March 5, 2009
OUA M-HOCKEY ROUNDUP: MUSTANGS, REDMEN TAKE GAME 1
WATERLOO, Ont. - The No. 6 nationally-ranked Western Mustangs led four different times during the game and held on to win 4-3 over the No. 3 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks at the Sun Life Financial Arena at the Waterloo Recreation Complex on March 4 in Game 1 of the OUA West final in front of over 700 fans.
Yashar Farmanara (West Vancouver, B.C.) scored the game-winning goal in the final two minutes of the game to give Western an opportunity to advance to the national championship on Saturday night with a win over Laurier at Thompson Arena.
Jeff Martens (Maple Ridge, B.C.) and defencemen Adam Nemeth (Amherstburg, Ont.) and Geoff Killing (Embro, Ont.) scored the other Western goals.
Sal Peralta (Leamington, Ont.) had two assists, while Killing and Nemeth added an assist each for two-point nights. Brad Topping (Strathroy, Ont.) made 25 saves for the win in Western's net.
Laurier pulled goalie Jeff MacDougald (Shallow Lake, Ont.) late for an extra attacker but could not generate a goal to send the game to overtime. MacDougald made 26 saves in the loss.
Jean-Michel Rizk (Dunham, Que.), Chad Kennedy (Mississauga, Ont.) and Jordan Bonneville (St. Agatha, Ont.) all scored for the Golden Hawks in a losing cause, with Rizk and Kennedy earning three points each.
The winner of the best-of-three OUA West final series qualifies for the CIS Cavendish Cup national championship in Thunder Bay, Ont. at the end of March.
Game 2 goes Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Thompson Arena in London, Ont.. If a Game 3 is necessary, it will be back at Sun Life Arena in Waterloo, Ont., on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Source: Western Mustangs Athletics, with files from OUA Communications
Photo Credit: Andrew Scott
MCGILL 3, NO. 5 UQTR 1
McGill leads best-of-three series 1-0
TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. – Leonard Verrilli (Dollard des Ormeaux, Que.) scored the game-winner as the McGill Redmen clicked three their heels three times on the power play and shocked the No. 5-ranked UQTR Patriotes 3-1 to take the opener of the OUA East best-of-three final series at Le Colisée in Trois-Rivières, Que. on Wednesday.
It was only McGill's fifth ever win in 19 lifetime playoff encounters on UQTR ice, a venue often considered a death trap for visiting teams.
McGill freshman netminder Kevin Desfossés (Beauport, Que.) made 32 saves for the win and weathered a first-period onslaught in which the Patriotes out-shot McGill 19-9. Desfossés, an all-star with the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts last year, stopped three breakaways in the game. He improved to 5-1 in post-season play and 11-3 overall since joining the Redmen in January.
Marko Kovacevic (Belgrade, Serbia) converted a rebound at 10:16 of the opening period and eight minutes later, Verrilli deflected a point shot to make it 2-0.
After a scoreless second period, rookie Francis Verreault-Paul (Mashteuiatsh, Que.) gave the Redmen a commanding 3-0 at 3:25 of the final stanza. Etienne Bellavance-Martin (St-Jean-Chrysostome, Que.) replied three minutes later but it was too little, too late.
"I was happy that we were able to bounce back from a rough start to the game," said head coach Martin Raymond, who collected his 290th career victory behind the McGill bench. "We seemed nervous at the start, handled the puck poorly and rushed our plays which resulted in a lot of turnovers. Desfossés came up with some key saves and kept us in the game until we gained our composure after that power play goal by Kovacevic. The second power play goal gave us momentum and we came out with a strong second period. We made better decisions and executed better plays after that."
McGill, which owns a 24-13-2 record overall, is one victory away from qualifying for the CIS national championships. They could wrap up the series in their final home game of the season on Friday at 7 p.m. and a capacity crowd is expected at McConnell Arena, which seats 950, plus standing room.
