January 27, 2014
MEN'S HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Carleton continues hot streak with wins over Queen's, UOIT
Friday, January 24
Toronto 1 @ Western 7
LONDON, Ont. – Kyle De Coste tickled the twine twice for the second consecutive night, Daniel Erlich and Matt Clarke added five points apiece, and Josh Unice turned away 29 of 30 shots as the Mustangs posted a dominant 7-1 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday night at Thompson Arena.
The win marks Western's fifth in a row and Unice's sixth, as the veteran netminder has been absolutely stellar since the Mustangs played Windsor at Comerica Park in December. With the two points Friday, Western claimed sole possession of first place in the OUA West, passing both Lakehead and Ryerson in the process.
"Tonight and last night against Guelph I thought were probably our two best sixty minute efforts of the year," said Mustangs head coach Clarke Singer after the win. "Good effort on special teams, some goals, [defence] playing well and Josh playing the best he has all year."
Both goaltenders had to be strong in the first as the two teams traded chances for the better part of the period. Unice finished the frame with 11 saves in total while Varsity Blues goaltender Brett Willows made seven, although many of the Mustangs' chances came from in close and were arguably of better quality.
Western did get to Willows in the period though, as De Coste extended his points streak to three games with a power play goal with three minutes remaining. Standing by the far boards, De Coste received a feed from and made no mistake, roofing the puck with an absolute blast from a distance.
Despite the setback, Willows was back on top of his game to begin the second and the Mustangs made sure he had to be, firing a number of chances at the sophomore goaltender including a number while they were shorthanded in the first five minutes. The Varsity Blues rewarded their goaltender's effort as Paul Van De Velde kept the puck on a 2-on-1 and fired it past Unice at 11:45.
But soon the Mustangs were back on the board, with Erlich regaining the lead for Western with a highlight reel, unassisted goal. Erlich walked out from the corner and made a number of quality moves before roofing the puck over Willows where it appeared as though there was no room to score.
Erlich was nowhere near done in the period either, assisting on a pair of power play goals less than 30 seconds apart at 14:29 and 14:51 to help the Mustangs take a three-goal lead heading into the third. The second-year forward assisted on goals from De Coste and Reese, putting the Mustangs up 4-1.
When asked about his five-point effort after the game, Erlich was quick to credit his teammates for his success.
"The team's been playing pretty well as of late, everybody's been picking up their stride at the perfect time," Erlich said. "It's pretty easy to go out there and get points when you're teams playing such a spectacular game."
The third period would not see a Toronto comeback but it did have excitement in other ways, with Unice making a nice point-blank save with his pad six minutes in and Stephen Gaskin scoring a shorthanded goal at 13:20. Unice ended up turning aside 11 in the period and 29 in the game, ensuring that he would have his sixth win in as many starts for the Mustangs.
Asked after the game what's contributed to the team's recent success, Singer pointed to the improved play of Unice—which was on full display Friday—but also noted that a number of other things have begun to click.
"Josh was playing good, now he's playing great; special teams were okay, now they're good; our defensive play was okay, now it's good," Singer said. "Not one major thing but lots of little things."
Reese put the cherry on top of the victory with his second of the game at 7:47, capitalizing on an interference call to Charlie Connell by roofing the puck on the power play. Assisting on Reese's goal were Matt Clarke, who ended the night with five helpers, and Zach Harnden, who extended his point streak to seven games with his three point effort.
Evidently not content with the amount of cherries on top, Harnden added his third point of the night with his team's seventh goal at 2:05. Erlich assisted on the tally to bring his point total to the night to five, giving him 39 points in 22 games this season.
When asked how the team will have to prepare for their game against Guelph next week following such a big win, Singer was quick to point out that they have to move on quickly.
"We've got to have a real good week of practice and keep the focus on the little things it takes to get better," Singer said. "That's what we've been doing all year really but we just seem to be playing a little better now."
Source: Western Sports Info
Concordia 3 @ Nipissing 2 (SO)
More times than the Nipissing Lakers would like, they have been the better team and either run into a hot goalie, ran into penalty trouble or couldn’t bury the puck.
Friday night was just one of those nights, as the Lakers were the better of the two teams, but it was the Concordia Stingers who walked away with a 3-2 shootout win.
The Stingers got off to an extremely fast start scoring just 49 seconds into the game, but for the next 59 minutes and 11 seconds, the Lakers were the better team.
And in overtime, both teams had chances to win it, but neither could find the back of the net, forcing the game into overtime.
After the opening goal, the Lakers answered with goals by captain Matt Paton, his 10th of the season, and Craig Campbell, who notched his first of the year.
Campbell’s was thanks to great work down low by he and linemates Dane Horvat and Brogan Bailey.
Each of them had a chance to put the puck home, but it was Campbell who picked up a loose pick and shoveled into the net to give the Lakers a 2-1 midway through the first period.
The score remained that way until five minutes left in the third period when the Stingers tied the game on an unfortunate bounce that redirected past Lakers goalie Kirk Rafuse, who turned in another solid effort, making 34 saves.
After overtime settled nothing, the teams went to a shootout where Grant Toulmin scored on his chance, while Dorian Peca and Conor O’Donnell were stopped by Antonio Mastropietro, who was the difference in the game.
Hugo Vincent and George Lovatsis scored for the Stingers, as they gained the extra point.
The Lakers remain two points up on Laurentian, but now sit five points behind Concordia for sixth place in the East Division.
There’s no time to dwell on this defeat, however, as the Lakers welcome the East-leading McGill Redmen to town for a game Saturday night.
Source: Nipissing Sports Info
UOIT 0 @ UQTR 7
TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. – The UOIT men’s hockey two-game road-trip did not get off to the start that the team had envisioned as they were shutout 7-0 by the No. 6 ranked UQTR Patriotes.
UQTR swept both games of the home-and-home series, outscoring the Ridgebacks 12-1.
UOIT (6-13-3) has dropped seven of their last eight games but remain in seventh place three points ahead of the Nipissing Lakers (5-14-2). UQTR (17-4-0) has won ten straight games and sit atop of the eastern conference standings, one point in front of the McGill Redmen (16-5-1) and Queen’s Gaels (14-4-5).
Jacob Rattie (Niagara Falls, Ont.) got only his second start of the season in net for UOIT and looked sharp early on keeping the game scoreless. However, UQTR forward Anthony Verret would break the ice 16:30 into the first period on the power play, opening up the floodgates for the Patriotes.
Vincent Marcoux would score the Patriotes second goal of the night only 14 seconds after the game’s opener followed by Tommy Tremblay scoring his tenth of the season less than a minute into the second period. UQTR would tack on four more goals to earn their second largest margin of victory of the season.
