M-HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Lancers heating up at right time
Queen’s Gaels @ UQTR Patriotes
TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. (February 3, 2012) – Riley Whitlock of Calgary continued his strong play of late stopping 24 of 26 shots faced from the UQTR Patriotes (18-6-2) but the Gaels (13-11-2) offense was slowed with only 17 shots in a 3-0 loss.
Emmanuel Boudreau of Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Que. had two goals and Guillaume Nadeau of St-Jean-Chrysostome, Que. stopped 17 shots for the shutout to lead UQTR.
Bourdreau scored in the first on the powerplay and the Patriotes added a second in period two. The Gaels pulled their goalie late in the game in an attempt for a comeback but Bourdreau scored into the empty net to secure the win for the Patriotes.
Whitlock was strong for the Gaels in his second game in as many night stopping 24 shots in a losing effort.
Despite the loss the Gaels still sit in a playoff position and are only one point behind fourth place Toronto.
Queen's will return to action on February 9 when they travel to Ryerson to take on the Rams.
Source: Gaels Athletics
MONTREAL - Nicholas Champion made 37 saves and his Concordia Stingers exploded for three power-play goals en route to a stunning 4-2 upset over the No.1-ranked McGill Redmen in men's hockey before a near-capacity crowd of 799 at McConnell Arena, Friday.
McGill rearguard Marc-Andre Dorion opened the scoring at 19:21 of the first frame and the Redmen appeared to take a 2-0 lead when Neil Blunden scored but the goal was called back by one of the two referees.
Concordia's Etienne Archmbault tied the game at 1-1 on a power-play in the second period.
In the final stanza, with McGill killing a penalty, Redmen forward Maxime Langelier-Parent was sprung loose on a breakaway. He appeared to be both slashed and held by a Concordia defender but no foul or penalty shot was called.
On the same penalty, McGill forward Marc-Andre Daneau was then nailed for tripping on another disputed call to give the Stingers a 5-on-3 power-play and they struck twice in 32 seconds, getting goals by defenceman Michael Blundon at 12:14 and forward George Lovatsis at 12:46.
McGill sniper Francis Verreault-Paul tallied his 18th of the season to make it 3-2 with just over five minutes remaining. It was too little, too late, however, as Mike Stinziani added an empty-netter to snuff out any McGill rally.
Concordia, which is fighting for a playoff berth, improved to 13-10-2. With three games remaining before playoffs, they could still finish anywhere from fouth to ninth in the 10-team OUA East Division.
McGill sits atop the standings with a 19-4-2 record and holds a slim two-point lead over UQTR (18-6-2).
Source: Redmen Athletics
The Nipissing Lakers men’s hockey team has a playoff spot locked up, but now is not the time to start losing players to injury and suspension.
The Lakers scored five goals in a wide open third period to earn a 9-3 win over the visiting Ryerson Rams and nail down a playoff spot, in front of 1,289 fans at Memorial Gardens, but four players were missing from the bench at the final buzzer.
Defencemen Paul Cianfrini (lower body) left the game early in the third period and Brodie Beard limped off with two minutes left. Fellow defenceman Sean Ryan was given a fighting major after getting jumped by Ryerson’s Scott Brown with 2:33 remaining and forward Dorian Peca was also handed a fighting major for keeping his gloves on and being tied up by T.J. Battani during the melee.
Because Brown was given the instigator penalty, Lakers head coach Mike McParland wasn’t certain whether Ryan would receive the automatic one-game suspension that comes with fighting majors, although it appears Peca would be unavailable.
The third-place Lakers (15-6-4) play another important road game Saturday against the fourth-place Toronto Varsity Blues (13-8-3).
“It’s a really big game tomorrow, no question,” McParland said. “We have to come out of there with something. We’re going to all come in here tomorrow and see where we’re at, assess our injuries and suspensions, but we have some extra guys, so some guys will maybe get a chance tomorrow.”
It would be an even bigger game against Toronto had the Lakers not taken care of business against Ryerson Friday night, but the five-goal outburst in the final period sealed the deal.
Peca scored twice and also assisted on Doug Clarkson’s game-opening goal midway through the first period. (The fighting major with 2:33 left earned him a Gordie Howe Hat Trick, but it was a fight that never was).
Conor O’Donnell, with his first goal since his eight-point game Nov. 11, Matt Paton, Dan Watt, Kevin Flather, Sam Hopewell and Andrew Marcoux also scored for the Lakers, who were tied 2-2 after the opening period and led 4-3 after 40 minutes.
Clarkson finished with three assists.
