they remain in third place in the OUA Far West.
Lakehead was led by assistant Captain Tobias Whelan who again played a strong overall game and notched 2 goals and 2 assists. The other Lakehead goals came from Mark Soares, Brock McPherson, Dan Speer, Andrew Brown, and Kris Hogg. McPherson also added two assists while Speer, Soares, Hogg, and Brown each added one helper. Shandor Alphonso, Andy Zulyniak, and Jordan C. Smith had two assists each. Zulyniak played well both games this weekend. The weekend's results put Lakehead's SSM Line of McPherson and Speer No. 1 and No. 2 in OUA scoring with line-mate Soares tied for third.
Laurier was led by Ryley Moher, with 2 goals while singles came from Rob Dmytruk, Nick Vergeer, and Jean-Michel Rizk; who scored the prettiest goal of the game on a great individual effort. Matt Grennier added three assists for the Hawks.
Lakehead freshman goalie Kyle Moir (6-3-1 OUA) and Laurier netminder Jeff MacDougald (8-7 OUA) each allowed five goals on the night; but each made a bushel of spectacular saves; MacDougald making three on breakaways and Moir stopping one breakaway and making an incredible blocker save late in the second period that may have been the turning point of the game for the Wolves.
Shots on goal were 40-31 Lakehead in the game. Laurier was 3-10 on the powerplay while Lakehead went 5-12.
Brock 5, Guelph 2
The Brock University men?s hockey team (17-7-1-2) played the Guelph Gryphons (10-13-1-2) in their final home game of the regular season. Having won three games in a row, a win would clinch first place in the Mid West Division, as well as tying the single season record for wins in Brock history.
Riding the momentum which has put Brock on their current winning streak, Brock opened up the scoring just 25 seconds into the first period. Gary Friesen (Niagara-on-the-lake, ON) would beat Guelph Goaltender Andrew Arklie (Dugald, MB) to spur the Badgers into a 1-0 lead. Brock would continue to press and would draw a penalty, the powerplay unit would take advantage of the powerplay moving the puck well and Paul Holder (Quispamsis, NB) would shoot a wrist shot through
traffic putting Brock up 2-0.
Guelph needed a win in order to keep their playoff dreams alive. Guelph would show some desperation as they mounted a massive offensive against Brock's goaltender Matt Harpwood (Welland, ON). Harpwood was sharp in net and turned away many opportunities, but with an excellent play Jordan Grant (Toronto, ON) who would hit a wide open Jesse Jenish (Ajax, ON) in front of the net, Jenish would deflect the puck past Harpwood to make it a 2-1 game.
The second period started off with Joel Matieka (Minitonas, MB) using his speed to split the defense, then would make a move to his backhand to notch his first goal as a Brock Badger. The attack would continue with Ryan Allan (Fort McMurray, AB) would complete a wraparound to give the Badgers a 4-1 lead. With 10 second remaining in the period Darryl Munch (East St. Paul, MB) would bat a puck out of the air to bring the game within two.
In the third period, Harpwood would lead Brock to victory stonewalling the Guelph forwards at every turn. With the completion of tonight?s game Harpwood broke the record for minutes in a single season by a Brock goaltender, previously held by Bob Harrison (1327:55) 1997-98. The battle became fierce but in the end Ryan Del Monte (Mississauga, ON) would score giving him 102 points as a Badger and ensuring the 2007-08 Badgers would tie the 1994-95 Badgers for the most wins in a single season with 17.
In a game marred by an overabundance of penalties; the No. 5 Lakehead Thunderwolves earned a weekend sweep over their OUA Far West divisional rivals Laurier with a 7-5 win Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. The Wolves fought back from a 3-1 deficit two thirds of the way into the second period and then exploded for five goals in the third to get the win.
The Wolves now have a 21-3-1 OUA record (25-7-1 overall); good for 43 points and the best record in the OUA. Lakehead remains in first place in the very competitive OUA Far West Division; five points ahead of Western and nine ahead of Laurier. Laurier's OUA record goes to 15-9-2; good for 32 points and they remain in third place in the OUA Far West.
Lakehead was led by assistant Captain Tobias Whelan who again played a strong overall game and notched 2 goals and 2 assists. The other Lakehead goals came from Mark Soares, Brock McPherson, Dan Speer, Andrew Brown, and Kris Hogg. McPherson also added two assists while Speer, Soares, Hogg, and Brown each added one helper. Shandor Alphonso, Andy Zulyniak, and Jordan C. Smith had two assists each. Zulyniak played well both games this weekend. The weekend's results put Lakehead's SSM Line of McPherson and Speer No. 1 and No. 2 in OUA scoring with line-mate Soares tied for third.
Laurier was led by Ryley Moher, with 2 goals while singles came from Rob Dmytruk, Nick Vergeer, and Jean-Michel Rizk; who scored the prettiest goal of the game on a great individual effort. Matt Grennier added three assists for the Hawks.
Lakehead freshman goalie Kyle Moir (6-3-1 OUA) and Laurier netminder Jeff MacDougald (8-7 OUA) each allowed five goals on the night; but each made a bushel of spectacular saves; MacDougald making three on breakaways and Moir stopping one breakaway and making an incredible blocker save late in the second period that may have been the turning point of the game for the Wolves.
Shots on goal were 40-31 Lakehead in the game. Laurier was 3-10 on the powerplay while Lakehead went 5-12.
Brock 5, Guelph 2
The Brock University men?s hockey team (17-7-1-2) played the Guelph Gryphons (10-13-1-2) in their final home game of the regular season. Having won three games in a row, a win would clinch first place in the Mid West Division, as well as tying the single season record for wins in Brock history.
Riding the momentum which has put Brock on their current winning streak, Brock opened up the scoring just 25 seconds into the first period. Gary Friesen (Niagara-on-the-lake, ON) would beat Guelph Goaltender Andrew Arklie (Dugald, MB) to spur the Badgers into a 1-0 lead. Brock would continue to press and would draw a penalty, the powerplay unit would take advantage of the powerplay moving the puck well and Paul Holder (Quispamsis, NB) would shoot a wrist shot through
traffic putting Brock up 2-0.
Guelph needed a win in order to keep their playoff dreams alive. Guelph would show some desperation as they mounted a massive offensive against Brock's goaltender Matt Harpwood (Welland, ON). Harpwood was sharp in net and turned away many opportunities, but with an excellent play Jordan Grant (Toronto, ON) who would hit a wide open Jesse Jenish (Ajax, ON) in front of the net, Jenish would deflect the puck past Harpwood to make it a 2-1 game.
The second period started off with Joel Matieka (Minitonas, MB) using his speed to split the defense, then would make a move to his backhand to notch his first goal as a Brock Badger. The attack would continue with Ryan Allan (Fort McMurray, AB) would complete a wraparound to give the Badgers a 4-1 lead. With 10 second remaining in the period Darryl Munch (East St. Paul, MB) would bat a puck out of the air to bring the game within two.
In the third period, Harpwood would lead Brock to victory stonewalling the Guelph forwards at every turn. With the completion of tonight?s game Harpwood broke the record for minutes in a single season by a Brock goaltender, previously held by Bob Harrison (1327:55) 1997-98. The battle became fierce but in the end Ryan Del Monte (Mississauga, ON) would score giving him 102 points as a Badger and ensuring the 2007-08 Badgers would tie the 1994-95 Badgers for the most wins in a single season with 17.
