February 23, 2014
MEN'S HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Rams, Mustangs book tickets to divisional semifinal round
Friday, February 21
Nipissing 0 @ Carleton 4
The Carleton Ravens made short work of the Nipissing Lakers in their OUA East quarter final with a 4-0 win on Friday night to sweep the best-of three series in two straight games.
The Ravens won Game 1 in North Bay on Wednesday night 4-2 to set up the possible series win on home ice.
“I thought we (Carleton) were a lot better than in Game 1,” said Marty Johnston, Ravens head coach.
“The first five minutes of the game was a bit of a feeling out process but after that we controlled the game.”
The Ravens outshot Nipissing 51-25 in the game and scored once on the power play. The Lakers failed to score with the man advantage on three chances.
Getting the quick two game series win will give the Ravens the opportunity to rest up before Round 2 of the playoffs which starts at the Carleton Ice House next Wednesday, February 26.
“Winning in two games is huge for us, getting as much as rest at this time of the year is a key to being successful,” Johnston said.
Mitch Zion (Manotick, ON) opened the scoring for the Ravens with a power play marker at 12:33 of the first period to give the Ravens a 1-0 lead.
Ryan MacLean (Burlington, ON) and Jake Cardwell (Niagara Falls, ON) increased Carleton’s lead to 3-0 with goals in the second period.
Mike McNamee (Perth, ON) closed out the scoring for the Ravens with his second goal of the playoffs at 10:42 of the final frame to give Carleton a 4-0 lead.
“It’s nice to finish off a series quickly,” said MacLean.
“We were a bit sloppy in the beginning of the game but got things straightened out. We didn’t want Nipissing hanging around and forcing a Game 3.”
Carleton net-minder Francis Dupuis (Ottawa, ON) stopped all 25 Nipissing shots for his first shut-out of the post season.
Barring a series comeback by UOIT over U.Q.T.R. the Ravens (top seed in OUA East) next opponent will be Queen’s (seeded fourth)
The Patriotes are up 1-0 in that series with Game 2 at Trois Rivieres on Saturday, February 22. The Gaels defeated Ottawa 2-1 on Friday night, winning that series, two games to none.
In other OUA East action, McGill defeated Concordia 8-4 to take that series two straight.
Source: Carleton Sports Info
McGill 8 @ Concordia 4
Ryerson 4 @ Brock 6
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's hockey team (14-10-4 OUA West, 1-1 playoffs) came from behind to defeat the Ryerson Rams by the score of 6-4 Friday night at the Seymour-Hannah Centre. With the victory, the Badgers tie the Best of 3 OUA West playoff series 1-1 with Game 3 scheduled for Sunday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto.
Ryerson opened the scoring 3:46 into the first period as Brian Birkhoff set up Michael Fine for his second goal of the playoffs on the power play.
Four minutes later, Brock tied the game 1-1 as Andrew Radjenovic (Hamilton, Ont.) would find Jordan Gignac (Hamilton, Ont.) for his third goal of the postseason.
At the midway mark of the first period, Ryerson's Steve Taylor would beat Brock starting goaltender Real Cormier (Trenton, Ont.) to make it 2-1. With 2:33 remaining in the first period, the Rams took a 3-1 lead as Fine added his second goal of the night with Robert Visca and Victor Terreri adding the assists.
At the 12:43 mark of the second period, Gignac and Kaine Geldart (Kingston, Ont.) setup Matt Abercrombie (Sarnia, Ont.) for his second goal of the playoffs, cutting the lead to one, 3-2.
Brock tied the game 3-3 with 3:47 remaining in the second period as Sammy Banga (Windsor, Ont.) and Radjenovic set up C.J. Dickson (Thorold, Ont.) for his first goal of the postseason.
Just 30 seconds later, Ryerson's leading scorer Jamie Wise would regain the one-goal lead making it 4-3.
That lead would be short-lived, as 15 second after that Abercrombie buried a shot over the shoulder of Ryerson starter Troy Passingham to tie the game 4-4 at the end of 40 minutes.
The Badgers would take their first lead of the game 6:18 into the third. On the power play, Abercrombie would find Banga on the edge of the crease making it 5-4. At the 8:38 mark, Brock added an insurance marker as Abercrombie registered the hat trick beating the screened Passingham to make it 6-4.
