MEN'S HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Carleton hands Queen's first regulation loss of the season
Friday, January 10
Laurier 3 @ Western 2
LONDON, Ont. – Western fought back from two one-goal deficits but Peter Macintosh spoiled Greg Dodds' home-debut with under a second left on the clock, slipping the puck past the Mustangs netminder giving Laurier a 3-2 victory at Thompson Arena on Friday night.
The goal left both the Mustangs and their 433 fans in attendance shocked, grasping to understand how a game that seemed destined for overtime only seconds earlier could end so quickly. When asked whether he had ever seen a game end like that in his 14 years of coaching, Mustangs' coach Clarke Singer shook his head.
"Not like that, no," Singer said, summing up the feelings of many of the fans and players who witnessed the goal.
Western opened the game strong, dominating play for the better half of the first five minutes before Laurier began to find their feet and truly test Dodds. With momentum shifting a bit in their direction, the Golden Hawks were able to grab themselves a power play opportunity when Matt Marantz was assessed the game's first infraction just under seven minutes in.
Yet despite being down a man, the Mustangs managed to make the best of the situation for the first half of the penalty, keeping the Golden Hawks to the perimeter and even generating some offensive chances of their own, highlighted by a breakaway opportunity for Matt Clarke.
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, however, Clarke's chance was stymied by a great save from Laurier's goaltender and soon a boarding call to Adam Stoykewych had them down 5-on-3. But thanks to some solid goaltending from Dodds and a timely block from Colin Macdonald, estern was able to kill the penalty off and take momentum back for the rest of the period.
Even with the momentum on their side, though, the Mustangs were unable to capitalize in the frame, thanks in large part to the stellar play of Laurier backstop Vinny Merante. Merante turned away 17 shots in total in the opening period, including a scramble stop on a 2-on-1 opportunity from Marantz that saw the rookie forward keep and fool the netminder with a deke—only to be stopped by a mixture of pad and post.
"You know what, [Merante] played a great game," Singer said of the Golden Hawks' goaltender after the loss. "I didn't think we did enough around him creating traffic and getting rebounds. I thought we did create some chances but we didn't do enough around him to make it count."
In the second period the teams traded penalties in the opening 10 minutes and then again in the second half, although the only goal of the period—scored by Laurier's Tyler Stother—did not end up coming on the man-advantage. Stother notched his fifth tally of the year just before the midpoint of the period, using a Western defender as a screen and ripping the puck past a helpless Dodds.
Other than on Stother's shot, Dodds was unbeatable for the rest of the period, ensuring himself no lack of excitement, coming out of the net to clear a puck at the blue line near the end of the period only to find himself caught out of the net. Thanks to a nice stick from his defender and a quick move of his shoulder, Dodds was able to keep the puck out, despite having to make the awkward save at the top of the faceoff circles.
In the third, the Mustangs came out intent on evening the score and were able to do just that, finally solving Merante on a shot from Alex Micallef just under two minutes into the period. Micallef's goal, his first of the season, came from outside the left faceoff dot, beating Merante on his far side.
The teams then traded goals in the second half of the period, with Laurier scoring first and Kyle De Coste tying the game up with just over three minutes left. With time clicking down on the clock, both goaltenders were forced to make game-saving plays as Dodds made a pad save on a Laurier breakaway and Merante answered with a save on Clarke 14 seconds later.
The game looked to be going to overtime before the Golden Hawks' Brendan Woods slipped a pass to Macintosh. Macintosh, standing uncovered in front of the net, put the game away on a shot to Dodds' glove side with a second left on the clock. The Mustangs and their fans could only stare in disbelief.
Mustangs play-by-play man John Urban perhaps said it best post-gamewhen he asked Singer if the Mustangs will have to have a "goldfish's memory" after tonight, seeing as their next game is set to happen only 24 hours later. Singer agreed.
"It's a day at a time," Singer said. "We talked about how tough this game was going to be and we didn't get the job done but tomorrow night it's going to be another tough game—we've got to be better. We were okay tonight—we weren't good enough obviously, so we've got to be good."
Source: Western Sports Info
Nipissing 1 @ UQTR 5
It was a tough weekend results wise for the Nipissing Lakers men’s hockey team, but their play was a positive.
The Lakers dropped a pair of games on an Eastern trip, as they fell 5-1 to the UQTR Patriotes Friday night, before running into a hot goalie Saturday afternoon, and dropped a 5-2 decision to the Concordia Stingers.
In both games the Lakers got off to strong starts, controlling the first period, but failed to build up a big lead.
Lakers head coach Mike McParland said they had two strong periods in their first game on the road trip, but 20 bad minutes ended up killing them.
“We played a strong first and third period, but the second did us in,” he said of the game Friday night.
After allowing the first goal, Grant Toulmin tied the game just after the midway point of the first period against the Patriots.
However, three second period goals and 21 shots proved to be the Lakers undoing, as they came up short against the defending OUA champions.
McParland said goaltender John Chartrand had a solid game despite allowing five goals, as he made 45 saves.