UOIT fired 28 shots on net but could not find a way to beat UQTR goaltender Marc-Antoine Gelinas as they were shutout for the first time this season. This was Gelinas’ first career shutout.
Tremblay and Marcoux would each finish the night with two goals and one assist while teammate Felix Piouffe had three assists. Guillaume Asselin and Billy Lacasse also had multi-point games as they combined for four assists.
Rattie racked up 41 saves in the loss as UQTR outshout the Ridgebacks 48-28.
Source: UOIT Sports Info
Queen’s 2 @ Carleton 3
OTTAWA (January 24, 2014) - The No.10 ranked Queen's Men's hockey team (14-4-5) lost 3-2 to the No. 7 Carleton Raven's (15-5-1) Friday night in Ottawa.
The Gaels got off to a great start with Corey Bureau (Amherstview, Ont.) of the Gaels scoring off an assist from Harrison Hendrix (Calgary) and Patrick McEachen (Stouffville, Ont.) in the eleventh minute of play. Carleton tied the game up at 1-1 by Joe Pleckaitis of the Raven's scoring on a power play in the nineteenth minute.
In the second, the Raven's were first to find the back of the net, taking the lead 2-1 off another power play goal. The Gaels Joey Derochie (Sudbury, Ont.) tied up the score 2-2 in the fifth minute with some assistance by Tyler Moore (Winnipeg) and Patrick McGillis (Calgary). Joey West of Carleton would give the home team a one goal advantage only nine minutes later. At the end of the second period, Queen's trailed the Raven's 3-2.
The Gaels were unable to score the equalizer in the third, bringing their two game winning streak to an end.
Source: Queen's Sports Info
Laurier 2 @ Brock 3 (OT)
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's hockey team (10-9-3 OUA West) scored 1:51 into overtime to defeat the Laurier Golden Hawks by the score of 3-2 in front of 1,190 in attendance at the Seymour-Hannah Centre Friday night.
Brock opened the scoring on the powerplay midway through the first period as Anthony Geldart (Kingston, Ont.) setup senior C.J. Dickson (Thorold, Ont.) for his fourth goal of the season.
The Badgers would go to work again with the man advantage at 12:44 of the first as freshman Sammy Banga (Windsor, Ont.) and junior Dan Tanel(Brampton, Ont.) found senior Matt Abercrombie (Sarnia, Ont.) who buried his team leading 12th goal of the campaign.
Laurier would cut the lead in half 4:40 into the second period when Luke Hietkamp setup MacKenzie Braid for his third goal of the season.
Just over six minutes into the third period, the Golden Hawks tied the game 2-2 as Derek Schoenmakers beat Brock goaltender Adrian Volpe (Burlington, Ont.) for his 14th goal of the year. Greg Lamoureux and Greg Cerilli added the assists.
In overtime, Tanel would find Brock sophomore Andrew Radjenovic (Hamilton, Ont.) who buried home the game winner past Laurier goaltender Vinny Merante for his eighth goal of the campaign.
Volpe registered 38 saves for his fifth victory of the season. Merante turned aside 34 of 37 shots he faced in the loss.
Source: Brock Sports Info
Lakehead 2 @ Windsor 1
The Lancer men's hockey team split a pair of games with the visiting No. 9 Lakehead Thunderwolves this weekend at South Windsor Arena.
Windsor rebounded on Saturday night to defeat the Thunderwolves 3-0 after falling to the visitors 2-1 on Friday.
Heading into a weekend double header against the east division leading No. 5 McGill Redman, the Lancers are 14-9-0 and in sole possession of fourth place in the OUA West division.
On Saturday, Windsor scored right out of the gate as captain Drew Palmer scored just 47 seconds into regulation to give Windsor a 1-0 lead.
The Lancers continued to apply pressure throughout the period, and midway through the frame Spencer Pommells scored a shorthanded goal, his first of two, at 10:01 to put Windsor up by a two goal margin.
The score remained the same until there was less than a minute remaining in regulation when Pommells scored his second of the night on an empty net, giving Windsor the 3-0 victory.
Parker Van Buskirk was solid in net for Windsor turning away 32 shots to earn his first shut-out of the season. Lakehead goaltender Jeff Bosch also had a strong night in net, making 29 saves for the Thunderwolves.
On Friday, Mac McDonnell scored a goal and Van Buskirk made 36 saves for the Lancers.
Ryan Magill had a short-handed goal, Adam Restoule scored the winner at the 3:13 mark of the third period and goalie Jeff Bosch faced 33 shots for the Thunderwolves (14-5-1).
Windsor will now head to Montreal to face the No. 5 ranked Redman for a pair of games next Friday and Saturday.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
Ryerson 0 @ Waterloo 3
Less than two weeks ago in Toronto, the Ryerson Rams chased Waterloo goaltender Mike Morrison (Hamilton) from the net after beating him three times in the opening period. On Friday night in Waterloo, Morrison exacted some revenge.
Morrison made 48 saves to earn his first career CIS shutout as the Warriors topped the 8th-ranked Rams 3-0 on Friday night at the Columbia Icefield Arena.
Justin Larson (Buckhorn), Colin Behenna (Waterloo) and Andy Smith (Rosetown) all notched two points apiece for the Warriors in the win. Anthony Tapper (Marmora) added a goal for the Warriors, who move to 10-9-2 on the season.
Meanwhile, the top-scoring team in the OUA was shut out for the first time this season. Troy Passingham made 38 saves for the Rams, who see their record fall to 15-8-0.
For a period that ended in a 0-0 deadlock, both goalkeepers were kept plenty busy in the first. Each team had a pair of power plays and 14 shots apiece in the opening frame, but Passingham and Morrison kept the game scoreless through 20 minutes.
The firing barrage continued in the second, as the Rams outshot the Warriors 18-17 in the middle stanza. And, for much of the period, it looked as though the goaltending battle would keep the game knotted heading into the third. But with 1:52 remaining in the second, Tapper beat Passingham to put the hosts up 1-0 after two periods.
While Tapper's goal came with 112 seconds left in the middle frame, Larson added insurance exactly 112 seconds into the third. The reigning CIS scoring champion barged out from the corner and sniped a beauty past Passingham to give the Warriors some early insurance.
Perhaps Morrison and the Warriors got in the collective heads of their opponents, as the Rams began a steady parade to the penalty box as the third period progressed. After back-to-back double minors gave the Warriors a 5-on-3 advantage for 3:40, Smith capitalized on the power play to make it 3-0, and salt the game away for Waterloo.
The Warriors will now enjoy a rare Saturday off before embarking on a critical three-game week, beginning next Tuesday against their cross-town rivals, the Laurier Golden Hawks. The special school day puck drop is slated for 11am at the Waterloo Rec Complex.
