OUA Playoffs - M-Hockey Friday Roundup

The third game in the best-of-three series will take place tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at the Ice House.

Ryan Berard (Niagara Falls, Ont.) capitalized on an early two-man advantage for the Ravens as he beat Varsity Blues goalie Garrett Sheehan (Cremona, Alta.) just over a minute in for his second goal of the series.

The Ravens continued to pressure the Varsity Blues and their intensity paid off midway through the period when Joey Manley (Ottawa) scored off a rebound, giving Carleton a 2-0 lead.

With Carleton on a powerplay early in the second, Sheehan made an initial save off the Ravens’ shot but lost sight of the loose puck and Manley put it away for his second of the night.

Blake Boddy (Ajax, Ont.) got Toronto on the board after he let go of a rocket from the point that beat Ravens goalie Matthew Dopud (Pointe-Claire, Que.) on the powerplay with under six minutes to play in the second.

The goal gave the Varsity Blues some life and Paul Dupont (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) made it a 3-2 game with a shorthanded marker.

But the Ravens regained their two-goal lead less than 30 seconds later when Andrew Self’s (Peterborough, Ont.) shot went off a Varsity Blues player and into the back of the net.

Third-period goals by Brandon MacLean (Burlington, Ont.) and Jeff Hayes (Ottawa) put the Ravens up 6-2.

Matt Walters (Winnipeg) cut the Ravens lead in half before Manley responded seconds later with his third of the night, rounding out the scoring in the game.

Dopud made 31 saves for the win.

Source: Carleton Sports Info

Western, 4 @ Windsor, 2
The Mustangs sweep the first round Quarterfinals in the OUA West division with a 4-2 victory over the Windsor Lancers on Feb. 18.

Keaton Turkiewicz, Josh McQuade, Chris Corbeil and Kyle Lamb secured goals for the Mustangs as Tom Craig and Kyle Lang scored for Windsor.

Emotions still lingered from last night's 4-1 Western victory as Windsor had 22 penalty minutes. The Mustangs were held 1/6 on powerplay opportunities.

Anthony Grieco backed the Mustangs with solid goaltending. Grieco made 27 saves including 15 in the third period.

Western's next opponent has yet to be decided, but they will play host for the first game on Wed. Feb. 23.

Source: Western Sports Info

Laurier, 2 @ UOIT, 1 OT
Matthew Reid (Markham, Ont.) scored a beautiful goal sliding on his knees in the second overtime period to give the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks a 2-1 victory over the UOIT Ridgebacks. The game winner sends the series back to Waterloo for the third and final game.

"We played better than last night," said head coach Greg Puhalski. "However, there is still room for improvement on Sunday. We need to play our best game of the year."

After a quiet first period, the Ridgebacks got on the board quickly in the second as Jeremy Whelan (Pickering, Ont.) scored 48 seconds in. His breakaway marker is his second goal in as many games. Not to be outdone, Zach Woolford (Rockwood, Ont.) notched his second as well repeating the regulation scorers from game one.

Near the end of the third period, the Ridgebacks forwards moved into the Laurier zone shorthanded. The pressure caused Phil Magistrale (Tsawwassen, B.C.) to negate the power play with a tripping penalty. Ryan Daniels would make a great save on the play to keep his Hawks in the game with just over five and a half minutes to play in regulation.

Minutes later, the Ridgebacks defence would have a mental lapse with a bad clearing attempt. Ryan Bellows (St. Catharine’s, Ont.) scooped up the loose puck but crashed hard into the net on the scoring chance. In what was another goaltender showdown, Jason Guy (Whitby, Ont.) closed the door after allowing the goal midway through the second. He turned aside 33 shots in regulation to force overtime.

The first overtime period provided good scoring opportunities for both teams, getting five shots each in the ten minute frame. Unable to find the back of the net, a second overtime was needed to solve the strong play of both netminders.

After three quick shots in the first two minutes by the UOIT Ridgebacks, Laurier found the answer to Jason Guy. The Hawks' Garrett Sinfield (London, Ont.) raced hard for a loose puck feeding rookie Matthew Reid who scored his first career playoff goal on the semi-breakaway through the five-hole of Guy.

Jason Guy made 37 saves on 39 shots in 82:19 of play. Golden Hawk Ryan Daniels records his first career OUA playoff victory turning aside 42 of 43 shots.

Puhalski continued with the improvements needed for the decisive game of the series, "We need to eliminate turnovers and have more puck possession in the offensive zone."

The Hawks will try and do just that at home on Sunday, February 20th. The match begins at 7:30 p.m.