Paton’s eventual game-winner with 1:22 left in the second was a highlight-reel beauty, knocking Ryerson goaler Steve Gleeson’s water bottle off with a short-side wrister under the cross bar.
“I thought we needed to at least finish the first period better than we did,” said McParland, whose team jumped out to a 2-0 lead. “We started fine, but we let up and gave them two goals and let them back in it. I thought we let them hang around a little bit too long and they fought hard until we finally put them away.”
Matt McCann, Jason McDonough and Dustin Alcock scored for the Rams (11-11-3).
The Lakers outshot the Rams 34-30, with Nipissing goaltender Daniel Spence making 27 saves for the win. The Lakers went 3-for-4 on the power play, while Ryerson was 1-for-4.
For the Lakers, it is their third straight playoff appearance in their third season in the OUA and they have a good chance to finish in the top three spots in the division.
“Our power play has really been clicking and the guys were moving the puck pretty well, but I think it’s big that everyone is playing their role for 60 minutes,” said Hopewell, a third-year veteran who scored his fourth goal of the season on a breakaway. “We had a couple weak spots in tonight’s game, we let them come back, but to take a game like that in such a commanding fashion, if we can do that to teams, there is not many teams that can stop us.”
Saturday’s game against Toronto takes on more importance, in that the Varsity Blues’ final two games of the season are against last-place RMC. So a win Saturday would all but lock up at least third place for the Lakers.
“Obviously, we want to come out of there with the two points,” Hopewell said. “We know going in there it’s going to be a grind trying to get the two points because they always seem to play pretty well in their rink. Hopefully, all the guys are healthy after tonight’s game. But the two points are so big, because they’re so close to us.”
Source: Lakers Athletics
The Lakehead Thunderwolves hockey team came back from a third period deficit to defeat the Brock Badgers 4-2 at the Seymour-Hannah Centre in St. Catharines, Ontario on Friday night.
After a scoreless first period, Lakehead’s Andrew Wilkins put the Wolves up 1-0 on a shorthanded and unassisted goal at 3:22 of the second. Brock replied quickly when Jordan Gignac beat Thunderwolves’ goalie Alex Dupuis on the powerplay at the 4:20 mark. That was all the scoring in the middle stanza, and the teams headed into the dressing room deadlocked at 1-1 heading into the third period.
The Badgers took a 2-1 lead at 7:34 of the third on a goal by Anthony Geldart, but the lead didn’t last long. Lakehead’s Jake Carrick blasted one past Brock netminder Kurt Jory at 9:39 to tie the game up at 2-2. Assists on the goal went to Wilkins and Keith Grondin.
The game appeared to be headed for overtime, but Ryan McDonald netted the winner on a goal set up by Matt Caria and Mitch Maunu with only 58 seconds remaining in the final frame. Wilkins then fed Brennan Menard, who iced the game with an empty-netter with only 1 second left in the game to give the Thunderwolves the 4-2 victory.
The win puts Lakehead alone in second place in the OUA West Division with three games remaining in the regular season, and guarantees the Wolves home-ice advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs.
Source: Thunderwolves Athletics
LONDON, Ont. – Tyler Peters scored twice during a four-goal second period Friday night, Feb. 3, and the Western Mustangs’ men’s hockey team went on to a 5-1 over the visiting Waterloo Warriors at Thompson Arena.
With the win, the No. 3 CIS-ranked Mustangs improved to 20-2-3 on the season and a perfect 12-0-0 at home. The Warriors, meanwhile, fell to 14-8-3, but remain in third place in the OUA West division – which Western clinched with a victory over Lakehead last weekend.
Despite controlling much of the play and outshooting Waterloo 19-9 in the opening period, the Mustangs went to the dressing room trailing 1-0 after the first. Tyler Moir got the Warriors on the board first with his 10th goal of the season at the 8:58 mark. It was the first time Western goaltender Josh Unice had been beaten in three games.
The Mustangs quickly responded in the second, as Peters put the home side on the board just under two minutes into the period with a point shot that beat Waterloo goalie Keaton Hartigan. Peters then scored his 14th of the year, a power play marker on a wrist shot from the point at 10:52 to put Western ahead 2-1.
Six minutes later, Steve Reese took a nifty pass from Zach Harnden during a power play and beat Hartigan on the doorstep for his 11th of the season. Before the period was out, Yashar Farmanara notched Western’s third power play goal of the period on a wrist shot at 19:41 to put the Mustangs up 4-1.
Despite plenty of chances for both teams in the third, Geoff Killing scored the period’s lone goal when he snuck a point shot past Hartigan, who appeared to lose sight of the puck. Harnden earned his third assist of the night on the goal, which was Killing’s first of the year.