The Lakers were outshot 50-33.
Source: Nipissing Sports Info
McGill 6 @ Ottawa 2
The No. 6 ranked McGill Redmen received two short-handed goals from rookie Alexandre Comtois as part of a 6-2 win over the Gee-Gees at the uOttawa Minto Sports Complex on Friday night. The loss drops fifth-place Ottawa to 11-7-1 on the season while McGill holds steady in second place in the OUA East with a 13-5-1.
McGill’s Patrick Delisle-Houde also scored twice and added an assist, while the Gee-Gees had trouble besting goalkeeper Karel St-Laurent, who stopped 32 shots in only his second game of the season.
Ottawa jumped out to one of their best starts of a game this season, scoring only 14 seconds into the first period on their first shot of the game. Nicolas Larocque-Marcoux potted his third goal of the season on one timer shot set up by Mathieu Ouellette and Rock Regimbald. The Gee-Gees followed up the goal with hard-hitting, aggressive play.
Following a pretty even beginning of the period McGill tied it up at the 8:59 mark when David Rose scored on a shot low glove side past Warren Shymko. Shortly after, Delisle-Houde scored his first of the game on a double deflection at 11:53 and McGill had firm grasp on the momentum of the game.
“Early on we deserved better, but we didn’t have a mentality to overcome the bumps and adversity tonight. Tonight our best players were not our best players,” explained Gee-Gees head coach Réal Paiement.
The second period was a continuation of the first - a tough, hard-hitting period that saw McGill increase their lead by adding two goals to make it a 4-1 game. Ottawa finished the period off strongly by cutting McGill’s lead to two goals thanks to a goal from Regimbald at 17:23.
However, the Gee-Gees came out flat in the third period allowing McGill to continue where they left off. Delisle-Houde limited the Gee-Gees comeback hopes with the fifth Redmen goal at 4:05 before Comtois capped things off short-handed at 18:35.
Source: uOttawa Sports Info
UOIT 2 @ RMC 4
KINGSTON, Ont. – Despite outshooting Royal Military College 52-25 on Friday night, the UOIT men’s hockey team was not able to leave Kingston with two points as the Paladins came up with a 4-2 victory over the Ridgebacks.
RMC goaltender Evan Deviller had a 50 save performance as he earned his first career CIS victory. UOIT outshot RMC 16-2 in the final frame, but Deviller continued to stand on his head as he preserved the two-goal victory.
Mathieu Lavallee and Brett Pinder would score two goals apiece for RMC while Chris Smerek recorded a pair of assists. Pinder would score the game winning goal at the 14:04 minute mark of the second period as UOIT starting goaltender Colin Dzijacky (Thunder Bay, Ont.) was pulled after allowing three goals on 16 shots.
Mike Whiteside (Ajax, Ont.) and Nate Mitton (Kitchener, Ont.) were the goal scorers for UOIT as they scored in the first and third period respectively. Mitton’s goal was the fourth of his freshman campaign.
This marked RMC’s first victory of the season as they were 0-15-2 heading into the game.
With their fifth straight loss, UOIT falls to 5-10-3 and are tied with the Concordia Stingers for sixth place in the OUA eastern conference. The teams are three points ahead of the Laurentian Voyageurs and four up on Nipissing for the final playoff position.
Source: UOIT Sports Info
Lakehead 3 @ Brock 4 (OT)
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – The Brock University men's hockey team improved to 8-8-3 on their 2013-14 campaign Friday night, defeating the No. 5 ranked Lakehead Thunderwolves 4-3 in overtime. Dan Tanel (Brampton, Ont.) lifted the Badgers to victory with a goal at 2:17 of the extra frame.
Andrew Radjenovic (Hamilton, Ont.) put Brock on the board first, beating Thunderwolves netminder Justin McDonald on the powerplay at 12:31 of the second period. Daniel Zweep (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and C.J. Dickson (Thorold, Ont.) added the assists. After two, the sophomore's marker was the only goal of the game, and Badger goalie Adrian Volpe (Burlington, Ont.) had stopped all 24 shots he had faced.
A mere 1:15 into the final period, Lakehead's leading scorer Cody Alcock added to his season total, finding an open space behind Volpe to tie the game at one.
Carson Dubchak, who was the penalized Lakehead player when Radjenovic lit the lamp, made up for his error by scoring an unassisted tally midway through the third. Brock's coach Murray Nystrom then called a timeout, with his team trailing for the first time all night.
The Badgers responded, with Johnson Andrews (NOTL, Ont.) and Dickson setting up Jordan Gignac (Stoney Creek, Ont.) who recorded his third goal of the season, evening the game at two.
Minutes later, with the Thunderwolves once again down a man, Kaine Geldart (Kingston, Ont.) put the Badgers back out in front on a feed from Andrews, bringing the home crowd to their feet.
Although it looked like the momentum sat with Brock, Lakehead captain Andrew Wilkins beat Volpe 39 seconds after the Badgers retook the lead, on a rebound from Mike Hammond's original shot.