Source: Laurier Sports Info

Guelph, 3 @ Brock, 4
The Brock University men's hockey (13-9-6 OUA West) evened their best of three OUA quarter-final series 1-1 as they defeated the Guelph Gryphons by the score of 4-3 at the Seymour-Hannah Centre Friday night.

Brock opened the scoring 9:10 into the opening period on the powerplay as senior Steve Mullin (Guelph, Ont.) setup Matt Abercrombie (Sarnia, Ont.) who beat Gryphons goaltender Andrew Loverock for his first of the postseason.

Guelph would tie the game 6:26 into the second period as Andrew Merret slid a shot past Kurt Jory (Brandon, Man.) for the shorthanded marker.

Just over a minute later, Brock would regain their one goal lead, as senior Ryan Allen (Fort McMurray, Alta.) slid a two-on-one pass across to Abercrombie who buried a wrist shot over the glove of Loverock.

Before the end of the second period, freshman Jake LaPlante (Mississauga, Ont.) blasted a slapshot from the high point over the shoulder of Loverock for the 3-1 lead.

Midway through the third period, Guelph would cut the lead to one as Justin Gvora beat Jory on the wraparound. Just 17 seconds later, the Gryphons tied the game 3-3 with a one-timer from Cale Jefferies which beat Jory five-hole.  

With a 1:46 left in regulation, Brock freshman Kaine Geldart (Kingston, Ont.) would find freshman Jordan Gignac (Hamilton, Ont.) on the corner of the crease who slid it past Loverock for the game winner and his third of the postseason.

Jory recorded 24 saves for his first postseason victory of his career while Loverock added 19 saves in the loss.  

The third an deciding game of this best 2-of-3 series will be at Guelph on Sunday, February 20th at 7:30 pm. 

Source: Brock Sports Info

McGill, 10 @ Ottawa, 5
Andrew Wright of Toronto tallied twice and added four helpers as McGill cruised to a 10-5 playoff victory over the Ottawa Gee-Gees, Friday, sweeping their OUA East best-of-three men's hockey quarter-final series in two games.

The 10 goals scored by the Redmen broke a 23-year-old single-game school record for post-season play, surpassing the previous standard set in a 9-6 win over Concordia on Feb. 24, 1988.

McGill, which jumped into a stunning 6-0 lead in the opening period, also had two-goal efforts from Francis Verreault-Paul, Guillaume Doucet and Simon Marcotte-Legare. Rounding out the scoring for McGill was Alex Picard-Hooper, who finished with five points, and defenceman Stephen Valente whose empty-netter shot from behind his own blueline, was scored while the Redmen were shorthanded two men in addition to the extra attacker when the goaltender was pulled.

Source: McGill Sports Info

Queen’s, 3 @ Nipissing, 6
Despite a strong start to the game which saw the Gaels hold two leads, a short bench and penalty trouble ultimately caught up with Queen's as they were eliminated from the OUA playoffs at the hands of Nipissing by a 6-3 score.

Nipissing struck first in this game as Dorian Peca of Oakville, Ont. scored the first goal roughly ten minutes into the game. The lead would not last for long though as Gaels' sniper Jordan Mirwaldt of Winnipeg evened the game 30 seconds later. Queen's would pull ahead for the first time when Jordan Soquila of Maple Ridge, B.C. scored a minute after Mirwaldt. The Lakers would tie the game before the period expired as Brogan Bailey of Lunenberg, N.B. scored with three minutes remaining in the period.

Queen's would jump ahead once again as Ben Munroe of Kingston, Ont., scored a power play goal eight minutes into the second period. That goal would be as close as the Gaels came to extending this series however, as Nipissing dominated for the remainder of the game. Andrew Marcoux of Rockwood, Ont., Dan Watt of Winnipeg, and Sam Hopewell of Almonte, Ont., all scored prior to the end of the second period, and Watt's goal would stand as the eventual game winner.

Halfway through the third period Lucas McKinley of Fredricton, N.B., would ice the game for Nipissing with the second Laker power play goal.

Steele De Fazio of Georgetown, Ont., played the duration of the game in net for the Gaels and stopped 29 of 35 shots on goal. Kelly Jackson of Toronto contributed two assists to the Gaels effort, while Colin Bergman of Calgary, Brock Ouellet of Lindsay, Ont., and Stephane Chabot of Rockland, Ont. would add the others. Chabot was later ejected from the game for hitting from behind.

The Gaels are now eliminated from the OUA playoffs after losing two consecutive games in the three game series. Queen's fell in the series opener by a 7-0 score.  

Source: Queen’s Sports Info

Waterloo, 3 @ Lakehead, 0