Source: Brock Sports Info
Queen's 2 @ Ottawa 1
OTTAWA (February 21, 2014) – The Queen's Gaels scored in the final minute of play to earn a 2-1 win and series sweep of the Ottawa Gee-Gees in their best-of-three quarterfinal Friday night in Ottawa.
Just after the Gaels killed off a penalty in the first half of the game Corey Bureau (Amherstview, Ont.) broke in on a two on one and finished off the play with his first of the playoffs to put the Gaels ahead 1-0. The Gee-Gees got caught pinching near the end of their powerplay and Queen's took advantage. Andrew Wiebe (Thunder Bay, Ont.) got the lone assist on the goal for the Gaels.
The Gaels had four powerplay chances of their own in the period but could not convert. Queen's netminder Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) stopped all six shots he faced in the period and Ottawa goalie Warren Shymko stopped the remaining five Gaels shots on goal.
In the second Guillame Donovan got the Gee-Gees on the board with a powerplay goal at 1:42 to beat Bailie.
The Gee-Gees dominated the play for much of the period and finished with 16 shots to the Gaels eight. After 40 minutes the game was tied and the goalies sharp.
The third period saw the defensive play continue. Ottawa had two powerplay chances to the Gaels one but neither team could find the back of the net.
With overtime looming later in the third, the Gaels won the faceoff in the offensive zone. Braeden Corbeth (Oakville, Ont.) found the puck behind the Gee-Gees net and quickly wrapped the puck around with 23 seconds left and it bounced off a Gee-Gee and into the back of the net.
The Gaels held onto their 2-1 lead and finished off the Gee-Gees with a series sweep.
Bailie stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced in the game for his second straight playoff victory.
The Gaels win their first OUA playoff series since the 2003-04 season when they swept the RMC Paladins in the opening round.
The Gaels will now face the No. 5 Carleton Ravens in the OUA East semifinal next week. Stay tuned to www.gogaelsgo.com for schedule information for the semifinal series.
Source: Queen's Sports Info
Saturday, February 22
Western 2 @ Guelph 1 (2 OT)
Guelph, Ont. (February 22, 2014) – The Guelph Gryphon men's hockey team fell to the Western Mustangs in double overtime with a final score of 2-1 in Game 2 of the OUA West Quarterfinals, tying the series at 1-1. The Gryphons will head to London on Sunday to play Game 3 of the series.
The Gryphons kept the momentum from their Thursday night win and started the game full of aggression, providing an even match up for the Western Mustangs. The Mustangs were able to get a shot right out of the opening face off, but the Gryphons took back possession of the puck, moving it down the ice and immediately taking their own shot, finding the glove of Western goaltender, Josh Unice (Toledo, OH.).
Western earned their first power play after a cross checking call on Steven Strong at 4:30. The Gryphons were able to kill off the penalty successfully, until Mustang player Adam McKee (London, Ont.) found the net after shooting from the blue line, but Gryphon goalie Andrew Loverock was able to stop the puck.
Carlos Amestoy had a close call later on in the first period, fighting his way to the front of the net, only to find his shot caught up in a group of Mustang defenders and ultimately stopped by Unice, which had the game stuck at 0-0.
The Gryphons and the Mustangs continued the second period in a defensive deadlock. Offside calls plagued the Gryphons for the first half of the second period, halting any forward momentum into the attacking zone and successfully removing any pressure from the Mustang defenders and goaltender. The Gryphons would get a break at 3:25 after a boarding call on Mustang player Steve Reese (Dorchester, Ont.). The Gryphons would not hesitate with setting up in front of the net, but they ultimately wouldn't be able to punch the puck past Josh Unice.
The Mustangs would get a good opportunity to score the first goal of the game after an across the crease pass had Mustang player Daniel Erlich (Thornhill, Ont.) set up in front of the net. Erlich would shoot, but an amazing save by Loverock would keep the game scoreless.
The Gryphons would have trouble finding their way back to the front of the net with Mustang defenders doing their best to push the Guelph players to the outside. The Gryphon defense was able to respond by pushing the Mustangs back through the neutral zone and back into their own territory at every opportunity. The Gryphons ended the second period being outshot by the Mustangs with a total of 23-19.
The Gryphons and the Mustangs started the third period stuck once again in a back and forth defensive match up, with each team struggling to set up in front of the net. The Gryphons struggled to pick up the pace offensively, but were able to surpass the Mustangs in shots on goal half way through the third period.