Notes: The Warriors went 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Rams went 0-for-3…Forwards Chris Chappell (Pickering) and Luke Lynes (Washington) each missed their third straight games with upper body injuries…Larson extended his point streak to 8 games, in which he has 7 goals and 11 assists.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
McGill 6 @ Laurentian 5
SUDBURY, Ont -- Carl Gelinas, a freshman from Sherbrooke, Que., potted a pair of goals and set up two others as No.5-ranked McGill skated to a 6-5 road victory over the Laurentian Voyageurs at Countryside Arena, Friday, in a town best known for its nickel mines.
It was the fifth straight conquest for McGill and marked somewhat of a milestone victory for Redmen head coach Kelly Nobes, who has posted a 250-212-15 overall record in 13 seasons with RMC, Laurier and McGill. He owns a 110-44-4 mark behind the Redmen bench.
More importantly, the win allowed McGill (17-5-1) to remain atop the OUA East standings with a slim one-point lead on UQTR (17-4-0), two ahead of Queen's (14-4-5) and four ahead of Carleton (15-5-1).
The Redmen were barely off the bus when they jumped into a 3-0 lead before the game was seven minutes old on markers by Gelinas, Neal Prokop and Marc-Olivier Vachon.
Joel Senecal replied for the Voyageurs who skated into the intermission trailing 3-1.
The Redmen upped their lead to 4-1 only 32 seconds after the break, when rookie Max Le Sieur struck for his 10th of the season
But Laurentian narrowed the gap on goals by Mathew Davis at 2:10 and Marc-Alain Begin at 11:54. Vachon quickly doused that fire just 47 seconds later with his second of the soiree and fourth of the season.
McGill then appeared to take a commanding 6-3 lead when Gelinas netted his seventh of the season at 12:48 of the final stanza. But Laurentian battled back to make it a one-goal affair when Richard Therrien and Dylan Fitze scored at 14:52 and 16:15, respectively, to make for a hairy finish.
The Voyageurs pulled goaltender Alain Valiquette for an extra attacker but McGill staved off the offensive thrust.
The final shots were even at 36-36 and Valiquette made 30 saves and took the loss, dropping to 3-10.
Redmen freshman Jacob Gervais-Chouinard made 31 saves and escaped with the win, improving to 10-3.
McGill went 1-for-1 on the power-play and erased all four shorthanded situations.
Laurentian, which tumbled to 5-17-0, remain two points behind the Nipissing Lakers (5-14-2), who hold down the eighth and final playoff berth in the 10-team OUA East.
The Redmen play at Nipissing in North Bay on Saturday at 7 p.m. It will be their final road game of the campaign as they will close out the schedule with four home games heading into post-season play.
It will be the first meeting between these clubs since the Lakers upset an injury-ridden McGill squad in the quarter-finals last season. The way things are shaping up, McGill's most-likely first-round playoff opponent would be Nipissing, UOIT (6-13-3) or Concordia (7-10-3).
Source: McGill Sports Info
Saturday, January 25
Guelph 2 @ York 5
Michael Santini scored a hat trick and added an assist to lead the York University Lions men's hockey team to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Guelph Gryphons at Canlan Ice Sports on Saturday night (Jan. 25).
Santini (Woodbridge, Ont.) scored his second of the game for the winner 11:58 into the third period to break a 2-2 tie, giving the Lions their third straight victory and improving their record to 12-9-1 on the season. The Lions are now up to fifth place in the tight OUA West standings, while the Gryphons fell to a tie for eighth place with the Waterloo Warriors at 9-10-4.
After reaching the five-goal mark just once all season prior to this weekend, the Lions did so in both of their contests this week, preceding Saturday's win with a 5-2 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks on Thursday.
Jordan Forfar (Sutton, Ont.) opened the scoring just three minutes into the game with his third of the season when he received a great pass from Mike Lombardi (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and fired the puck past Guelph goaltender Andrew Loverock (Elmvale, Ont.).
Guelph evened the score on a power play goal at the 15-minute mark of the frame, but Santini gave the Lions the lead again just 12 seconds before the end of the period on his first of the night. The Lions carried the 2-1 advantage into the first intermission.
It wasn't long before the Gryphons tied it coming out of the break, as Michael Hasson (Ariss, Ont.) scored his first of the season on another power play to make it 2-2. His goal stood as the only one of the third period.
The two teams trades chances for the first half of the third period until Santini found the back of the net just past the halfway point of the frame. Less than five minutes later, Jordan Davies (Winnipeg) scored an insurance marker shorthanded to give the Lions a 4-2 lead, and Santini completed his hat trick in the final minute after stealing the puck at his own blue line and skating down the ice alone to dump it into an empty net.
Forfar finished with two points on the night, assisting on the game-winner to go with his goal, while Lombardi also recorded a pair of assists.
Chris Perugini (King City, Ont.), making his sixth straight start in net, earned the win with 27 saves on the 29 shots he faced. Loverock also stopped 27 in the loss.
The Lions have six games remaining on the schedule, beginning with a game against the Golden Hawks on Thursday (Jan. 30) at 7pm at Canlan Ice Sports.
Source: York Sports Info
McGill 4 @ Nipissing 2
A late comeback attempt fell short as the Nipissing Lakers dropped their second straight game, this time in regulation, to the McGill Redmen Saturday night.
A night after falling in a 3-2 in a shootout to Concordia Friday night, the Lakers fired 39 shots at the Redmen net, including 21 in the third period, but only found the net twice and lost 4-2.
Jacob Conrad got things started with a goal just under eight minutes into the first.
Brodie Barron and Mackenzie Keirstead picked up assists on Conrad’s first of the season.
The Redmen would score the next four goals, including three in the second, where they outshot the Lakers 13-7.
The Redmen tied the game about three minutes after Conrad’s opening tally, then scored three in the second to give them a 4-1 lead heading into the final period.
Lakers captain Matt Paton scored early in the third and they fired 21 shots on net, but the final score would be 4-2 for McGill.
John Chartrand was tagged with the loss despite making 35 saves.
The Lakers hit the road next weekend, travelling to take on the RMC Paladins and the Queen’s Gaels, looking to get back into the win column and climb the standings.
Source: Nipissing Sports Info
UOIT 1 @ Carleton 4
The Carleton Ravens have been red hot since returning from the break.
So hot, they are undefeated in their seven games this month after knocking off the UOIT Ridgebacks 4-1 on Saturday night at the Carleton Ice House.
Carleton is also riding an impressive 9-1 record in their last 10 games.
The Ravens took both games this weekend starting with a 3-2 win over Queen’s on Friday night.