Neither team could score before regulation expired, sending the game to overtime.
The fans were treated to a fantastic finish, as a Lakehead turnover resulted in Dan Tanel notching his second goal of the campaign to defeat the top team in the OUA West.
Volpe finished with 33 saves for his second straight victory. MacDonald registered 28 saves in the loss.
With the win, Brock has moved into a playoff spot, now sitting 8th in the OUA West. Their next action is next Thursday night at York University, where they face a Lions squad that is tied with them in points.
Source: Brock Sports Info
York 3 @ Waterloo 2 (OT)
The margin between a win and a loss in OUA hockey is often razor-thin. Unfortunately for the Waterloo Warriors, they were on the wrong side of the cut against the York Lions on Friday night.
In a game where the Warriors hit three goal posts, Jordan Davies scored his second power play goal of the game with 23 seconds left in overtime to lift the Lions to a 3-2 extra time victory at the Columbia Icefield Arena.
Justin Larson (Buckhorn) and Chris Chappell (Pickering) scored for the Warriors in the loss, which ended their 3-game winning streak and evened their record at 8-8-2. Jesse Messier added his team-leading 10th goal for the Lions, who move to 9-8-1 on the season. Justin Leclerc (Saskatoon) made 25 saves in the loss, while York backup Chris Perugini was solid in turning aside 31 shots for his first victory of the season.
The game began with good pace, and the Warriors carried the bulk of the first period play. But Perugini, making only his second start of the year in relief of his brother and York starter Andrew, stood tall in the Lions net. Late in the first, Messier burst in on the left wing and rifled a shot short side over Leclerc's blocker to make the score 1-0 for York after one period.
The second period started with some fireworks when, during a goalmouth scramble, Lions forward Mike Lombardi charged in from the boards and leveled Waterloo's Riley Sonnenburg (Cambridge) from behind into the goal post. Lombardi was assessed a cross-checking major and was ejected, but the Lions' stalwart penalty kill allowed them to escape unscathed.
Just past the 15-minute mark of the middle frame, the Warriors finally got on the board when Larson slapped home the rebound off a Greg Steffes (Amherstburg) point shot to square things at 1 apiece. The Lions briefly reclaimed the league on the man-advantage moments later when Davies' point shot deflected past Leclerc, but Chappell evened the score before the period ended when he converted a 2-on-1 with Colin Behenna (Waterloo) with a laser to the top shelf.
The end-to-end action – as well as the parade to the penalty box – ended in the third period, as neither team, nor the officials, seemed keen on taking a chance that might decide the game. The Warriors had a couple decent chances early in the extra frame, but they were once again victimized by the game of inches after Luke Lynes (Washington) took a high-sticking call late in overtime.
First, Chappell's clearing attempt on the 4-on-3 penalty kill knicked the top of the glass and went out of play, forcing a faceoff in the Warriors zone instead of clearing the puck 200 feet. Then, with time winding down, Chappell's shot block in the slot went right to the stick of a pinching Davies, who made no mistake and gave York the decision.
The Warriors will now shift their attention to a rare Saturday afternoon affair, as they'll take on the Ryerson Rams in their first-ever trip to the renovated Mattamy Athletic Centre at Maple Leaf Gardens. Puck drop is slated for 2:30pm.
Notes: The Warriors went 0-for-6 on the power play, while York went 2-for-5…Chappell's goal was his 17th of the season, giving him sole possession of first in the CIS in goal scoring…Larson's goal and assist gives him 6 points in 2 games in January.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
Laurentian 1 @ Concordia 5
On Friday night, the Laurentian Voyageurs Men’s Hockey team was in a tough battle against the Concordia Stingers. Although the final score appears to be lopsided the Voyageurs battled strong and couldn’t catch a break having a goal waived off early on. In the end the Voyageurs fell to the Stingers 5-1 being outshot 36 -29.
The Stingers got off to a quick start with an early goal from Anthony Nobili. Kyle Armstrong and Marley Keca assisted the Stingers goal. The Voyageurs countered with a goal of their own late in the first. Dylan Fitze (Peterborough, ON) notched his 6th of the year, assisted by Jordan Carroll (Hanmer, ON).
The 2nd period saw the Stingers come out strong who were able to post 20 shots in the frame, collecting two goals along the way. Jeremy Barriault scored his first goal on the season, which would go on to be the game winner, Nobili and Kieran O’Neil assisted on the goal. The Stinger scored their 3rd goal of the game late in the second. Oliver Hinse continued his scoring ways notching his 15th on the season. Sean Blunden and Dany Potvin collected the assists.
The 3rd period saw the Stingers go up 4-1with an early goal by Hugo Vincent, with Ben Dubois and George Lovatsis getting the assists. Lovatsis scored an empty netter to seal the deal with Keca grabbing the assist.
In the end it was a hard fought spirited battled by both sides, which saw lots of penalties from both sides. The Voyageurs had a total of 40 minutes and the Stingers collected 32.