The Gryphons would put more pressure on Josh Unice later on in the third period with a scrum in front of the net. It would be Robert De Fulviis who would finally punch the puck in the bottom right corner to make it 1-0 for the Gryphons at 8:14, with Michael Charbonneau and Amestoy on the assists. The Mustangs were quick to take back possession of the puck, putting even more offensive pressure on the Gryphon defenders, but stellar goaltending by Andrew Loverock kept the Gryphons in the lead.
In a must win situation, the Mustangs pulled their goalie for the extra man in the last minute of play. It would be Matt Paltridge (Tecumseh, Ont.) who would score for the Mustangs and tie the game up at the ones, with Reese and Zach Harnden (Thunder Bay, Ont.) on the assists.
The Gryphons and the Mustangs would head into double overtime with the game ending with a goal from Stefan Salituro (Willowdale, Ont.) to make it 2-1 at 6:24 in the second overtime, with Julian Cimadamore (Concord, Ont.) and Alex Micallef (Fort Erie, Ont.) on the assists.
The game would end with the Gryphons out shooting the Mustangs with a final total of 41-39.
The Gryphons and the Mustangs will head to Game Three of the OUA West Quarterfinals Sunday February 23rd in London at the Thompson Arena, with the puck set to drop at 7 p.m.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
York 2 @ Lakehead 5
THUNDER BAY, Ont. - The Lakehead Thunderwolves downed the York Lions 5-2 in front of 2298 fans at the Fort William Gardens on Saturday night and swept the Lions two games to nothing in their OUA West Division quarter-final series.
Lakehead got the crowd into the game at 1:25 of the opening period when David Quesnele deflected a Carson Dubchak wrist shot that found its way past York goaltender Andrew Perugini. The second assist was credited to Mike Quesnele.
Toronto 2 @ Windsor 5
WINDSOR, Ont. - The Windsor Lancer men's hockey team eliminated the Toronto Varsity Blues in the first round of the OUA playoffs on Saturday night with a 5-2 win over the visiting Blues at South Windsor Arena.
Windsor swept the best-of-three series after also winning Game 1 by a score of 3-2 in double on Thursday at Varsity Arena in Toronto.
The Lancers opened the scoring with the game's first goal at 3:59 of the first period on a power play marker by Derek Lanoue. The Lancers doubled their lead midway through the period with rookie Mike Christou's first goal of the post season.
Windsor's Evan Stibbard added another power play goal late in the period to take a three goal lead heading into the first intermission.
The only goal of the second period came at 10:18 of the frame when captain Drew Palmer accepted a pass from Mac McDonnell to give Windsor a commanding four goal lead.
Ernesto Valente scored Toronto's first goal of the night at 12:02 of the third on a power play. The Blues then made the game interesting when on a five-on-three power play, they pulled goaltender Brett Willows to double up on the Lancer defense.
The strategy worked as Tyler Liukkonen scored at 17:37 to bring the Blues within two with 2:23 left on the clock.
Toronto kept Willows out of the net to try and bring the score within one, but Spencer Pommells spoiled their plan with an empty net goal with just over a minute remaining to secure the win for the Blue & Gold.
Parker Van Buskirk was outstanding in net recording 33 saves in the contest, while Willows made 36 for the visiting Blues.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
UOIT 3 @ Trois-Rivieres 5
Sunday, February 23
Guelph 1 @ Western 6
LONDON, Ont. – Kyle De Coste and Matt Clarke scored 16 seconds apart to open a 19-shot first period and the Mustangs never looked back, plowing their way to a 6-1 victory over Guelph at Thompson Arena Sunday night to take the cake in the best-of-three OUA West Quarterfinal series two games to one.
Western's big win comes less than 24 hours after they squeaked out a thrilling 2-1 win over the Gryphons in game two, getting a goal from Stefan Salituro 6:24 into double overtime to force game three and keep their playoff hopes alive.
After the game, Mustangs head coach Clarke Singer was asked how it felt to have see so much offence from his team after struggling to score through nearly five periods just the night before.
"It was nice—the energy that we had on offence was great," Singer said. "Our forecheck was good, our cycle was good, all lines contributed; that was nice. We were getting chances and obviously to see the puck hit the twine was really nice after how we struggled with 40-plus shots last night."
