FRIDAY HOCKEY ROUNDUP: UOIT stuns No. 1 Western
Western Mustangs @ UOIT Ridgebacks
OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT Ridgebacks men’s hockey team pulled off an upset win over the No. 1 ranked Western Mustangs by a score of 9-5 at the Campus Ice Centre on Thursday night.
Ryan Oliver of Brooklin, Ont. scored his first career hat-trick to lead the Ridgebacks to the four goal victory over Western, who had entered the game with a 21-2-3 record and had just moved into the top spot in the CIS rankings for the first time since their 2001-02 season.
“We played with a lot of heart tonight,” said UOIT Ridgebacks head coach Marlin Muylaert. “We knew that they were a tough opponent and the guys really stepped up and rose to the challenge. It was also nice to see our graduating players go out with a big win on senior’s night.”
Trailing 4-2 midway through the second period, the Ridgebacks closed out the frame with three straight goals to take a 5-4 lead into the break. UOIT’s all-time leading scorer Josh Vatri (Barrie, Ont.) scored an unassisted shorthanded marker while Ryan Oliver had back-to-back goals, his first two of the night.
With Western pressing for the game tying goal in the third period, UOIT managed to turn the puck up ice and complete a highlight reel scoring play. Shawn Connors (Chatham, Ont.) notched his second goal of the game, burying a one-timer off a great feed from assistant captain Tony Rizzi (Kingston, Ont.). Connors’ goals were the first two of his career.
That goal started up a UOIT rally as the Ridgebacks would score three more times in the next six minutes, which was capped off by Oliver’s third goal of the night.
Western’s Jason Furlong (London, Ont.) scored a late goal in the game, but the Mustangs eventually ran out of time as the Ridgebacks pulled off the upset win.
With nine goals scored on Thursday night, UOIT broke a program record for the most goals scored in a single game. The previous high of eight goals had been reached three times.
Playing in his final home game for the Ridgebacks, Kyle Wetering of Pickering had one goal and two assists. Wetering scored the Ridgebacks eighth goal of the game while being hauled down on a shorthanded breakaway.
Jesse Stoughton of Bobcaygeon also had a three point night for UOIT as he recorded two goals and an assist. James Woodcroft (Milton, Ont.) and Aeric Annetta (Vaughan, Ont.) had two assists in the win.
The Ridgebacks defence did an outstanding job of keeping the OUA’s leading scorer contained for sixty minutes as Keaton Turkiewicz (Brantford, Ont.) was held to just one assist. The fourth year senior leads the league with 46 points in 27 games.
Jacob Rattie (Niagara Falls, Ont.) got the win in his third career start in net for UOIT. He allowed five goals on 33 Western shots. Rattie’s two wins this season have come against nationally ranked opponents as he led the Ridgebacks to an 8-5 win over Lakehead in his first ever start for UOIT.
Alain Valiquette (Sudbury, Ont.) allowed seven goals on 21 shots for Western before being pulled for Josh Unice (Holland, OH), who allowed two goals on four shots.
UOIT was 0-for-2 on the power play and Western was 1-for-4. UOIT scored two shorthanded goals.
This is not the first time UOIT has pulled off a major upset over the Mustangs in the five year history of the men’s hockey program. In the team’s inaugural season, UOIT erased a 2-0 deficit in the final minute of a game and defeated Western 3-2 in a shootout. The Mustangs were nationally ranked at the time. Also, in the team’s first OUA playoff appearance, the No. 8 seeded Ridgebacks upset the Mustangs in the first game of their opening round series.
UOIT is 6-10-1 overall all-time against Western.
UOIT is now 6-20-1 on the year and will close out their season on the road against the Laurier Golden Hawks (8-16-2) on Saturday afternoon in Waterloo. UOIT defeated Laurier 4-2 in their last regular season meeting at the Campus Ice Centre.
Source: Ridgebacks Athletics
Led by Parker Van Buskirk’s solid performance in net, the Lancer men’s hockey team won their fifth game in a row with a 3-1 win over the Guelph Gryphons on Thursday night in Guelph.
Behind Van Buskirk’s 32 saves, the Lancers move to 14-12-1 on the season and into fourth place in the OUA West division. Windsor will be looking to secure home ice advantage in the playoffs with a win on Saturday over the third place Waterloo Warriors.
The Gryphons came out strong in the first period, putting pressure on the Lancer defense and goaltending. The Lancers stood strong and held the Gryphons off the board for the first ten minutes.
Guelph did manage to get on the board first at 12:30 of the period with a goal from Justin Gvora.
The Lancers soon responded with a goal of their own from Isak Quakenbush at 17:04. The Gryphon defence began to struggle and only a minute later Windsor took the lead with their second goal of the night from D.J Turner.
The second period saw tensions rise between the two teams as the Gryphons fought to tie up the game. Van Buskirk again made some key saves to prevent the Gryphons from tying the game and keeping the Lancers ahead.
Windsor’s offence drilled the Gryphons in the third, but goaltender Cody St. Jacques made a number of impressive saves to keep Windsor off the board.
However, the Gryphons struggled to keep up with Windsor’s offensive speed, and this breakdown contributed to the Lancer’s third and final goal. Drew Palmer ripped down the right wing untouched, and passed to Turner who fired it in before St. Jacques had the chance to respond.
The Lancers will look to claim home ice advantage in the first round of the post season on Saturday when they host their final regular season game at 7:30pm. In their last meeting, the Warriors just got past Windsor with a 3-2 shoot-out win.
Saturday also marks the final regular season home game in the historic Windsor Arena. The Lancers will mark the occasion with a ceremonial face-off prior to the game and also honour their graduating seniors.
Fans are encouraged to come out to the game and be a part of history.
TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams men’s hockey team kept their playoff hopes alive while tying the team mark for wins in a season with a 3-2 victory over the visiting Queen’s Gaels on Thursday night at George Bell Arena.
With the score tied 2-2 and nine minutes remaining in the third period, the team’s leading goal scorer Greg Payne (Thornhill, Ont.) would take a pass from defenceman Brian Birkhoff (Richmond Hill, Ont.), put a nifty move on a Queen’s defender at the blueline and then fire a shot that squeaked past Gaels goaltender Riley Whitlock for the game winner.
The 13 victories ties the Ryerson mark for wins in a season set by the 1988-89 Rams, who were 13-12-1. The Rams will also finish this season with a winning record, the first time in 23 years.
The Rams opened the scoring with just over five minutes to go in the opening period on the power play when Greg Riggs feathered a perfect pass to Victor Terreri in the slot. The first-year forward and product of Mississauga, Ont. hammered it past Queen’s Whitlock.
The Gaels would even the score just three and a half minutes into the middle frame while shorthanded. Rams goaltender Troy Passingham (Mississauga) gambled with a poke check but was beaten to the puck by Scott Kenway who went around the sprawled goalie and fired it into the empty net to make it 1-1.
Ryerson had a great chance to get the go ahead goal late in the second with a two man advantage for almost a minute and half. However, Whitlock was solid for Queen’s making several key stops while surrendering few rebounds.
In the third, the Rams went up 2-1 on Greg Riggs (Pickering, Ont.) second goal of the season just 1:20 into the frame. But the Gaels would respond on the power play three minutes later when captain Jonathon Lawrence notched his seventh of the season.
Ryerson was 1-for-6 on the power play, while Queen’s went 1-for-5 with the man advantage. Passingham stopped 20 of 22 shots for the victory, while Whitlock saved 32 of 35 shots for the Gaels.
The Rams face Nipissing Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in North Bay, Ont.
Source: Rams Athletics
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