Source: Mustangs Athletics
The Lancer men’s hockey team earned a very important win on Friday night as they defeated the visiting UOIT Ridgebacks 7-4 for their third straight win.
Windsor is now 12-12-1 in regular season play and sit in sixth place in the OUA West division. The Lancers were led by captain Matt McCready who had two goals and an assist in the win. Goaltender Parker Van Buskirk earned the win in net making 24 saves.
UOIT got on the board first with a goal from Jesse Stoughton at 7:14 of the opening period.
Windsor retaliated with two power play goals just 23 seconds apart. Drew Palmer scored his seventh of the year at 15:21 of the period, before Derek Lanoue chipped in his tenth of the year at 15:44 to give the Lancers a one goal leading heading into the intermission.
The second period appeared like it was going to be a scoreless frame before thee goals were scored with less than two minutes remaining, all within thirty seconds of each other.
McCready scored his first of the game at 18:18 of the period to give Windsor a two goal lead.
That lead would only last twenty second as Brendan Wise put the Ridgebacks within one at 18:38. However, the Lancers fired right back with Brett Vandehogen’s sixth of the year at 18:48 to again give Windsor a two goal lead to close out the period.
In the third, the Ridgebacks scored two more markers to tie the game before the Lancers were able to get another one past Ridgeback goaltender Jason Guy.
McCready broke the tie with his second of the night at 8:07 of the period. Fifty-two seconds later at 9:01 Ryan Green gave the Lancers the go ahead goal, before Brett Oliphant put up an insurance marker at 19:38 to close out the high scoring affair.
Source: Lancers Athletics
Fifth year captain Matt Methot took the Gee-Gees on his back in one of the most important games of the season, scoring two third period goals and contributing to the team’s outstanding defence against a high-flying Concordia team. Methot scored the game winner just forty seconds into the final frame, lifting the Gee-Gees into a tie for fourth place in the log-jammed OUA East.
“Guys went through their checks, played hard along the boards and took hits to make plays. It was a good physical effort and that’s what you need to get in the playoffs, and to win in the playoffs.” Coach Paiement also noted the work of his centremen, Blain and Touchette, noting that each logged a lot of minutes and were dependable in the faceoff circle.
Although Methot’s third period heroics clinched the win, much of the battle was won in the second period, where the Gee-Gees recovered from giving up the first goal of the game and took a 3-1 lead.
Concordia had anopportunity for back to back power plays to open the period but Ottawa’s penalty kill unit swarmed the Stingers all over the ice, eventually leading to a turnover which allowed Donovan to break down the left wing and open the scoring for the Gee-Gees.
Moments later, Stephen Blunden picked up the puck coming out of the penalty box and defenseman Dominic Jalbert jumped into the rush, crashing the net and providing a screen for Blunden’s twelfth goal of the season.
The Gee-Gees did a nice job of clearing the rebounds from in front of Russell Abbott and seemed to win the majority of the puck battles, playing aggressively but disciplined. Abbott was impressive, stopping 28 shots including three clear breakaways and weathering the second period storm to allow Ottawa to build a lead.
Still in the second, Concordia nearly had too many men on a line change which threw off their rhythm enough for Methot to thread a pass to Luc Blain in front of the Stinger net. Blain showed nice hands by evading the goalie’s poke check before sliding the puck into the net.
Concordia made a goaltending change to start the third period and Methot beat him early, making a nice move to break in alone for the fourth Gee-Gee goal. Methot added his second goal of the game by intercepting a pass on his own blue line and using his long strides to once again break into the Stinger zone untouched.
The victory gives the Gee-Gees two much needed points as they will face the top two teams in the league, McGill and UQTR, for their final regular season games next Friday and Saturday nights at the uOttawa Minto Sports Complex.
MONTREAL - Team captain Evan Vossen of Swift Current, Sask., scored the game-winner and added a helper as the top-ranked McGill Redmen skated to a narrow 4-3 win over Carleton in men's hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.
McGill jumped into a 3-0 first period lead on goals by Jean-Francois Boisvert of Mirabel, Que., Alex Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que., and Francis Verreault-Paul of Mashteuiatsh, Que., who was set up by Vossen for his 19th marker in 21 games. Verreault-Paul, who is two shy of CIS goal-scoring leader Blair Macaulay of the Manitoba Bisons, is bidding to lead the nation in goals for an unprecedented third consecutive season.