"You never know how playoff games are going to go, that's for sure," he added. "You have the one last night where you're squeezing your sticks and can't score then you have one tonight where pucks are finding ways to get in for you so we'll take it and move on."
Western established early on that Saturday's deadlock was not going to be repeated on Sunday. De Coste opened the scoring just over two minutes in, roofing the puck on a nearly impossible angle over Guelph goaltender Andrew Loverock, before Clarke doubled the Mustangs' lead with a goal of his own only 16 seconds later.
The rest of the first frame played out with a quick, back-and-forth tempo. Loverock made a number of key saves to keep Guelph in the game and his efforts paid off with just 2:15 left on the clock, when Guelph's regular season leading scorer Nicklas Huard ripped a shot to the net and had it tipped by teammate Teal Burns, cutting Western's lead in half.
With momentum still on their side, Guelph came out strong to start the second, although it was Western who got back on the board early with Zach Harnden sprawling out to snap the puck past Loverock. Five minutes later, a nifty neutral-zone pass from Daniel Erlich led to another Mustangs' goal, as Erlich slipped the puck past the Guelph defender to set up another goal from Clarke on a 2-on-1 with Julian Cimadamore.
Western had a chance to add to their lead with a short 5-on-3 at the midway point of the period but found themselves unable to solve the Gryphons' penalty kill. Loverock did more than his part on the kill, making a number of nice saves including a flashy glove stop to close out the second infraction and ensure that the Gryphons would escape without a mark.
Unice responded with a flashy glove save of his own just over two minutes later, robbing the Gryphons of a power play goal on a rebound chance in close. By the end of the second—with the score at 4-1 Western—Unice had turned aside 20 of 21 chances, compared to 33 of 37 from his Guelph counterpart.
With memories of Guelph's 7-6 regular season comeback win on February 1—a game that saw the Mustangs up 4-0 at one point—still fresh in the Mustangs minds, Western headed into the third period up by a similar score and hoping to deny a similar comeback. And they would do just that, fending off the Gryphons' offence before getting two shorthanded breakaway goals from Adam Stoykewych and Matt Marantz to seal the victory.
With Ryerson defeating Brock 6-3 in the only other OUA quarterfinal game Sunday night, the Mustangs are now set to take on the fourth-seeded Windsor Lancers in the OUA West Semi-Finals. Singer spoke post-game about the matchup.
"Well we kind of got our lunch handed to us by them earlier in the year, I think we'll remember that," Singer said. "They're a quality team with a great goaltender, great special teams. I mean it doesn't matter who you play this time of year, you've got to be real good.
"Hopefully we can move forward and be a little better next series because we'll need to be."
The OUA West Semi-Finals are set to start on Thursday, when the Mustangs will host the Lancers at Thompson Arena at 7:00 p.m.
Source: Western Sports Info
Brock 3 @ Ryerson 6
Nipissing 0 @ Carleton 4
The Carleton Ravens made short work of the Nipissing Lakers in their OUA East quarter final with a 4-0 win on Friday night to sweep the best-of three series in two straight games.
The Ravens won Game 1 in North Bay on Wednesday night 4-2 to set up the possible series win on home ice.
“I thought we (Carleton) were a lot better than in Game 1,” said Marty Johnston, Ravens head coach.
“The first five minutes of the game was a bit of a feeling out process but after that we controlled the game.”
The Ravens outshot Nipissing 51-25 in the game and scored once on the power play. The Lakers failed to score with the man advantage on three chances.
Getting the quick two game series win will give the Ravens the opportunity to rest up before Round 2 of the playoffs which starts at the Carleton Ice House next Wednesday, February 26.
“Winning in two games is huge for us, getting as much as rest at this time of the year is a key to being successful,” Johnston said.
Mitch Zion (Manotick, ON) opened the scoring for the Ravens with a power play marker at 12:33 of the first period to give the Ravens a 1-0 lead.
Ryan MacLean (Burlington, ON) and Jake Cardwell (Niagara Falls, ON) increased Carleton’s lead to 3-0 with goals in the second period.
Mike McNamee (Perth, ON) closed out the scoring for the Ravens with his second goal of the playoffs at 10:42 of the final frame to give Carleton a 4-0 lead.
“It’s nice to finish off a series quickly,” said MacLean.
“We were a bit sloppy in the beginning of the game but got things straightened out. We didn’t want Nipissing hanging around and forcing a Game 3.”