Alain Valiquette (Sudbury, ON) had a good outing despite finishing with the loss, stopping 31 out of 35 shots faced. Stingers goalie Antonio Mastropietro had a strong night in net allowing 1 goal on 29 shots faced.
With the loss the Voyaguers fall to record of 5-13, which is good for 8th in the East, while Concordia improves to 5-8-3 on the season sitting, 6th in the East. The Voyageurs will look to improve as they play the UQTR Patriotes tomorrow at 2:00pm. It will be a statement game for the Voyageurs as UQTR sit 3rd in the East with a record of 13-4.
Source: Laurentian Sports Info
Carleton 4 @ Queen’s 1
KINGSTON, Ont. (January 10, 2014) – The No. 7 Queen's Gaels suffered their first regulation loss of the season 4-1 to the visiting No. 9 Carleton Ravens at the Memorial Centre on Friday night in Kingston.
The Gaels set a new franchise record with their start, going 12-0-5 to start the season. Queen's still remains in first place in the OUA East division at 12-1-5 sitting two points ahead of second place McGill.
In the opening frame the Ravens put most of the offensive pressure on in the game and we rewarded with the first power play as well. Queen's held their own defensively but were down assistant captain Chris Van Laren (Kingston, Ont.) who was also assessed a 10-minute misconduct on the penalty.
After holding the Ravens at bay the Gaels got their own chance with a power play but could not get any offensive momentum going. The best chance was a shorthanded one for Carleton as a streaking forechecker fired a wrist shot from the high slot but it was Gaels starting netminder Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) who got just enough of the shot with his glove to deflect the puck over the net.
At the 12:03 mark of the first period the Ravens struck first. Damian Cross tallied his ninth goal of the season as he took a shot from just above the faceoff dot to the left of Bailie. Cross found a spot above the shoulder of Bailie for the goal.
Carleton outshot the Gaels 11 to six in the first period and took a 1-0 lead into the second.
The second period saw a much better offensive effort from Queen's as they controlled most of the offensive play. It was the Ravens however who took advantage of their opportunities. Corey Durocher cut around a Gaels defender and got a good angle on the net. He then was able to slip in front of the crease and put the puck through the legs of Bailie.
Queen's got on the board shortly after as Stephane Chabot (Rockland, Ont.) grabbed the puck off a turnover and wired a slap shot under the bar and past Francis Dupuis to cut the lead in half. The goal was unassisted and Chabot's first of the year only 43 seconds after the Carleton goal.
The Ravens restored their two goal lead as the puck found its way to Jake Cardwell at the point who sent a snap shot through a crowd to the back of the net.
Despite being outscored two to one in the period the Gaels had numerous scoring chances in close on the Ravens goal but could not find the right spot. Carleton took a slight edge in shots once more 14 to 11.
In the third period the Gaels could not solve Dupuis despite their 11 chances at the net. Late in the period the Gaels were called for hooking and Carleton put the game out of reach on a goal from Mitch Porowski.
The 4-1 loss also snapped the Gaels six game win streak and Queen's will look to bounce right back against No. 6 McGill tomorrow night in a battle for first place in the OUA East division.
Bailie was a standout once again for the Gaels turning aside 40 shots in the loss.
ICE CHIPS: The Gaels had their six game win streak snapped… Queen's entered the night with the third lowest GAA in the CIS at 1.87… Gaels defenceman Chris Van Laren saw his four game point streak snapped and has registered a point in 10 of his seventeen games this season… These two teams will meet once more this season in Ottawa on January 24… Queen's wore their gold jersey's at home for the first time this season as they will close out the season wearing gold at home.
Source: Queen's Sports Info
Saturday, January 11
Laurentian 3 @ UQTR 12
After a tough 5-1 loss against Concordia Friday night, it didn’t get any easier for the Laurentian Men’s Hockey team as they fell to UQTR 12-3 on Saturday, being outshot 52-35 after 60 minutes.
UQTR came out strong in the first period, as Billy Lacasse scored his 7th goal of the season, a shorthanded goal, 3:31 into the first. UQTR struck again less than 2 minutes later, this time by Thomas Martin for his 4th goal of the season. It didn’t stop there as UQTR scored a pair of power play goals at 7:56 and 9:40. The first of the power play goals, scored by Guillaume Asselin, came on a 5-on-3 when Laurentian’s Matthew Eddy went off for hooking at 6:56 and Sebastien Leroux for interference at 7:14. Mikael Langlois scored to put UQTR up 4-0 as Voyageur’s Adam Glynn was penalized for hooking. UQTR went on to score 2 more goals in the period, putting the score 6-0 in their favour after 20 minutes; Giroux scored at 9:58, and Quevillon at 14:26, and shots were 19-7 for UQTR.
Laurentian came out stronger in the second period, scoring a short-handed goal 4:14 into the period. Brian Nanne got the tally for his 3rd goal of the year, with the assist going to Glynn. UQTR didn’t take long to strike back, as Giroux got his 2ndgoal of the game on a power play, scoring 1:08 later. Laurentian got the next two goals, 1:81 apart, the first going to Dylan Fitze, and the second to Jordan Carroll. UQTR scored at 10:02, and again in the last minute of the period to put the score at 9-3. Shots were tied 20-20 for the period.