After defenceman Michael Folkes put the Ravens on the scoreboard at 2:27 of the middle period, Vossen connected with his 12th of the season to give McGill what appeared to be an insurmountable 4-1 lead heading into the final stanza. However, the Redmen ran into penalty trouble and Carleton took full advantage, getting power-play markers at 1:17 and 4:05, respectively, from Brandon MacLean and Tim Billingsley.
Carleton actually outshot McGill 36-28 but goaltender Hubert Morin came up with 33 saves for the win, improving to 12-4 on the season. He also got some help from his right goal-post when Carleton's Joe Pleckaitis was awarded a penalty-shot in the middle period after being hauled down by defenceman Ryan McKiernan while on a breakaway.
The win gave McGill the rubber match in the three games played with the pesky Ravens, a team that could very well be McGill's opponent in the OUA East best-of-three quarter-finals in two weeks. With two games left to play before the post-season begins, the Redmen reached the 20-win plateau for the fourth time in school history. McGill, which sits atop the OUA East with a 20-4-2 record, could also meet Ryerson, Concordia, Queen's, Ottawa or Toronto in the opening round.
McGill will travel to Concordia on Feb. 8 for the 25th annual Ronald Corey Cup game. The Stingers have won two of three meetings this season. Faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Ed Meagher Arena. Then the Redmen will close out the regular campaign in the nation's capital on Feb. 10 when they play the Gee-Gees in a 7 p.m. start.
Source: Redmen Athletics
GUELPH, Ont. – Justin Gvora’s, game-winning goal 2:39 into overtime lifted the Guelph Gryphon men’s hockey team to a 3-2 triumph over the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday night at the Gryphon Centre.
Justin Gvora (Thunder Bay, Ont.) put away the game winner and tallied a pair of assists, while Nathan Martine (Guelph, Ont.) and Barrett Brook (Leduc, AB) tallied a pair of goals each.
The game was a high-intensity, aggressive affair between the rival teams. The win moves Guelph to 9-12-5 while the loss drops Laurier to 8-16-2.
Cody St. Jacques (Iroquois Falls, Ont.) got the start between the pipes for the Gryphons making 22 saves on 24 shots.
Laurier opened the scoring with a power play goal from Mitchell Good at the seven-minute mark of the game. The first period ended with the Gryphons outshooting Laurier 17-8 in the period.
Early in the second period, Guelph went on the powerplay and after some great puck movement Justin Gvora slid the puck out to Nathan Martine on the point who wired a shot at the net knotting the game at one. Zach Lillie (Bracebridge, Ont) would also pick up an assist on the powerplay goal.
Seven minutes into the second period Guelph would pull ahead on a goal by Barrett Brook. After a 3-on-2 gave Gvora an opportunity to fire a shot on net the rebound would land directly on the stick of Brook who didn’t hesitate to snipe it top shelf past the goalie.
Midway through the second period, tensions rose in front of the Gryphon net as a fight ensued and in total three 10-minute misconducts were dished out. The Gryphons would take the 2-1 lead into the third period.
The third period was full of high quality opportunities at both ends of the rink. Guelph out-muscled the Hawks throughout the period with their continued aggressive play, but much to the dismay of the Gryphons and their fans, the Golden Hawks would score an equalizer 13-minutes into the third to send the game to overtime.
Half of the overtime period ran out before Justin Gvora capitalized on a giveaway by a Golden Hawk. After picking up the loose puck Gvora skated in and wired one off the inside of the crossbar and past the sprawling Laurier goaltender. Over 100 fans and the Gryphon team erupted at the Gryphon Centre celebrating the overtime goal.
The Gryphons are back home at the Gryphon Centre this Thursday (February 9) against the Windsor Lancers for graduating seniors night. Puck drops at 7:30pm.
Source: Gryphons Athletics
Fourth-year forward Byron Elliott scored two powerplay goals in leading the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team to a 2-1 victory over the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday night (Feb. 4) at Varsity Arena.
Toronto’s fourth straight win lifts them into fourth place with a 14-8-3 record, just three points back of Nipissing (15-7-4) with a game in hand.
A native of Burlington, Ont., Elliott opened the scoring 6:32 into the contest on the man advantage with a goal assisted by Kyle Ventura and Paul Van De Velde.
Elliott then put the Blues up 2-0 seven minutes into the second frame with another powerplay marker off passes from team captain Andrew Kizito and Ventura.
Toronto went 2-for-8 on the powerplay, while Nipissing was unable to convert on seven attempts.
Nipissing’s Kevin Flather would spoil the shut out and bring the game within reach early in the third period; however, Blues netminder Garrett Sheehan stood on his head and turned aside 15 third-period shots to secure the win.