“We (Carleton) skated much better tonight than in last night’s game,” admitted Ravens head coach, Marty Johnston. “We started off the game a bit slow but got better in the second period. The guys have been playing well. All four lines are contributing, the D is strong and our goalies have been exceptional. The top five teams in our division are winning so we have to keep up with the race.”
Joey West (Orleans, ON) scored twice in the win for Carleton, Corey Durocher (Ottawa, ON) picked up a goal and assist. Mitch Porowski (Ottawa, ON) potted the Ravens other marker.
For West it was his third goal during the weekend and 10th of the season. The speedy winger could not be happier for his teams and his individual success.
“We’ve definitely been on a roll and I’m happy with my play,” said West. “I always seem to get a lot of chances but been fortunate enough to be burying them lately. I feel like I’m in a groove.”
With the victory, Carleton (16-5-1) moves into third place in the OUA East with 33 points. Only McGill (37) and UQTR (36) points are ahead of the Ravens.
The Redmen have played two more games than both Carleton and UQTR.
Carleton badly outshot UOIT 40-17 with Ravens net-minder Ryan Dube (Sault Ste. Marie) making 16 saves for the win.
Both teams went scoreless on the power play. Carleton was 0-5 while the Ridgebacks ended 0-3.
Carleton and UOIT will meet up again next weekend in Oshawa next Friday, January 31. Puck drop is set for 7:30.
Source: Carleton Sports Info
UQTR 3 @ Ottawa 1
The no. 6 ranked UQTR Patriotes handed uOttawa a 3-1 loss in a penalty-filled game that saw a combined 52 minutes in penalties as well as an inability for Ottawa to capitalize on the power play as they went one for ten.
Despite the loss, Ottawa outshot the UQTR Patriots 35-28 and saw the return of Robin Billingham who played in his first game of the season making 25 saves and allowed only two goals. “It felt great to be out there – it’s been a while but I kept working hard in practice and it paid off,” said the Ottawa native.
The first period opened up with both teams skating hard, bodies slamming, and trading scoring chances but it was UQTR who would take the first lead of the game at the 6:43 mark when Martin Lefebvre blasted a slap shot past a screened Billingham. It would take another ten minutes for Ottawa to fight back but the Gee-Gees finally pulled even at the 16:51 mark when Guillaume Donovan slapped a one-timer pass from Matthieu Tanguay-Therriault top corner past Marc-Antoine Gelinas with the second assist going to Mathieu Leduc on the power play.
The second period was one that saw both teams get more aggressive as well as more physical as UQTR accumulated ten minutes in penalties and Ottawa four minutes. The frame was played with a high tempo, hard-hitting style where momentum shifted from one team to the other until UQTR finally capitalized at the 10:34 mark. Anthony Verret backhanded a rebound into an open net following a weird bounce, and the Patriotes were back in the lead.
The third period saw Ottawa continue to put pressure on the Patriotes defence and the teams once again traded scoring chances. Things remained set at 2-1 until Ottawa pulled goaltender Billingham and UQTR added the insurance goal into the empty net at 19:05. Of note, Ottawa’s Mathieu Guertin was in the penalty box at the time, limiting the Gee-Gees’ last minute efforts.
“That last penalty cut our momentum and cost us a possible six on four advantage,” noted a frustrated Gee-Gees head coach, Réal Paiement, whose squad drops to 13-9-1 on the season.
Source: uOttawa Sports Info
Lakehead 0 @ Windsor 3
Brock 5 @ Toronto 3
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team dropped a 5-3 decision to the Brock Badgers on Saturday night (Jan. 25) at Varsity Arena.
With the loss, the Blues drop to 11-10-2 and fall into seventh place, while the Badgers improve to 11-9-3 and sit tied for fifth in the OUA West division.
The Badgers got out to 3-0 lead with goals from Josh Schram, Sammy Banga and Matt Abercrombie in the first period.
Toronto rallied and brought the game within one with two powerplay goals to start the second. Third-year forward Jeff Brown notched the first just 1:30 into the frame, with Tyler von Engelbrechten adding another at the 7:52 mark.
The Badgers responded with a powerplay goal of their own and held a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame.
The Blues outshot the Badgers 17-12 in the third and again brought the game within reach when defenceman
Lane Werbowski found the back of the net with 8:13 remaining. Unfortunately for the Blues, they were unable to solve Brock netminder Real Cormier again and an empty-netter sealed the win for the Badgers.
The Varsity Blues return to the ice next Saturday, February 1 as they host the Laurier Golden Hawks at Varsity Arena. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
Concordia 6 @ Laurentian 2
On Saturday night, the Laurentian Voyageurs Men’s Hockey team was in a dogfight against the Concordia Stingers. The meeting was a rematch from their game on Friday January 10th, with it now being evident that these two teams don’t like each other as they tallied another 20 infractions worth 54 minutes. In the end the Voyageurs fell 6-2 being outshot by the Stingers 38-33.
The Voyageurs got off to an explosive start with a goal 6 seconds in by Dylan Fitze (Peterborough, ON) with his 11th on the season. The rest of the period remained a back and forth battle with both teams heading to the box on multiple occasions. The Stingers managed to tie up the game with 3 minutes left in the frame with a power play goal by Oliver Hinse (Sherbrooke, QC) assisted by Jessyco Bernard (Moncton, NB) and Sean Blunden (Ottawa, ON).
The Stingers took the lead half way through the 2nd period with a goal by Hugo Vincent assisted by France Beauregard and Nicholas Samoluk (Baie d’Urfe, QC). The Voyageurs however, bounced right back with a power play goal by Jordan Carrol (Hanmer, ON) assisted by Sebastien Leroux (Chelmsford, ON) and Nick Esposto (Sheguiandah, ON). The goal was Carroll’s 8th on the season. The Stingers got the go-ahead goal, which would be the game winner late in the 2nd with a goal by Samoluk assisted by Vincent and Beauregard. The period was a physical one with multiple penalties against each team along, which lead to a fight at the end of the period.
The 3rd period was calmer but saw the Stingers run away with the game. The Stingers scored their 4th goal of the game 3 minutes in with a goal by Bernard. With 5 minutes left in the game the Stingers put another one past Alain Valiquette (Sudbury, ON) on a goal by Dany Potvin assisted by Bernard and Hinse. The Stingers notched an empty net in the final minutes of the game on a shorthanded goal by Blunden.
With the loss the Voyageurs fall to a record of 5-18, and are 2 points out of 8th in the East. Concordia now improves to a record of 8-10-3, which is good for 6th in the East. The Voyageurs look to snap their six game loosing streak on Thursday January 30th as they head out on the road to take on the 7th place UOIT Ridgebacks.
