AROUND OUA: No. 9 Ravens double up No. 2 ranked Redmen in thriller
(OTTAWA, ON) — Shots were blocked, forechecks were vigorously engaged, and the Carleton Ravens ultimately earned a deserved two points on home ice Saturday night with a 6-3 win over the powerhouse McGill Redmen (CIS No. 2).
SCOREBOARD
Ravens double up top ranked Redmen in thriller
(OTTAWA, ON) — Shots were blocked, forechecks were vigorously engaged, and the Carleton Ravens ultimately earned a deserved two points on home ice Saturday night with a 6-3 win over the powerhouse McGill Redmen (CIS No. 2).
Eleven players found the scoresheet in the win for Carleton (14-5-0), which used a consistent defensive effort all night long against some of the country's top offensive talent.
"It was a great effort from all twenty guys that were dressed," said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston, whose team outshot the Redmen 40-32 in front of a season-best crowd at the Ice House. "Our powerplay really stepped up—that was the story of the game—and our penalty kill held off a very, very good power play."
Carleton jumped out to a 3-0 lead courtesy of a trio of first period power play markers from its top line; Brett Welychka (London, ON) opened the scoring off a slick feed from Brent Norris (Ottawa, ON), Ryan Van Stralen (Prescott, ON) doubled the lead on a rebound, and Michael McNamee (Perth, ON) went bar-down on a beautiful wrist shot.
McGill battled back into the game with goals from Frederic Gamelin and Christopher Lalonde, but a bizarre goal—credited to captain Joey West (Ottawa, ON)—late in the second period restored Carleton's cushion, and the Ravens led 4-2 after 40 minutes.
The Redmen cut the lead to one on a power play goal from captain Patrick Delisle-Houde, but a crucial response just 23 seconds later from Ravens role player Sean Bamford (Ottawa, ON) restored the two-goal lead.
Corey Durocher (Ottawa, ON) added an empty-netter to close out the 6-3 victory for Carleton.
Francis Dupuis (Ottawa, ON) was stellar between the pipes for the Ravens, turning aside 28 of the 31 McGill shots he faced en route to his 10th victory of the season.
"Guys believe in (our depth)," said Coach Johnston, whose team was able to roll lines against the top-heavy Redmen, who dressed just 11 forwards. "We're comfortable with all four lines at different points of the game—if we're going to have any kind of playoff success, we'll have to have 13, 14, 15 forwards playing."
Carleton did well to maintain its discipline in Saturday's chippy affair; McGill tried repeatedly to goad the likes of Van Stralen and bruising defenceman Jeremie Fraser (Cantley, QC)—the pair, for the most part, didn't react.
"We just focused on playing between the whistles and sticking with playing our game," said Van Stralen, who picked up a goal and an assist in the win. "It's my first time as a Raven getting a win against them, and it feels great."
The Ravens will hit the road to Kingston for a tough mid-week challenge against the Queen's Gaels, who trail Carleton by five points—with two games in-hand—for third in the OUA East.
Source: Carleton Ravens
Second period sinks Golden Hawks in loss to Voyageurs
WATERLOO, Ont. (January 16, 2016) – A four goal outburst in 10 minutes in the second period was all the Laurentian Voyageurs would need on Saturday afternoon as they downed the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's hockey team 4-3 at the Waterloo Recreation Complex.
After the two teams were deadlocked at zero through 20 minutes of play, the Voyageurs exploded with four goals in the opening 11 minutes and 37 seconds of the middle stanza. Four different players found the back of the net including Brian Nanne of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Brent Pedersen of Arthur, Ont., Nicolas Dionne of Amos, Que., and Nick Esposto of Sheguiandah, Ont.
Laurier managed to keep the game within reach thanks to two goals of their own as captain Greg Cerilli of Barrie, Ont., and Will Cook of Port Stanley, Ont., each lit the lamp.
The Hawks pulled the game to within one thanks to an early third period powerplay goal from Erik Pushka of Dugald, Man., but they were unable to find the tying marker as they lost their second straight game.
Alain Valiquette of Sudbury, Ont., picked up the victory for the visitors as he stopped 37 of the 40 shots he faced.
Colin Furlong of Cambridge, Ont., took the loss as he allowed four goals on 24 shots before being replaced by Vinny Merante of Niagara Falls, Ont. Merante kept his team in the contest as he stopped all 17 shots he faced in relief.
With the loss, Laurier falls into a tie for eighth place in the OUA West division as they sit tied with the Brock Badgers on 16 points with an 8-11-0 record. As for Laurentian, they moved within one point of eighth place in the OUA East as they now sit at 7-10-4 on the year.