It didn’t get any better for Laurentian in the final period as UQTR tallied 3 goals to extend their lead and put the final score at 12-3. The first goal came 6 minutes into the 3rd period with Jason Rajotte getting his 6th goal on the season. UQTR scored again at 9:03 and finished off the scoring at 12:42 with Asselin and Olivier Hotte getting the markers. The shots for the last 20 minutes of the game were 13-8 for the home team.
Laurentian went 1-for-3 on the power plays, while UQTR went 3-for-7.
The Laurentian Voyageurs Men’s Hockey team will be back at home next Friday, January 17th as they look to get even against UQTR, game time at 7:30pm.
Source: Laurentian Sports Info
Nipissing 2 @ Concordia 5
Saturday, it was a similar story as the Lakers came out strong again, outshooting the Stingers 11-7 in the first period and grabbed the lead heading into the intermission thanks to Toulmin’s second goal of the weekend and 13 th of the season.
The second period once again hurt Nipissing, as they took too many penalties and found themselves trailing after 40 minutes.
Two quick goals by the Stingers in the third period put the Lakers behind the eight-ball and after leading 1-0, the Lakers now trailed 4-1.
Jeff Leaist got one back for Nipissing cutting the lead to 4-2, but a late goal by Concordia capped off the game.
Kirk Rafuse made 30 saves in the loss, as the Lakers outshot Concordia 37-35.
McParland said his team deserved better Saturday, but weren’t able to bury their chances.
“The first star was the Concordia goalie, no doubt,” he said.
The Lakers are back in action Friday when they host the Ottawa Gee Gees.
Source: Nipissing Sports Info
Waterloo 1 @ Ryerson 5
TORONTO - With a 5-1 victory over the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday afternoon, the No. 10 Ryerson Rams improved to 14-5-0 and moved into first place atop the OUA West. The win also set a new all-time school record for most wins in a season. The new mark of 14 surpasses the previous high of 13 set by the 2011-12 Rams (13-12-3).
Jamie Wise (Stouffville, Ont.) led the way with a hat-trick, his second in five games, while line mate Domenic Alberga (Maple, Ont.) chipped in a goal and two assists.
The Rams wasted no time getting down to business as Wise opened the scoring with a power play goal 3:43 into the first period. Shortly after, defencemenMark Corbett (Burlington, Ont.) increased the lead to two with an unassisted goal. Wise added his second right before the intermission to make it 3-0 at the end of the first.
The start of the second saw a goaltending change for Waterloo as veteran Justin Leclerc (Saskatoon, Sask.) took over between the pipes for Mike Morrison. Wise added his third of the afternoon three minutes into the frame on a deflection of aPeter Hermenegildo, (Thornhill, Ont.) point shot. The Warriors answered back just over a minute later on a goal by Brett Mackie (Whitby, Ont.) to make the score 4-1.
Ryerson added some insurance at the beginning of the third with a goal by Alberga, putting them ahead 5-1. Waterloo would put the pressure on, and despite running into penalty trouble near the end of the third, the Rams won for the ninth time in the last 10 games.
Goalie Troy Passingham (Mississauga, Ont.) was outstanding, turning away 35 of 36 shots, including a number of power play opportunities.
"I didn't think it was one of our sharpest games," said head coach Graham Wise. "But we were still able to put the puck in the net, while keeping them out of our net. Passingham is playing well, our defense is playing well and our forwards have committed to playing defense. Once you have players taking care of their own end first, you're going to have opportunities in the offensive zone."
Ryerson went 3-9 on the power play, while Waterloo went 1-10.
The Rams look to continue their streak on Wednesday when they head to London to take on the Western Mustangs at 7:30pm.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
Lakehead 1 @ Western 5
LONDON, Ont. – The 90s came up big for the Mustangs on Saturday—not the 90s in the sense of Nirvana or Dave Matthews but rather in reference to 90 and 92, the jersey numbers of Stefan Salituro and Daniel Erlich, respectively. The two Mustangs forwards provided all the goals the Mustangs would need on the night, potting the first two tallies to lead the Mustangs to a 5-1 victory over the Lakehead Thunderwolves at Thompson Arena.
The big win came only one night after a tough 3-2 loss at the hands of Laurier—a game which saw the winning goal be scored with less than a second left on the clock. After the game, Mustangs assistant coach David Kontzie said he was happy with the team's bounce-back effort.
"It's good for the guys to bounce back and have a game where they play sixty minutes like they're capable of," Kontzie said. "The guys realized that, when they're focused and they play sixty minutes, they can play some good hockey. Now it's just a matter of bringing that work ethic every night and realizing that two points are available and to work hard for them."
Erlich also added an assist, his league-leading 21st of the season, on Kyle De Coste's second goal—a tally which put the game out of reach at 5-1 with just over six minutes left in the final frame. He and Salituro hardly provided all of the offence in the game, though, with De Coste and Steve Reese both turning in multi-point efforts on the night.