Source: Laurentian Sports Info
Toronto 1 @ Western 7
LONDON, Ont. – Kyle De Coste tickled the twine twice for the second consecutive night, Daniel Erlich and Matt Clarke added five points apiece, and Josh Unice turned away 29 of 30 shots as the Mustangs posted a dominant 7-1 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday night at Thompson Arena.
The win marks Western's fifth in a row and Unice's sixth, as the veteran netminder has been absolutely stellar since the Mustangs played Windsor at Comerica Park in December. With the two points Friday, Western claimed sole possession of first place in the OUA West, passing both Lakehead and Ryerson in the process.
"Tonight and last night against Guelph I thought were probably our two best sixty minute efforts of the year," said Mustangs head coach Clarke Singer after the win. "Good effort on special teams, some goals, [defence] playing well and Josh playing the best he has all year."
Both goaltenders had to be strong in the first as the two teams traded chances for the better part of the period. Unice finished the frame with 11 saves in total while Varsity Blues goaltender Brett Willows made seven, although many of the Mustangs' chances came from in close and were arguably of better quality.
Western did get to Willows in the period though, as De Coste extended his points streak to three games with a power play goal with three minutes remaining. Standing by the far boards, De Coste received a feed from and made no mistake, roofing the puck with an absolute blast from a distance.
Despite the setback, Willows was back on top of his game to begin the second and the Mustangs made sure he had to be, firing a number of chances at the sophomore goaltender including a number while they were shorthanded in the first five minutes. The Varsity Blues rewarded their goaltender's effort as Paul Van De Velde kept the puck on a 2-on-1 and fired it past Unice at 11:45.
But soon the Mustangs were back on the board, with Erlich regaining the lead for Western with a highlight reel, unassisted goal. Erlich walked out from the corner and made a number of quality moves before roofing the puck over Willows where it appeared as though there was no room to score.
Erlich was nowhere near done in the period either, assisting on a pair of power play goals less than 30 seconds apart at 14:29 and 14:51 to help the Mustangs take a three-goal lead heading into the third. The second-year forward assisted on goals from De Coste and Reese, putting the Mustangs up 4-1.
When asked about his five-point effort after the game, Erlich was quick to credit his teammates for his success.
"The team's been playing pretty well as of late, everybody's been picking up their stride at the perfect time," Erlich said. "It's pretty easy to go out there and get points when you're teams playing such a spectacular game."
The third period would not see a Toronto comeback but it did have excitement in other ways, with Unice making a nice point-blank save with his pad six minutes in and Stephen Gaskin scoring a shorthanded goal at 13:20. Unice ended up turning aside 11 in the period and 29 in the game, ensuring that he would have his sixth win in as many starts for the Mustangs.
Asked after the game what's contributed to the team's recent success, Singer pointed to the improved play of Unice—which was on full display Friday—but also noted that a number of other things have begun to click.
"Josh was playing good, now he's playing great; special teams were okay, now they're good; our defensive play was okay, now it's good," Singer said. "Not one major thing but lots of little things."
Reese put the cherry on top of the victory with his second of the game at 7:47, capitalizing on an interference call to Charlie Connell by roofing the puck on the power play. Assisting on Reese's goal were Matt Clarke, who ended the night with five helpers, and Zach Harnden, who extended his point streak to seven games with his three point effort.
Evidently not content with the amount of cherries on top, Harnden added his third point of the night with his team's seventh goal at 2:05. Erlich assisted on the tally to bring his point total to the night to five, giving him 39 points in 22 games this season.
When asked how the team will have to prepare for their game against Guelph next week following such a big win, Singer was quick to point out that they have to move on quickly.
"We've got to have a real good week of practice and keep the focus on the little things it takes to get better," Singer said. "That's what we've been doing all year really but we just seem to be playing a little better now."
Source: Western Sports Info
Concordia 3 @ Nipissing 2 (SO)
More times than the Nipissing Lakers would like, they have been the better team and either run into a hot goalie, ran into penalty trouble or couldn’t bury the puck.
Friday night was just one of those nights, as the Lakers were the better of the two teams, but it was the Concordia Stingers who walked away with a 3-2 shootout win.
The Stingers got off to an extremely fast start scoring just 49 seconds into the game, but for the next 59 minutes and 11 seconds, the Lakers were the better team.
And in overtime, both teams had chances to win it, but neither could find the back of the net, forcing the game into overtime.
After the opening goal, the Lakers answered with goals by captain Matt Paton, his 10th of the season, and Craig Campbell, who notched his first of the year.
Campbell’s was thanks to great work down low by he and linemates Dane Horvat and Brogan Bailey.
Each of them had a chance to put the puck home, but it was Campbell who picked up a loose pick and shoveled into the net to give the Lakers a 2-1 midway through the first period.
The score remained that way until five minutes left in the third period when the Stingers tied the game on an unfortunate bounce that redirected past Lakers goalie Kirk Rafuse, who turned in another solid effort, making 34 saves.
After overtime settled nothing, the teams went to a shootout where Grant Toulmin scored on his chance, while Dorian Peca and Conor O’Donnell were stopped by Antonio Mastropietro, who was the difference in the game.
Hugo Vincent and George Lovatsis scored for the Stingers, as they gained the extra point.
The Lakers remain two points up on Laurentian, but now sit five points behind Concordia for sixth place in the East Division.
There’s no time to dwell on this defeat, however, as the Lakers welcome the East-leading McGill Redmen to town for a game Saturday night.
Source: Nipissing Sports Info
UOIT 0 @ UQTR 7
TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. – The UOIT men’s hockey two-game road-trip did not get off to the start that the team had envisioned as they were shutout 7-0 by the No. 6 ranked UQTR Patriotes.
UQTR swept both games of the home-and-home series, outscoring the Ridgebacks 12-1.
UOIT (6-13-3) has dropped seven of their last eight games but remain in seventh place three points ahead of the Nipissing Lakers (5-14-2). UQTR (17-4-0) has won ten straight games and sit atop of the eastern conference standings, one point in front of the McGill Redmen (16-5-1) and Queen’s Gaels (14-4-5).
Jacob Rattie (Niagara Falls, Ont.) got only his second start of the season in net for UOIT and looked sharp early on keeping the game scoreless. However, UQTR forward Anthony Verret would break the ice 16:30 into the first period on the power play, opening up the floodgates for the Patriotes.
Vincent Marcoux would score the Patriotes second goal of the night only 14 seconds after the game’s opener followed by Tommy Tremblay scoring his tenth of the season less than a minute into the second period. UQTR would tack on four more goals to earn their second largest margin of victory of the season.
UOIT fired 28 shots on net but could not find a way to beat UQTR goaltender Marc-Antoine Gelinas as they were shutout for the first time this season. This was Gelinas’ first career shutout.