Source: Varsity Blues Athletics
LONDON, Ont.- Despite being outshot 41-21, the Western Mustangs were able to defeat the Lakehead Thunderwolves 7-4 and improve to 21-2-3 on the season Saturday night at Thompson Arena. Three-point performances by Keaton Turkiewicz, Zach Harnden and Andrew Eastman paced the Mustangs.
Western was off to a good start as they earned a 2-0 lead midway through the first period with goals by Harnden and Yashar Farmanara. Assists were given to Eastman and Steve Reese.
Lakehead’s Matt Caria pulled his team to within one a few minutes later but Turkiewicz from Harnden and Kevin Baker restored the two goal lead with only 13 seconds left in the period.
Neither team was able to capitalize on the powerplay in the opening frame despite the numerous opportunities that were given as a result of a physical first twenty minutes.
Both teams exchanged goals twice in the second period.
Lakehead got goals from Trevor Gamache and Brennan Menard while assists were given to Gamache and Mike Hammond, earning two.
Western’s Jason Furlong and Reese earned second period tallies, while Farmanara, Eastman, Turkiewicz and Baker all were credited with assists.
Both Mustangs goals were scored with special teams, once on the powerplay and the 5th goal of the night being scored while shorthanded.
Western lead 5-3 heading into the second intermission.
The Thunderwolves pulled to within one once again at 9:53 of the third. Andrew Wilkins from Mitch Fillman and Menard gave Western a bit of a scare as the momentum began to build in Lakehead’s favour .
Despite being dominated in the third period, Turkiewicz and Harnden were able to both score goals 28 seconds apart to put the game out of Lakehead’s reach. Eastman earned his third assist of the night on Harnden’s hard-nosed second goal of the game.
The Mustangs return to action February 9th when they travel to face the UOIT Ridgebacks with a scheduled 7:30 PM puck drop. Western’s next home game is February 11th as they play host to the York Lions, puck drops at 7:35 PM at Thompson Arena.
Source: Mustangs Athletics
Kevin Hamlin and the Lancer men’s hockey team earned an important win on Saturday night with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Brock Badgers.
It was Windsor’s fourth win in a row, and they are now 13-12-1 on the season and are now tied with the Badgers for fifth place in the OUA West division. The Lancers have the tie-breaker over the Badgers, having won the season series 2-1.
Brock’s CJ Dickson opened the scoring at 7:02 of the first period to put the Badgers up by one. The lead did not last long, as Tom Craig scored his fifth of the season fifty-seconds later to tie the game at one.
Derek Brochu again put the Badgers up by one with a goal at 16:15. Windsor again bounced back with a shorthanded goal from Brett Oliphant at 18:15 to close out the scoring in the first period.
Windsor came out firing in the second period, as Evan Stibbard put a quick shot behind Brock goaltender Kurt Jory just 15 seconds into the period.
Ryan Green gave the Lancers a two goal lead at 14:13 of the period, blasting a shot past Jory from right in front, closing out the scoring in the frame.
The Lancer special teams unit again showed what they could do as Steve Ferry scored at 3:48 of the final period with the man advantage to secure the win for the Blue & Gold.
Goaltender Parker Van Buskirk earned his fourth straight win in net, making 33 saves.
Windsor will now travel to Guelph to face the Gryphons on Thursday night at 7:30pm.
Source: Lancers Athletics
TORONTO - Jason McDonough and Greg Payne scored two goals each as the Ryerson Rams kept their playoff hopes alive with a 6-1 victory over the visiting Toronto Varsity Blues on Sunday afternoon.
The Rams (12-11-3) sit in ninth place with 27 points, while the Queen's Gaels (13-11-2) and the Concordia Stingers (13-11-2) both have 28 points. Ryerson hosts Queen's on Thursday before closing out the season at Nipissing on Friday. Queen's will host Nipissing on Saturday in their final contest of the regular season, while Concordia hosts McGill Wednesday before visiting Carleton on Saturday.
Toronto controlled play in the opening period, outshooting the Rams 16-9, while taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. McDonough's first of the afternoon tied it a 1-1 after 40 minutes.
Payne, with a pair, Kelly Geoffrey and Dean Willmott with his first of the year, tallied for Ryerson in the third period.
Troy Passingham stopped 25 of 26 shots for his eighth victory of the year. Brett Willows saved 33 of 39 shots for the Varsity Blues.
Ryerson was 3-for-10 on the power play, while Toronto was 1-for-10 with the man advantage.
The Rams will host Queen's at George Bell Arena on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Source: Rams Athletics