Carleton net-minder Francis Dupuis (Ottawa, ON) stopped all 25 Nipissing shots for his first shut-out of the post season.
Barring a series comeback by UOIT over U.Q.T.R. the Ravens (top seed in OUA East) next opponent will be Queen’s (seeded fourth)
The Patriotes are up 1-0 in that series with Game 2 at Trois Rivieres on Saturday, February 22. The Gaels defeated Ottawa 2-1 on Friday night, winning that series, two games to none.
In other OUA East action, McGill defeated Concordia 8-4 to take that series two straight.
Source: Carleton Sports Info
McGill 8 @ Concordia 4
Ryerson 4 @ Brock 6
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's hockey team (14-10-4 OUA West, 1-1 playoffs) came from behind to defeat the Ryerson Rams by the score of 6-4 Friday night at the Seymour-Hannah Centre. With the victory, the Badgers tie the Best of 3 OUA West playoff series 1-1 with Game 3 scheduled for Sunday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto.
Ryerson opened the scoring 3:46 into the first period as Brian Birkhoff set up Michael Fine for his second goal of the playoffs on the power play.
Four minutes later, Brock tied the game 1-1 as Andrew Radjenovic (Hamilton, Ont.) would find Jordan Gignac (Hamilton, Ont.) for his third goal of the postseason.
At the midway mark of the first period, Ryerson's Steve Taylor would beat Brock starting goaltender Real Cormier (Trenton, Ont.) to make it 2-1. With 2:33 remaining in the first period, the Rams took a 3-1 lead as Fine added his second goal of the night with Robert Visca and Victor Terreri adding the assists.
At the 12:43 mark of the second period, Gignac and Kaine Geldart (Kingston, Ont.) setup Matt Abercrombie (Sarnia, Ont.) for his second goal of the playoffs, cutting the lead to one, 3-2.
Brock tied the game 3-3 with 3:47 remaining in the second period as Sammy Banga (Windsor, Ont.) and Radjenovic set up C.J. Dickson (Thorold, Ont.) for his first goal of the postseason.
Just 30 seconds later, Ryerson's leading scorer Jamie Wise would regain the one-goal lead making it 4-3.
That lead would be short-lived, as 15 second after that Abercrombie buried a shot over the shoulder of Ryerson starter Troy Passingham to tie the game 4-4 at the end of 40 minutes.
The Badgers would take their first lead of the game 6:18 into the third. On the power play, Abercrombie would find Banga on the edge of the crease making it 5-4. At the 8:38 mark, Brock added an insurance marker as Abercrombie registered the hat trick beating the screened Passingham to make it 6-4.
Source: Brock Sports Info
Queen's 2 @ Ottawa 1
OTTAWA (February 21, 2014) – The Queen's Gaels scored in the final minute of play to earn a 2-1 win and series sweep of the Ottawa Gee-Gees in their best-of-three quarterfinal Friday night in Ottawa.
Just after the Gaels killed off a penalty in the first half of the game Corey Bureau (Amherstview, Ont.) broke in on a two on one and finished off the play with his first of the playoffs to put the Gaels ahead 1-0. The Gee-Gees got caught pinching near the end of their powerplay and Queen's took advantage. Andrew Wiebe (Thunder Bay, Ont.) got the lone assist on the goal for the Gaels.
The Gaels had four powerplay chances of their own in the period but could not convert. Queen's netminder Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) stopped all six shots he faced in the period and Ottawa goalie Warren Shymko stopped the remaining five Gaels shots on goal.
In the second Guillame Donovan got the Gee-Gees on the board with a powerplay goal at 1:42 to beat Bailie.
The Gee-Gees dominated the play for much of the period and finished with 16 shots to the Gaels eight. After 40 minutes the game was tied and the goalies sharp.
The third period saw the defensive play continue. Ottawa had two powerplay chances to the Gaels one but neither team could find the back of the net.
With overtime looming later in the third, the Gaels won the faceoff in the offensive zone. Braeden Corbeth (Oakville, Ont.) found the puck behind the Gee-Gees net and quickly wrapped the puck around with 23 seconds left and it bounced off a Gee-Gee and into the back of the net.
The Gaels held onto their 2-1 lead and finished off the Gee-Gees with a series sweep.
Bailie stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced in the game for his second straight playoff victory.
The Gaels win their first OUA playoff series since the 2003-04 season when they swept the RMC Paladins in the opening round.