"This series isn't over by any stretch," warned Raymond. "Carleton won their opening game in Trois-Rivières last week and we know what happened to them (a 2-1 series loss)."
Source: McGill Redmen Athletics
Yashar Farmanara (West Vancouver, B.C.) scored the game-winning goal in the final two minutes of the game to give Western an opportunity to advance to the national championship on Saturday night with a win over Laurier at Thompson Arena.
Jeff Martens (Maple Ridge, B.C.) and defencemen Adam Nemeth (Amherstburg, Ont.) and Geoff Killing (Embro, Ont.) scored the other Western goals.
Sal Peralta (Leamington, Ont.) had two assists, while Killing and Nemeth added an assist each for two-point nights. Brad Topping (Strathroy, Ont.) made 25 saves for the win in Western's net.
Laurier pulled goalie Jeff MacDougald (Shallow Lake, Ont.) late for an extra attacker but could not generate a goal to send the game to overtime. MacDougald made 26 saves in the loss.
Jean-Michel Rizk (Dunham, Que.), Chad Kennedy (Mississauga, Ont.) and Jordan Bonneville (St. Agatha, Ont.) all scored for the Golden Hawks in a losing cause, with Rizk and Kennedy earning three points each.
The winner of the best-of-three OUA West final series qualifies for the CIS Cavendish Cup national championship in Thunder Bay, Ont. at the end of March.
Game 2 goes Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Thompson Arena in London, Ont.. If a Game 3 is necessary, it will be back at Sun Life Arena in Waterloo, Ont., on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Source: Western Mustangs Athletics, with files from OUA Communications
Photo Credit: Andrew Scott
MCGILL 3, NO. 5 UQTR 1
McGill leads best-of-three series 1-0
TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. – Leonard Verrilli (Dollard des Ormeaux, Que.) scored the game-winner as the McGill Redmen clicked three their heels three times on the power play and shocked the No. 5-ranked UQTR Patriotes 3-1 to take the opener of the OUA East best-of-three final series at Le Colisée in Trois-Rivières, Que. on Wednesday.
It was only McGill's fifth ever win in 19 lifetime playoff encounters on UQTR ice, a venue often considered a death trap for visiting teams.
McGill freshman netminder Kevin Desfossés (Beauport, Que.) made 32 saves for the win and weathered a first-period onslaught in which the Patriotes out-shot McGill 19-9. Desfossés, an all-star with the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts last year, stopped three breakaways in the game. He improved to 5-1 in post-season play and 11-3 overall since joining the Redmen in January.
Marko Kovacevic (Belgrade, Serbia) converted a rebound at 10:16 of the opening period and eight minutes later, Verrilli deflected a point shot to make it 2-0.
After a scoreless second period, rookie Francis Verreault-Paul (Mashteuiatsh, Que.) gave the Redmen a commanding 3-0 at 3:25 of the final stanza. Etienne Bellavance-Martin (St-Jean-Chrysostome, Que.) replied three minutes later but it was too little, too late.
"I was happy that we were able to bounce back from a rough start to the game," said head coach Martin Raymond, who collected his 290th career victory behind the McGill bench. "We seemed nervous at the start, handled the puck poorly and rushed our plays which resulted in a lot of turnovers. Desfossés came up with some key saves and kept us in the game until we gained our composure after that power play goal by Kovacevic. The second power play goal gave us momentum and we came out with a strong second period. We made better decisions and executed better plays after that."
McGill, which owns a 24-13-2 record overall, is one victory away from qualifying for the CIS national championships. They could wrap up the series in their final home game of the season on Friday at 7 p.m. and a capacity crowd is expected at McConnell Arena, which seats 950, plus standing room.
"This series isn't over by any stretch," warned Raymond. "Carleton won their opening game in Trois-Rivières last week and we know what happened to them (a 2-1 series loss)."
Source: McGill Redmen Athletics