Tremblay and Marcoux would each finish the night with two goals and one assist while teammate Felix Piouffe had three assists. Guillaume Asselin and Billy Lacasse also had multi-point games as they combined for four assists.
Rattie racked up 41 saves in the loss as UQTR outshout the Ridgebacks 48-28.
Source: UOIT Sports Info
Queen’s 2 @ Carleton 3
OTTAWA (January 24, 2014) - The No.10 ranked Queen's Men's hockey team (14-4-5) lost 3-2 to the No. 7 Carleton Raven's (15-5-1) Friday night in Ottawa.
The Gaels got off to a great start with Corey Bureau (Amherstview, Ont.) of the Gaels scoring off an assist from Harrison Hendrix (Calgary) and Patrick McEachen (Stouffville, Ont.) in the eleventh minute of play. Carleton tied the game up at 1-1 by Joe Pleckaitis of the Raven's scoring on a power play in the nineteenth minute.
In the second, the Raven's were first to find the back of the net, taking the lead 2-1 off another power play goal. The Gaels Joey Derochie (Sudbury, Ont.) tied up the score 2-2 in the fifth minute with some assistance by Tyler Moore (Winnipeg) and Patrick McGillis (Calgary). Joey West of Carleton would give the home team a one goal advantage only nine minutes later. At the end of the second period, Queen's trailed the Raven's 3-2.
The Gaels were unable to score the equalizer in the third, bringing their two game winning streak to an end.
Source: Queen's Sports Info
Laurier 2 @ Brock 3 (OT)
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's hockey team (10-9-3 OUA West) scored 1:51 into overtime to defeat the Laurier Golden Hawks by the score of 3-2 in front of 1,190 in attendance at the Seymour-Hannah Centre Friday night.
Brock opened the scoring on the powerplay midway through the first period as Anthony Geldart (Kingston, Ont.) setup senior C.J. Dickson (Thorold, Ont.) for his fourth goal of the season.
The Badgers would go to work again with the man advantage at 12:44 of the first as freshman Sammy Banga (Windsor, Ont.) and junior Dan Tanel(Brampton, Ont.) found senior Matt Abercrombie (Sarnia, Ont.) who buried his team leading 12th goal of the campaign.
Laurier would cut the lead in half 4:40 into the second period when Luke Hietkamp setup MacKenzie Braid for his third goal of the season.
Just over six minutes into the third period, the Golden Hawks tied the game 2-2 as Derek Schoenmakers beat Brock goaltender Adrian Volpe (Burlington, Ont.) for his 14th goal of the year. Greg Lamoureux and Greg Cerilli added the assists.
In overtime, Tanel would find Brock sophomore Andrew Radjenovic (Hamilton, Ont.) who buried home the game winner past Laurier goaltender Vinny Merante for his eighth goal of the campaign.
Volpe registered 38 saves for his fifth victory of the season. Merante turned aside 34 of 37 shots he faced in the loss.
Source: Brock Sports Info
Lakehead 2 @ Windsor 1
The Lancer men's hockey team split a pair of games with the visiting No. 9 Lakehead Thunderwolves this weekend at South Windsor Arena.
Windsor rebounded on Saturday night to defeat the Thunderwolves 3-0 after falling to the visitors 2-1 on Friday.
Heading into a weekend double header against the east division leading No. 5 McGill Redman, the Lancers are 14-9-0 and in sole possession of fourth place in the OUA West division.
On Saturday, Windsor scored right out of the gate as captain Drew Palmer scored just 47 seconds into regulation to give Windsor a 1-0 lead.
The Lancers continued to apply pressure throughout the period, and midway through the frame Spencer Pommells scored a shorthanded goal, his first of two, at 10:01 to put Windsor up by a two goal margin.
The score remained the same until there was less than a minute remaining in regulation when Pommells scored his second of the night on an empty net, giving Windsor the 3-0 victory.
Parker Van Buskirk was solid in net for Windsor turning away 32 shots to earn his first shut-out of the season. Lakehead goaltender Jeff Bosch also had a strong night in net, making 29 saves for the Thunderwolves.
On Friday, Mac McDonnell scored a goal and Van Buskirk made 36 saves for the Lancers.
Ryan Magill had a short-handed goal, Adam Restoule scored the winner at the 3:13 mark of the third period and goalie Jeff Bosch faced 33 shots for the Thunderwolves (14-5-1).
Windsor will now head to Montreal to face the No. 5 ranked Redman for a pair of games next Friday and Saturday.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
Ryerson 0 @ Waterloo 3
Less than two weeks ago in Toronto, the Ryerson Rams chased Waterloo goaltender Mike Morrison (Hamilton) from the net after beating him three times in the opening period. On Friday night in Waterloo, Morrison exacted some revenge.
Morrison made 48 saves to earn his first career CIS shutout as the Warriors topped the 8th-ranked Rams 3-0 on Friday night at the Columbia Icefield Arena.
Justin Larson (Buckhorn), Colin Behenna (Waterloo) and Andy Smith (Rosetown) all notched two points apiece for the Warriors in the win. Anthony Tapper (Marmora) added a goal for the Warriors, who move to 10-9-2 on the season.
Meanwhile, the top-scoring team in the OUA was shut out for the first time this season. Troy Passingham made 38 saves for the Rams, who see their record fall to 15-8-0.
For a period that ended in a 0-0 deadlock, both goalkeepers were kept plenty busy in the first. Each team had a pair of power plays and 14 shots apiece in the opening frame, but Passingham and Morrison kept the game scoreless through 20 minutes.
The firing barrage continued in the second, as the Rams outshot the Warriors 18-17 in the middle stanza. And, for much of the period, it looked as though the goaltending battle would keep the game knotted heading into the third. But with 1:52 remaining in the second, Tapper beat Passingham to put the hosts up 1-0 after two periods.
While Tapper's goal came with 112 seconds left in the middle frame, Larson added insurance exactly 112 seconds into the third. The reigning CIS scoring champion barged out from the corner and sniped a beauty past Passingham to give the Warriors some early insurance.
Perhaps Morrison and the Warriors got in the collective heads of their opponents, as the Rams began a steady parade to the penalty box as the third period progressed. After back-to-back double minors gave the Warriors a 5-on-3 advantage for 3:40, Smith capitalized on the power play to make it 3-0, and salt the game away for Waterloo.
The Warriors will now enjoy a rare Saturday off before embarking on a critical three-game week, beginning next Tuesday against their cross-town rivals, the Laurier Golden Hawks. The special school day puck drop is slated for 11am at the Waterloo Rec Complex.