The Gaels will now face the No. 5 Carleton Ravens in the OUA East semifinal next week. Stay tuned to www.gogaelsgo.com for schedule information for the semifinal series.
Source: Queen's Sports Info
Saturday, February 22
Western 2 @ Guelph 1 (2 OT)
Guelph, Ont. (February 22, 2014) – The Guelph Gryphon men's hockey team fell to the Western Mustangs in double overtime with a final score of 2-1 in Game 2 of the OUA West Quarterfinals, tying the series at 1-1. The Gryphons will head to London on Sunday to play Game 3 of the series.
The Gryphons kept the momentum from their Thursday night win and started the game full of aggression, providing an even match up for the Western Mustangs. The Mustangs were able to get a shot right out of the opening face off, but the Gryphons took back possession of the puck, moving it down the ice and immediately taking their own shot, finding the glove of Western goaltender, Josh Unice (Toledo, OH.).
Western earned their first power play after a cross checking call on Steven Strong at 4:30. The Gryphons were able to kill off the penalty successfully, until Mustang player Adam McKee (London, Ont.) found the net after shooting from the blue line, but Gryphon goalie Andrew Loverock was able to stop the puck.
Carlos Amestoy had a close call later on in the first period, fighting his way to the front of the net, only to find his shot caught up in a group of Mustang defenders and ultimately stopped by Unice, which had the game stuck at 0-0.
The Gryphons and the Mustangs continued the second period in a defensive deadlock. Offside calls plagued the Gryphons for the first half of the second period, halting any forward momentum into the attacking zone and successfully removing any pressure from the Mustang defenders and goaltender. The Gryphons would get a break at 3:25 after a boarding call on Mustang player Steve Reese (Dorchester, Ont.). The Gryphons would not hesitate with setting up in front of the net, but they ultimately wouldn't be able to punch the puck past Josh Unice.
The Mustangs would get a good opportunity to score the first goal of the game after an across the crease pass had Mustang player Daniel Erlich (Thornhill, Ont.) set up in front of the net. Erlich would shoot, but an amazing save by Loverock would keep the game scoreless.
The Gryphons would have trouble finding their way back to the front of the net with Mustang defenders doing their best to push the Guelph players to the outside. The Gryphon defense was able to respond by pushing the Mustangs back through the neutral zone and back into their own territory at every opportunity. The Gryphons ended the second period being outshot by the Mustangs with a total of 23-19.
The Gryphons and the Mustangs started the third period stuck once again in a back and forth defensive match up, with each team struggling to set up in front of the net. The Gryphons struggled to pick up the pace offensively, but were able to surpass the Mustangs in shots on goal half way through the third period.
The Gryphons would put more pressure on Josh Unice later on in the third period with a scrum in front of the net. It would be Robert De Fulviis who would finally punch the puck in the bottom right corner to make it 1-0 for the Gryphons at 8:14, with Michael Charbonneau and Amestoy on the assists. The Mustangs were quick to take back possession of the puck, putting even more offensive pressure on the Gryphon defenders, but stellar goaltending by Andrew Loverock kept the Gryphons in the lead.
In a must win situation, the Mustangs pulled their goalie for the extra man in the last minute of play. It would be Matt Paltridge (Tecumseh, Ont.) who would score for the Mustangs and tie the game up at the ones, with Reese and Zach Harnden (Thunder Bay, Ont.) on the assists.
The Gryphons and the Mustangs would head into double overtime with the game ending with a goal from Stefan Salituro (Willowdale, Ont.) to make it 2-1 at 6:24 in the second overtime, with Julian Cimadamore (Concord, Ont.) and Alex Micallef (Fort Erie, Ont.) on the assists.
The game would end with the Gryphons out shooting the Mustangs with a final total of 41-39.
The Gryphons and the Mustangs will head to Game Three of the OUA West Quarterfinals Sunday February 23rd in London at the Thompson Arena, with the puck set to drop at 7 p.m.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
York 2 @ Lakehead 5
THUNDER BAY, Ont. - The Lakehead Thunderwolves downed the York Lions 5-2 in front of 2298 fans at the Fort William Gardens on Saturday night and swept the Lions two games to nothing in their OUA West Division quarter-final series.
Lakehead got the crowd into the game at 1:25 of the opening period when David Quesnele deflected a Carson Dubchak wrist shot that found its way past York goaltender Andrew Perugini. The second assist was credited to Mike Quesnele.
