M-Hockey: Sunday Roundup
Waterloo, 1 @ York, 4
J.K. Gill scored his first two goals of the season, Travis Rolheiser made 18 saves and the York University Lions defeated the Waterloo Warriors by a score of 4-1 on Sunday (Jan. 9) at Canlan Ice Sports.
Rolheiser (Edmonton) had a relatively quiet night in goal, but made several key saves when called upon to earn his second win of the season. Justin Leclerc (Saskatoon) stopped 32 shots in goal for the Warriors.
Goaltending was the story for the first 18 minutes of the game.
Rolheiser made two big saves on an early penalty kill, and Leclerc responded with two big saves of his own – also on the penalty kill – to keep the game scoreless. Leclerc shut the door on both a slick one-timer from Riley Brand (Bradford, Ont.) to Mackenzie Micks (Orillia, Ont.) and a hard wrist shot from Jesse Grespan (Toronto) in open space. Both chances came from just outside Leclerc's crease.
With less than two minutes remaining in the period, the Lions finally solved Leclerc courtesy of the power play. Third-year defenceman Matt Thomson (Kitchener, Ont.) wired a shot from the point that Grespan tipped past Leclerc for the game's first goal.
The Lions were unable to increase their one-goal lead before the intermission, despite having a few excellent opportunities on a late power play.
The Warriors found an equalizing goal in the opening minutes of the second period when Blake Chartier (Winnipeg) stepped around a Lions defender and beat Rolheiser high glove with a snipe that snuck just under the crossbar.
The Lions, however, regained the lead just moments later on a goal from Rob Labute (Tecumseh, Ont.). Rookie forward Ben Rubin (Montreal) found Labute with a perfect tape-to-tape pass through Leclerc's crease and Labute converted, beating Leclerc glove side with a little chip shot.
Following some pushing and shoving late in the period, the Lions got a chance to increase their lead on an abbreviated power play, but they were unable to convert and went into the intermission with a 2-1 lead.
Gill (Brampton, Ont.) put the Lions up 3-1 with an incredible goal in the opening minutes of the third period. Gill toe-dragged around a Warriors defender and fired a wrist shot top shelf past an awe-struck Leclerc.
Gill then put the game on ice with an empty netter in the dying seconds.
With the win, the Lions improve to 6-13-0 this season, but remain at the bottom of the OUA West with 12 points. The Warriors remain fourth in the West with 22 points.
Source: Cody Powell, sport writing assistant, York Sports Info
Queen’s, 1 @ UQTR, 3
Queen's found themselves down 3-0 at the end the first period, and were not able to muster a comeback. A late third period goal by captain Jonathon Lawrance of Steinbach, Man., led to a 3-1 final.
UQTR scored three straight goals, including the opening goal by Steve Bellefleur of St-Basile-le-Grand, Que., his first of the season. Jean-Sebastien Breton of Pincourt, Que., added insurance late in the first frame. Goaltender Jean-Christophe Blanchard of Trois-Rivieres, Que., had his shutout snapped late, but made 16 saves on the night.
Lawrance scored his fifth goal of the season; however, the Gaels were unable to generate offensive production most of the night.
Source: Queen’s Sports Info
McGill, 6 @ Concordia, 2
Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que., tallied twice and added a pair of helpers as No.3-ranked McGill tripled Concordia 6-2 in men's university hockey, Sunday.
It was the first meeting of the season betweeen the bitter arch-rivals and the Redmen, who sit atop the OUA standing with an 18-0-2 record, had a 36-25 edge in shots. They led 2-0 after the opening period and 5-2 after two. McGill went 2-for-12 on the power play, taking advantage of an overly aggressive Stingers line-up that was penalized 14 times for 36 minutes.
Picard-Hooper, a third-year centre who didn't skip a beat despite missing injured linemate Francis Verreault-Paul, the CIS scoring leader from Mashteuiatsh, Que., set up Guillaume Doucet's opening marker at 6:02 of the first period. He then scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season to give the Redmen 2-0 and 4-1 leads. His last marker, at 13:57 of the middle period, occurred just 33 seconds after defenceman Jesse Goodsell of Ayer's Cliff, Que., had put the Stingers back in the game and effectively sucked the wind out of Concordia's sails.
Freshman Nicolas Biniek of Montreal, netted a pair of goals as well, including what proved to be the game-winner on the power-play at 12:35 of the middle stanza. Biniek, who dressed only twice in the first semester, now has a 3-2-5 record in four contests. Counting non-conference play, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound forward has five goals and eight points in seven games overall.
Rounding out the scoring was Concordia's George Lovatsis of Markham, Ont., and McGill's Andrew Wright of Toronto, who registered his 12th of the season and set up two others.
Rookie netminder Antoine Tardif of Daveluyville, Que., was credited with 23 saves for the win, improving 6-1 on the season. Concordia's Maxime Joyal (9-7) was saddled with the loss and had 30 saves.
Source: McGill Sports Info
RMC, 0 @ Nipissing, 6