Notes: The Warriors went 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Rams went 0-for-3…Forwards Chris Chappell (Pickering) and Luke Lynes (Washington) each missed their third straight games with upper body injuries…Larson extended his point streak to 8 games, in which he has 7 goals and 11 assists.
Source: Waterloo Sports Info
McGill 6 @ Laurentian 5
SUDBURY, Ont -- Carl Gelinas, a freshman from Sherbrooke, Que., potted a pair of goals and set up two others as No.5-ranked McGill skated to a 6-5 road victory over the Laurentian Voyageurs at Countryside Arena, Friday, in a town best known for its nickel mines.
It was the fifth straight conquest for McGill and marked somewhat of a milestone victory for Redmen head coach Kelly Nobes, who has posted a 250-212-15 overall record in 13 seasons with RMC, Laurier and McGill. He owns a 110-44-4 mark behind the Redmen bench.
More importantly, the win allowed McGill (17-5-1) to remain atop the OUA East standings with a slim one-point lead on UQTR (17-4-0), two ahead of Queen's (14-4-5) and four ahead of Carleton (15-5-1).
The Redmen were barely off the bus when they jumped into a 3-0 lead before the game was seven minutes old on markers by Gelinas, Neal Prokop and Marc-Olivier Vachon.
Joel Senecal replied for the Voyageurs who skated into the intermission trailing 3-1.
The Redmen upped their lead to 4-1 only 32 seconds after the break, when rookie Max Le Sieur struck for his 10th of the season
But Laurentian narrowed the gap on goals by Mathew Davis at 2:10 and Marc-Alain Begin at 11:54. Vachon quickly doused that fire just 47 seconds later with his second of the soiree and fourth of the season.
McGill then appeared to take a commanding 6-3 lead when Gelinas netted his seventh of the season at 12:48 of the final stanza. But Laurentian battled back to make it a one-goal affair when Richard Therrien and Dylan Fitze scored at 14:52 and 16:15, respectively, to make for a hairy finish.
The Voyageurs pulled goaltender Alain Valiquette for an extra attacker but McGill staved off the offensive thrust.
The final shots were even at 36-36 and Valiquette made 30 saves and took the loss, dropping to 3-10.
Redmen freshman Jacob Gervais-Chouinard made 31 saves and escaped with the win, improving to 10-3.
McGill went 1-for-1 on the power-play and erased all four shorthanded situations.
Laurentian, which tumbled to 5-17-0, remain two points behind the Nipissing Lakers (5-14-2), who hold down the eighth and final playoff berth in the 10-team OUA East.
The Redmen play at Nipissing in North Bay on Saturday at 7 p.m. It will be their final road game of the campaign as they will close out the schedule with four home games heading into post-season play.
It will be the first meeting between these clubs since the Lakers upset an injury-ridden McGill squad in the quarter-finals last season. The way things are shaping up, McGill's most-likely first-round playoff opponent would be Nipissing, UOIT (6-13-3) or Concordia (7-10-3).
Source: McGill Sports Info
Saturday, January 25
Guelph 2 @ York 5
Michael Santini scored a hat trick and added an assist to lead the York University Lions men's hockey team to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Guelph Gryphons at Canlan Ice Sports on Saturday night (Jan. 25).
Santini (Woodbridge, Ont.) scored his second of the game for the winner 11:58 into the third period to break a 2-2 tie, giving the Lions their third straight victory and improving their record to 12-9-1 on the season. The Lions are now up to fifth place in the tight OUA West standings, while the Gryphons fell to a tie for eighth place with the Waterloo Warriors at 9-10-4.
After reaching the five-goal mark just once all season prior to this weekend, the Lions did so in both of their contests this week, preceding Saturday's win with a 5-2 victory over the Laurier Golden Hawks on Thursday.
Jordan Forfar (Sutton, Ont.) opened the scoring just three minutes into the game with his third of the season when he received a great pass from Mike Lombardi (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and fired the puck past Guelph goaltender Andrew Loverock (Elmvale, Ont.).
Guelph evened the score on a power play goal at the 15-minute mark of the frame, but Santini gave the Lions the lead again just 12 seconds before the end of the period on his first of the night. The Lions carried the 2-1 advantage into the first intermission.
It wasn't long before the Gryphons tied it coming out of the break, as Michael Hasson (Ariss, Ont.) scored his first of the season on another power play to make it 2-2. His goal stood as the only one of the third period.
The two teams trades chances for the first half of the third period until Santini found the back of the net just past the halfway point of the frame. Less than five minutes later, Jordan Davies (Winnipeg) scored an insurance marker shorthanded to give the Lions a 4-2 lead, and Santini completed his hat trick in the final minute after stealing the puck at his own blue line and skating down the ice alone to dump it into an empty net.
Forfar finished with two points on the night, assisting on the game-winner to go with his goal, while Lombardi also recorded a pair of assists.
Chris Perugini (King City, Ont.), making his sixth straight start in net, earned the win with 27 saves on the 29 shots he faced. Loverock also stopped 27 in the loss.
The Lions have six games remaining on the schedule, beginning with a game against the Golden Hawks on Thursday (Jan. 30) at 7pm at Canlan Ice Sports.
Source: York Sports Info
McGill 4 @ Nipissing 2
A late comeback attempt fell short as the Nipissing Lakers dropped their second straight game, this time in regulation, to the McGill Redmen Saturday night.
A night after falling in a 3-2 in a shootout to Concordia Friday night, the Lakers fired 39 shots at the Redmen net, including 21 in the third period, but only found the net twice and lost 4-2.
Jacob Conrad got things started with a goal just under eight minutes into the first.
Brodie Barron and Mackenzie Keirstead picked up assists on Conrad’s first of the season.
The Redmen would score the next four goals, including three in the second, where they outshot the Lakers 13-7.
The Redmen tied the game about three minutes after Conrad’s opening tally, then scored three in the second to give them a 4-1 lead heading into the final period.
Lakers captain Matt Paton scored early in the third and they fired 21 shots on net, but the final score would be 4-2 for McGill.
John Chartrand was tagged with the loss despite making 35 saves.
The Lakers hit the road next weekend, travelling to take on the RMC Paladins and the Queen’s Gaels, looking to get back into the win column and climb the standings.
Source: Nipissing Sports Info
UOIT 1 @ Carleton 4
The Carleton Ravens have been red hot since returning from the break.
So hot, they are undefeated in their seven games this month after knocking off the UOIT Ridgebacks 4-1 on Saturday night at the Carleton Ice House.
Carleton is also riding an impressive 9-1 record in their last 10 games.
The Ravens took both games this weekend starting with a 3-2 win over Queen’s on Friday night.