York got on the board at 7:49 of the first when Jordan Forfar finished off a crazy goalmouth scramble that knotted the score at 1-1.
Lakehead’s so-called “checking line” came to play as the Menard-Restoule-Kaarela line was buzzing all period.
Ryan Magill put the Thunderwolves up 2-1 at 14:28 of the first after finishing off Andrew Wilkins’ great short-handed effort.
York came out in the second period intent on closing the gap, and there was a lot of physical play from both sides as the game progressed.
The Lions tied the score when Michael Santini converted after another mad scramble in the crease of Wolves’ netminder Jeff Bosch.
Lakehead stormed back just 17 seconds later when Mike Hammond fed a wide-open Kelin Ainsworth who ripped the puck past Perugini and gave the Thunderwolves the 3-2 lead.
David Quesnele continued his strong play when he scored his second goal of the game and third of the playoffs at 16:58 of the second period, giving the Wolves a 4-2 lead. The assists on the goal went to Nathan Bruyere and Ryan Magill.
With the Wolves short-handed midway through the third period, Andrew Wilkins pick-pocketed Lions’ defenseman Tyler Mort at center ice and then deked out Perugini to put Lakehead up 5-2. The Wolves held on for the remainder of the period to take both the game and the series.
Source: Lakehead Sports InfoToronto 2 @ Windsor 5
WINDSOR, Ont. - The Windsor Lancer men's hockey team eliminated the Toronto Varsity Blues in the first round of the OUA playoffs on Saturday night with a 5-2 win over the visiting Blues at South Windsor Arena.
Windsor swept the best-of-three series after also winning Game 1 by a score of 3-2 in double on Thursday at Varsity Arena in Toronto.
The Lancers opened the scoring with the game's first goal at 3:59 of the first period on a power play marker by Derek Lanoue. The Lancers doubled their lead midway through the period with rookie Mike Christou's first goal of the post season.
Windsor's Evan Stibbard added another power play goal late in the period to take a three goal lead heading into the first intermission.
The only goal of the second period came at 10:18 of the frame when captain Drew Palmer accepted a pass from Mac McDonnell to give Windsor a commanding four goal lead.
Ernesto Valente scored Toronto's first goal of the night at 12:02 of the third on a power play. The Blues then made the game interesting when on a five-on-three power play, they pulled goaltender Brett Willows to double up on the Lancer defense.
The strategy worked as Tyler Liukkonen scored at 17:37 to bring the Blues within two with 2:23 left on the clock.
Toronto kept Willows out of the net to try and bring the score within one, but Spencer Pommells spoiled their plan with an empty net goal with just over a minute remaining to secure the win for the Blue & Gold.
Parker Van Buskirk was outstanding in net recording 33 saves in the contest, while Willows made 36 for the visiting Blues.
Source: Windsor Sports Info
UOIT 3 @ Trois-Rivieres 5
Sunday, February 23
Guelph 1 @ Western 6
LONDON, Ont. – Kyle De Coste and Matt Clarke scored 16 seconds apart to open a 19-shot first period and the Mustangs never looked back, plowing their way to a 6-1 victory over Guelph at Thompson Arena Sunday night to take the cake in the best-of-three OUA West Quarterfinal series two games to one.
Western's big win comes less than 24 hours after they squeaked out a thrilling 2-1 win over the Gryphons in game two, getting a goal from Stefan Salituro 6:24 into double overtime to force game three and keep their playoff hopes alive.
After the game, Mustangs head coach Clarke Singer was asked how it felt to have see so much offence from his team after struggling to score through nearly five periods just the night before.
"It was nice—the energy that we had on offence was great," Singer said. "Our forecheck was good, our cycle was good, all lines contributed; that was nice. We were getting chances and obviously to see the puck hit the twine was really nice after how we struggled with 40-plus shots last night."
"You never know how playoff games are going to go, that's for sure," he added. "You have the one last night where you're squeezing your sticks and can't score then you have one tonight where pucks are finding ways to get in for you so we'll take it and move on."
Western established early on that Saturday's deadlock was not going to be repeated on Sunday. De Coste opened the scoring just over two minutes in, roofing the puck on a nearly impossible angle over Guelph goaltender Andrew Loverock, before Clarke doubled the Mustangs' lead with a goal of his own only 16 seconds later.