After getting the end they didn't want yesterday the Mustangs opened Saturday's game exactly how they wanted to, getting a goal from Erlich just over two minutes in. The sophomore forward cleaned up the rebound from a Stephen Gaskin shot for his eighth goal and 28th point of the season.
Although the Mustangs looked poised to add to their lead soon after the first goal, getting a great chance from the hash marks off a hard one-timer from Stephen Salituro, it was Lakehead who would end up drawing blood next on a goal from Luke Maw. Maw put the Thunderwolves on the score sheet with a quick shot from just above the faceoff dots, putting the finishing touches on a break-in passing play from teammates Paul Thompson and Brennan Menard.
Despite the lack of goals for the rest of the period, there was hardly a lack of action as both teams had their fair share of chances. Western's Josh Unice had one of the highlights of the period, making a desperation save on Cody Alcock, who slipped the puck through the netminder's legs only to have the goalie get his glove down in time to keep it out.
The Mustangs came out hungry in the second and managed to start quickly again, capitalizing on a chance in front of the net only six seconds into the period. The goal came at the hands of Salituro who netted his seventh of the season on a feed from Adam Stoykewych.
"The line out there was ready to go and they were hungry—they were ready to compete right from the get-go," Kontzie said of Salituro's goal, adding that the Mustangs may have also had some help from lady luck, especially in the first and second periods, and that getting those bounces "definitely helps."
Western's lead looked like it might be erased quickly, with Mike Hammond snapping up a bad giveaway in the Mustangs' zone and firing a hard shot on an unsuspecting Unice. But the Toledo native came up big, stacking the pads and making a quick stop with his glove to keep the Mustangs on top.
That save would turn out to be a big one as Western was able to add to their lead just over a minute later, getting a goal from Zach Harnden off the rebound of a shot from defenceman David Corrente. The second goal on the play also came from a d-man, as rookie blueliner Jed Rusk was the one to feed Corrente on the blue line.
The Mustangs didn't get a goal to start the third but they did get a big hit, with Alex Micallef stepping up to lay out Brennan Menard as he attempted to enter the zone. The hit—a hip-check executed perfectly along the boards—elicited a big cheer from the Mustangs' crowd of 371.
The hit marked a sort of turning point in the period and soon the Mustangs were dominating the play, getting a goal five minutes in from De Coste before he added his second of the game to make it 5-1 with just over six minutes left.
In net, Unice wasn't forced to stop too much in the frame, only having to make five saves, although he was sharp when he had to be, keeping the Thunderwolves from getting any momentum. The veteran netminder made 25 saves in total on the night.
The Mustangs won't have a full week to rest as they usually do after Saturday games, as they'll be back on the ice Wednesday to take on the Ryerson Rams. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Thompson Arena and fans across the world can watch live on Mustangs TV.
Notes
Before giving up five goals to Western on Saturday night, the Thunderwolves were tied for the least goals against in the OUA at 38. Western sat 10 above them with 48, which was good enough for fifth in the OUA and third in the OUA West.
Entering Saturday's game, Lakehead goaltender Jeff Bosch was on top of the OUA in both goals against average (1.35) and save percentage (0.952). After Saturday's tough outing, the third-year goaltender now sits third in goals against and save percentage, having been replaced at the top by Western's Greg Dodds (although both the goalies have played limited minutes this season).
The Mustangs may have gotten five power play opportunities Saturday but they could hardly let their guard down during those 10 minutes, as the Thunderwolves entered the game sitting second in the OUA in shorthanded goals with six. Three of those goals had come from Andrew Wilkins alone.
While Lakehead didn't enter the game with great power play stats on the year (11th at home and 14th away), they had proven to be a lot better on the penalty kill—at least at home. Their home penalty-kill numbers were good enough for second in the league at 88.9% while their overall numbers were a bit lower at 82.4%. The Mustangs only managed one goal on five attempts during Saturday's game.
Source: Western Sports Info
UOIT 1 @ Ottawa 3
The Gee-Gees men’s hockey team displayed their skill and brought a bit of grit in a 3-1 home win over the UOIT Ridgebacks on Saturday night. The teams combined for 96 minutes of penalties after Ottawa opened up a 2-0 first period lead.
Ottawa needed a strong start, rebounding from a tough loss to McGill on Friday night. The Gee-Gees came out skating hard and created good lanes on a series of rushes which led to goals by Stephen Blunden at 8:27 and Mathieu Ouellette at 15:07.
“[The quick start] was huge – we had to take a deep down look at ourselves with playoffs coming up we know we have to start playing better games,” said Blunden, who now has 11 goals this season. “We want to be established as one of the top teams – we all think we can do it we just need to keep working hard for it.”
The first period also featured solid team defence by the Gee-Gees, allowing the Ridgebacks just 11 shots and little in the way of scoring opportunities. On the night, Ottawa goaltender Harrison May made 34 saves while Colin Dzijacky faced 50 shots at the other end.