“We (Carleton) skated much better tonight than in last night’s game,” admitted Ravens head coach, Marty Johnston. “We started off the game a bit slow but got better in the second period. The guys have been playing well. All four lines are contributing, the D is strong and our goalies have been exceptional. The top five teams in our division are winning so we have to keep up with the race.”
Joey West (Orleans, ON) scored twice in the win for Carleton, Corey Durocher (Ottawa, ON) picked up a goal and assist. Mitch Porowski (Ottawa, ON) potted the Ravens other marker.
For West it was his third goal during the weekend and 10th of the season. The speedy winger could not be happier for his teams and his individual success.
“We’ve definitely been on a roll and I’m happy with my play,” said West. “I always seem to get a lot of chances but been fortunate enough to be burying them lately. I feel like I’m in a groove.”
With the victory, Carleton (16-5-1) moves into third place in the OUA East with 33 points. Only McGill (37) and UQTR (36) points are ahead of the Ravens.
The Redmen have played two more games than both Carleton and UQTR.
Carleton badly outshot UOIT 40-17 with Ravens net-minder Ryan Dube (Sault Ste. Marie) making 16 saves for the win.
Both teams went scoreless on the power play. Carleton was 0-5 while the Ridgebacks ended 0-3.
Carleton and UOIT will meet up again next weekend in Oshawa next Friday, January 31. Puck drop is set for 7:30.
Source: Carleton Sports Info
UQTR 3 @ Ottawa 1
The no. 6 ranked UQTR Patriotes handed uOttawa a 3-1 loss in a penalty-filled game that saw a combined 52 minutes in penalties as well as an inability for Ottawa to capitalize on the power play as they went one for ten.
Despite the loss, Ottawa outshot the UQTR Patriots 35-28 and saw the return of Robin Billingham who played in his first game of the season making 25 saves and allowed only two goals. “It felt great to be out there – it’s been a while but I kept working hard in practice and it paid off,” said the Ottawa native.
The first period opened up with both teams skating hard, bodies slamming, and trading scoring chances but it was UQTR who would take the first lead of the game at the 6:43 mark when Martin Lefebvre blasted a slap shot past a screened Billingham. It would take another ten minutes for Ottawa to fight back but the Gee-Gees finally pulled even at the 16:51 mark when Guillaume Donovan slapped a one-timer pass from Matthieu Tanguay-Therriault top corner past Marc-Antoine Gelinas with the second assist going to Mathieu Leduc on the power play.
The second period was one that saw both teams get more aggressive as well as more physical as UQTR accumulated ten minutes in penalties and Ottawa four minutes. The frame was played with a high tempo, hard-hitting style where momentum shifted from one team to the other until UQTR finally capitalized at the 10:34 mark. Anthony Verret backhanded a rebound into an open net following a weird bounce, and the Patriotes were back in the lead.
The third period saw Ottawa continue to put pressure on the Patriotes defence and the teams once again traded scoring chances. Things remained set at 2-1 until Ottawa pulled goaltender Billingham and UQTR added the insurance goal into the empty net at 19:05. Of note, Ottawa’s Mathieu Guertin was in the penalty box at the time, limiting the Gee-Gees’ last minute efforts.
“That last penalty cut our momentum and cost us a possible six on four advantage,” noted a frustrated Gee-Gees head coach, Réal Paiement, whose squad drops to 13-9-1 on the season.
Source: uOttawa Sports Info
Lakehead 0 @ Windsor 3
Brock 5 @ Toronto 3
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team dropped a 5-3 decision to the Brock Badgers on Saturday night (Jan. 25) at Varsity Arena.
With the loss, the Blues drop to 11-10-2 and fall into seventh place, while the Badgers improve to 11-9-3 and sit tied for fifth in the OUA West division.
The Badgers got out to 3-0 lead with goals from Josh Schram, Sammy Banga and Matt Abercrombie in the first period.
Toronto rallied and brought the game within one with two powerplay goals to start the second. Third-year forward Jeff Brown notched the first just 1:30 into the frame, with Tyler von Engelbrechten adding another at the 7:52 mark.
The Badgers responded with a powerplay goal of their own and held a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame.
The Blues outshot the Badgers 17-12 in the third and again brought the game within reach when defenceman
Lane Werbowski found the back of the net with 8:13 remaining. Unfortunately for the Blues, they were unable to solve Brock netminder Real Cormier again and an empty-netter sealed the win for the Badgers.
The Varsity Blues return to the ice next Saturday, February 1 as they host the Laurier Golden Hawks at Varsity Arena. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
Source: Toronto Sports Info
Concordia 6 @ Laurentian 2
On Saturday night, the Laurentian Voyageurs Men’s Hockey team was in a dogfight against the Concordia Stingers. The meeting was a rematch from their game on Friday January 10th, with it now being evident that these two teams don’t like each other as they tallied another 20 infractions worth 54 minutes. In the end the Voyageurs fell 6-2 being outshot by the Stingers 38-33.
The Voyageurs got off to an explosive start with a goal 6 seconds in by Dylan Fitze (Peterborough, ON) with his 11th on the season. The rest of the period remained a back and forth battle with both teams heading to the box on multiple occasions. The Stingers managed to tie up the game with 3 minutes left in the frame with a power play goal by Oliver Hinse (Sherbrooke, QC) assisted by Jessyco Bernard (Moncton, NB) and Sean Blunden (Ottawa, ON).
The Stingers took the lead half way through the 2nd period with a goal by Hugo Vincent assisted by France Beauregard and Nicholas Samoluk (Baie d’Urfe, QC). The Voyageurs however, bounced right back with a power play goal by Jordan Carrol (Hanmer, ON) assisted by Sebastien Leroux (Chelmsford, ON) and Nick Esposto (Sheguiandah, ON). The goal was Carroll’s 8th on the season. The Stingers got the go-ahead goal, which would be the game winner late in the 2nd with a goal by Samoluk assisted by Vincent and Beauregard. The period was a physical one with multiple penalties against each team along, which lead to a fight at the end of the period.
The 3rd period was calmer but saw the Stingers run away with the game. The Stingers scored their 4th goal of the game 3 minutes in with a goal by Bernard. With 5 minutes left in the game the Stingers put another one past Alain Valiquette (Sudbury, ON) on a goal by Dany Potvin assisted by Bernard and Hinse. The Stingers notched an empty net in the final minutes of the game on a shorthanded goal by Blunden.
With the loss the Voyageurs fall to a record of 5-18, and are 2 points out of 8th in the East. Concordia now improves to a record of 8-10-3, which is good for 6th in the East. The Voyageurs look to snap their six game loosing streak on Thursday January 30th as they head out on the road to take on the 7th place UOIT Ridgebacks.
Source: Laurentian Sports Info