The rest of the first frame played out with a quick, back-and-forth tempo. Loverock made a number of key saves to keep Guelph in the game and his efforts paid off with just 2:15 left on the clock, when Guelph's regular season leading scorer Nicklas Huard ripped a shot to the net and had it tipped by teammate Teal Burns, cutting Western's lead in half.
With momentum still on their side, Guelph came out strong to start the second, although it was Western who got back on the board early with Zach Harnden sprawling out to snap the puck past Loverock. Five minutes later, a nifty neutral-zone pass from Daniel Erlich led to another Mustangs' goal, as Erlich slipped the puck past the Guelph defender to set up another goal from Clarke on a 2-on-1 with Julian Cimadamore.
Western had a chance to add to their lead with a short 5-on-3 at the midway point of the period but found themselves unable to solve the Gryphons' penalty kill. Loverock did more than his part on the kill, making a number of nice saves including a flashy glove stop to close out the second infraction and ensure that the Gryphons would escape without a mark.
Unice responded with a flashy glove save of his own just over two minutes later, robbing the Gryphons of a power play goal on a rebound chance in close. By the end of the second—with the score at 4-1 Western—Unice had turned aside 20 of 21 chances, compared to 33 of 37 from his Guelph counterpart.
With memories of Guelph's 7-6 regular season comeback win on February 1—a game that saw the Mustangs up 4-0 at one point—still fresh in the Mustangs minds, Western headed into the third period up by a similar score and hoping to deny a similar comeback. And they would do just that, fending off the Gryphons' offence before getting two shorthanded breakaway goals from Adam Stoykewych and Matt Marantz to seal the victory.
With Ryerson defeating Brock 6-3 in the only other OUA quarterfinal game Sunday night, the Mustangs are now set to take on the fourth-seeded Windsor Lancers in the OUA West Semi-Finals. Singer spoke post-game about the matchup.
"Well we kind of got our lunch handed to us by them earlier in the year, I think we'll remember that," Singer said. "They're a quality team with a great goaltender, great special teams. I mean it doesn't matter who you play this time of year, you've got to be real good.
"Hopefully we can move forward and be a little better next series because we'll need to be."
The OUA West Semi-Finals are set to start on Thursday, when the Mustangs will host the Lancers at Thompson Arena at 7:00 p.m.
Source: Western Sports Info
Brock 3 @ Ryerson 6
TORONTO — The Ryerson Rams are advancing to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
The Rams defeated the Brock Badgers 6-3 on Sunday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Gardens and will now advance to the OUA West semifinals against the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
“With the season that we’ve had, you wipe the slate clean and come into the playoffs against a gritty team like Brock, we had to battle hard and obviously they took us the full length so it means a lot to get through this round for sure,” Graham Wise, Ryerson’s head coach, said after the game.
For a third consecutive game, Ryerson started the scoring in the contest, this time it was Victor Terreri (Mississauga, Ont.) with his first of the postseason, going top shelf on Brock starter Real Cormier.
Ten minutes later sophomore Robert Visca (Everett, Ont.) streaked in on the left side, wound up for a slap shot and scored to make it 2-0.
Just over a minute after that, Jamie Wise (Stouffville, Ont.) went glove side on Cormier and it was 3-0 for Ryerson. Cormier was replaced by Adrian Volpe after the goal.
Before the end of the period, Brock’s Andrew Radjenovic would notch one and the two teams would enter the first intermission at the same score as game two, 3-1.
Much like the first period, the middle frame was full of goals. Lucas Froese notched his first of the postseason over half way through the period on a nice deke to put his team up by three.
Brock would answer back to make it a two goal game again but Jamie Wise would notch his second of the game on the powerplay to make it 5-2. Johnson Andrews would score with under five minutes left in the second and the two teams skated into the dressing rooms with Ryerson leading 5-3.
In the third period, Ryerson would play solid defensive hockey and their fourth line of Terreri, Visca, and Steve Taylor would shut things down. Taylor (Sudbury, Ont.) would score his second of the postseason before the game was done to seal the victory.
“I thought we did a good job, especially Taylor, Terreri, and Visca getting pucks deep and keeping it down it their zone and killing time off the clock in the third period,” Wise said.
The Rams will start their second round series against Lakehead later this week with a time and date still to be determined.
“If we can jump on them here then we can give them a real battle,” Wise said.
Source: Ryerson Sports Info