The second period went scoreless thanks to a Gee-Gees penalty kill unit which shut down just under ten minutes worth of UOIT advantages in the frame.
Jason Shaw broke through with the first Ridgeback goal at 6:08 in the third period, but the Gee-Gees quickly responded with a goal by Taylor Collins at 8:24 to re-establish a two-goal lead.
From there, the on-ice action was primarily spent untangling players from each other - 16 infractions were handed out following the Collins goal.
“When we’re not playing to the level that we expect to play at you’re going to get some chippy games and this was one of them,” said senior Gee-Gees forward Matt White. “We’ve gotten better at maintaining control but it’s hard when a game is that chippy.”
The win lifts fifth-place Ottawa’s record to 12-7-1 while UOIT falls to seventh position at 5-11-3.
Source: uOttawa Sports Info
RMC 1 @ Carleton 7
The Carleton Ravens struck for seven goals on Saturday night as they levelled the RMC Paladins 7-1 in OUA East hockey action.
Carleton outshot their opponent 51-17 as they won their fourth consecutive game in the last two weekends.
It was total team effort as eleven Carleton players registered at least one point in the victory.
“The guys played a full 60 minutes against RMC, it was a team oriented effort,” said Carleton head coach, Marty Johnston.
“The whole team bought into playing short shifts and not forcing plays. We were successful in breaking down their defensive system of having one player fore-check and their other four skater’s line-up across their blue line.”
Michael McNamee (Perth, ON) and Joey West (Orleans, ON) struck for two goals apiece. Damian Cross (Nepean, ON), Mitch Zion (Manotick, ON) and Mitch Porowski (Ottawa, ON) had singles.
Ottawa natives Owen Werthner and Jason Seed picked up three assists while Corey Durocher and Joe Pleckaitis had two assist nights.
Carleton’s power play struck for one goal on five opportunities while RMC finished 0-1.
Ravens’ net-minder Ryan Dube (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) made 16 saves for the win.
With the victory, Carleton improves their record to (13-5-1) and occupy third place in the division.
Carleton’s next game will be played next Friday, January 17 when the team travels to Montreal to take on the Concordia Stingers. Game time is 7:30
Source: Carelton Sports Info
Windsor 2 @ Guelph 4
Guelph, Ont. (January 11, 2014) - The Guelph Gryphon men's hockey team defeated the Windsor Lancers with a final score of 4-2 at the Gryphon Centre. The Gryphons move to 9-7-3 and the Lancers drop to 11-7-0.
The Gryphons and the Lancers started the first period aggressively with end-to-end action. Windsor started out the shooting with Christian Steingraber (Oregon, OH) slapping one at the chest of Andrew Loverock (Elmvale, Ont.). The Lancers would get the first power play of the game after a tripping call at 5:03 on Nicklas Huard It looked like the Lancers were going to score after Paul Bezzo (Simcoe, Ont.) chipped the puck over the head of Loverock, but the Gryphon goalie was able to catch the puck and keep the game scoreless.
The Gryphons would serve another penalty at 7:54 after a slashing call on John Collins but it would be Guelph player Philip Teri using his speed to break through the neutral zone to score a short-handed goal at 11:30 to make it 1-0 for Guelph, with Cale Jefferies and Steven Strong in the assists. But after a hooking call on Daniel Broussard the Lancers used their power play to score with a quick shot by Saverio Posa (Grand Blanc, MI) over the head of Loverock to tie it up at 1-1, with Kenny Bradford (St Catherines, Ont.) on the assist.
The Gryphons went into the second period aggressively, out shooting the Lancers 14-11. They would get the first power play of the period after a high sticking call on Lancer player Drew Palmer (Tecumseh, Ont.) at 5:12. Huard would end up outskating the Windsor defenders up through the neutral zone, passing across the ice to James Merrett who fed the puck to Kenneth Peroff at the top of the crease, waiting to slap the puck in, making it 2-1 for Guelph. The Lancers would come back with a quick goal by Derek Lanoue (Belle River, Ont.) through the five-hole to tie it up again at 2-2, with Palmer and Bezzo on the assists.
The Gryphons continued playing aggressively, but neither team seemed to be capitalizing on puck possession. Nicklas Huard had what seemed to be a goal from inside the crease, which would have made the game 3-2 for the Gryphons, but because the net was dislodged it was a no goal and the game stayed tied. Guelph would redeem themselves though, with a break away goal by Robert De Fulviis at 6:48, with Merrett on the assist. The Gryphons would keep control of the game after a shot from the red line by Nicklas Huard gets past Lancer goalie, Parker Van Buskirk (Windsor, Ont.) to make it 4-2 at 17:35, with Merrett and Teal Burns on the assists (Prince Rupert BC).
Although Windsor would outshoot the Gryphons 36-28, the Gryphons would out score the Lancers 4-2.
The Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team hits the ice again on January 17th for their annual Frosty Mug game at the Sleeman Centre against the York Lions with the puck set to drop at 7:15 p.m.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
McGill 4 @ Queen’s 3
KINGSTON, Ont. (January 11, 2014) – The No. 7 Queen's Gaels suffered their second straight loss of the weekend falling 4-3 to the No. 6 McGill Redmen.
Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) got his second start between the pipes in as many nights for the Gaels and was tested early. A point blank shot from the slot from a McGill winger was easily turned aside with his blocker.
Queen's found themselves in penalty trouble late in the period. After Blair Wentworth (Calgary) got called for a hit to the head only a minute later Chris Van Laren (Kingston, Ont.) joined his teammate in the box for a hit from behind. Both players also received 10 minute misconduct penalties. McGill finished off the period with 49 seconds of a five on three advantage. Queen's held their own and made it to the buzzer at 0-0. McGill outshot the Gaels 16-14 in the opening period.
The Redmen started the second period with 11 seconds of their five on three remaining and then went to five on four for one minute.
McGill converted on the power play and followed up with a breakaway goal and a tap in at the side of the Queen's net. The flurry of goals came in a span of two minutes and 19 seconds as they took a 3-0 lead. Queen's called a timeout to regroup after the third tally.
The timeout seemed to spark the Gaels who got on the board to make it 3-1 a few minutes later. Tyler Moore (Winnipeg) banged home a rebound after Stephane Chabot(Rockland, Ont.) fired a point shot through to the net. Chabot took the lone assist on the goal.
McGill and Queen's traded goals to close out the period and the Redmen held a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes. The Gaels goal came from Jordan Coccimiglio (Burlington, Ont.) and was his fourth of the season.
Penalties slowed down the Gaels comeback effort in the third as they found themselves shorthanded for four minutes in the first half of the period. Gaels goaltender Bailie kept McGill at bay steering aside all shots faced during the penalty kill.
Braeden Corbeth (Oakville, Ont.) made it a game as he snuck the puck past Gervais-Chouinard to cut the lead to only one. Moore picked up the lone assist on the goal.
That was as close as the Gaels would get however as McGill held on the for the 4-3 win.
Bailie stopped 42 shots in the loss.
Before the game the Gaels honoured fourth year forward Jordan Soquila (Maple Ridge, B.C.) with the Murray Douglas scholarship.
Murray Douglas, B.Comm. 1972, and Donna Douglas, Arts 1973, established the award to recognize the academic and athletic excellence of a varsity hockey player at Queen's University. Murray played varsity hockey for the Gaels from 1968 to 1972 and continues to be one of the Gaels most active alumni, making significant contributions to the program year after year. His continued interest in Queen's Hockey stems not only from his playing days, but largely due to the work of Dave Descent, the former Gael Force president, who acted as the varsity hockey manager during Murray's days at Queen's.
Source: Queen's Sports Info
Sunday, January 12
Windsor 4 @ Toronto 3
Christian Finch netted the game winner in his first game in the Blue and White to give the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team a huge 4-3 win over the visiting Windsor Lancers on Sunday, January 12 at Varsity Arena.
The win propels the Blues (11-7-2) past the fourth place Lancers and into a tie for third in the OUA's West Division.
Team captain Blake Boddy (Scarborough) and line-mate Ernesto Valente (Toronto) led the way for the Blues, each picking up a goal and an assist. Jeff Brown (Toronto) also scored for the Blues before Finch's third period ice-breaker.
Third-year netminder Brett Willows (Rivers, Man.) was brilliant, making 24 saves for his second straight win, and seventh of the season.
Boddy opened the scoring for the Blues in the first period. After Taylor Speed kicked aside Boddy's initial shot, the Lancers goalie overplayed the rebound, which Valente collected in the corner and fired out front to Boddy who found the empty net to put the Blues up 1-0.
The duo of Boddy and Valente would reconnect early in the second period as well. On this occasion, it was Valente who found the back of an empty net after Boddy froze Speed, and then slid the puck across on a two-on-one rush.
The Lancers got on the board shortly after on a goal by MacAulay MacDonnell. Willows was unable to control the rebound on the initial shot, and no one could tie up MacDonnell in front, who poked the puck over the goal line to cut the Blues lead to 2-1.
Brown then restored the two-goal lead midway through the period on a superb individual effort. After collecting the puck at his own blue line, he raced up the ice, and with Windsor defenders draped all over him, the third-year forward cut to the net on his forehand and beat an outstretched Speed.
Penalty trouble slowed the Blues momentum in the third period and lead to two quick goals by the opposition. After killing off a string of penalties, they finally allowed a man-advantage goal when Saverio Posa beat Willows with a wrister from the point. The Lancers struck again less than thirty seconds later, as Mike Christou deflected a point shot home to tie the game 3-3.
With the score still tied with ten minutes remaining, Finch stole the spotlight in his first game. The Markham native and Clarkson University transfer got his stick on a shot from Dylan Heide (Winnipeg) and tipped it past Speed to put the Blues up for good.
Willows held his ground, helping to kill off another penalty in the final two minutes and the Blues hung on for the 4-3 win.
The Blues next game is Friday January 17th, when they travel to Waterloo to take on the Warriors. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.
Soruce: Toronto Sports Info