The purple and gold will look to put an end to their two-game slide on Sunday, January 17, when they host the Nipissing Lakers (8-8-3) at the Waterloo Recreation Complex. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game can be seen live on OUA.tv.
Source: Laurier Golden Hawks
Warriors sink Lakers; extend winning streak to eight
Traditionally, seven is considered a lucky number. But on Saturday night, the Waterloo Warriors' lucky number was eight.
Colin Behenna (Waterloo) notched three points, and captain Joe Underwood (Canton) scored the eventual game winner in the second as the Warriors sunk the Nipissing Lancers 4-2 for their eighth consecutive victory.
Rookies Daniel Perigo (Truro) and Cam Nicoll (Loretto) also scored for Waterloo, who improved to 12-8-0 with the win. Backup goaltender Chris Hurry (Summerland) made 36 saves, as Mike Morrison (Hamilton) got a much-deserved night off.
Dale Deon and Jim McDowell scored for Nipissing, who saw their record fall to 8-8-3. Kirk Rafuse was saddled with the loss in between the pipes, turning aside 31 shots in defeat.
The scoreless first period was marred with a steady parade of minor penalties, but neither team could capitalize on their power play chances. Waterloo finally cracked the goose egg early in the second, when Perigo's seeing-eye wrister found the back of the net to put the Warriors up 1-0.
Later in the second, Nicoll converted a pretty feed from Brett Mackie (Whitby), and Underwood hammered one home on the man advantage to put the Warriors comfortably ahead 3-0. But the Lakers weren't going away, and they earned a pair of goals to cut their deficit to 3-2 after forty minutes.
The Lakers kept coming in the third, but Hurry was able to hold them at bay. Waterloo salted it away late in the third when Matt Amadio (Sault Ste. Marie) made a gorgeous move and fed Behenna, who made no mistake.
The Warriors improved to 9-2-0 at home, and they'll look to continue that trend next Friday when they host the York Lions. Puck drop is slated for Friday, January 23 at the Columbia Icefield Arena,
Source: Waterloo Warriors
Mustangs scrape past Lions 3-2
Saturday evening's (Jan. 16) matchup of the top two teams in the OUA West saw the No. 10 York University men's hockey team edged out by the Western Mustangs (12-8-0) by 3-2 score at Canlan Ice Arena.
Despite the defeat, the Lions still hold an impressive 12-6-3 record on the year, and are tied at the top of the OUA West standings with the Mustangs at 27 points each.
The Lions dominated the first period with the majority of possession and had a total of 12 shots on net as opposed to the Mustang's four.
After several attempts on net the Lions were able to open the scoring at 10:44 off of a power play. After Trevor Peterson (Thornhill, Ont.) and Greg Milner (Watford, Ont.) circulated the puck around a group Mustang defenders, Derek Sheppard (Ajax, Ont.) was found at the top of the blue line and hit a bullet of a slap shot into the bottom corner of the net.
In the last minute of play Colton Vannucci (High River, Alta.) nearly deflected a shot past the glove of goaltender Greg Dodds, but was denied by the post. The first period ended 1-0 in favour of the Lions.
It was short-lived however, as the Mustangs were quick to find the equalizer within the opening minute of the second period. Once Robert Polesello and Andrew Goldberg teamed up to find Jonathan Laser in front of the net, Laser slipped the puck past Lions goaltender Chris Perugini (King City, Ont.) and the score was leveled at 1-1.
Moments later the Mustangs were able to edge out a lead at 1:54, thanks to a goal by Spenser Cobbold. Shaun Furlong was credited with the assist after finding Cobbold at the far post.
At 9:16 the Mustangs increased the lead to 3-1. After a stoppage of play Cobbold was quick to react and found Noah Schwartz in a wide position to pick a pocket of the net
However the Lions were eager to narrow the score and ended up doing so at 14:34. Capitalizing off of a power play advantage, Mitch VanTeeling (Brandon, Man.) and Tyler McGee (Timmins, Ont.) shared the puck before it was passed to Mark Cross (Strasbourg, Sask.) who was able to find the back of the net. It was 3-2 heading into the second intermission.
The third period was evenly matched, and although both teams had many chances to put more goals up to the board, the period remained goalless and the Mustangs ended up taking the game 3-2.
Up next for the Lions is a game against the Waterloo Warriors at Columbia Icefield. Fans can catch the action live on Jan. 22 (Friday) at 7pm.
Source: York Lions
Thunderwolves fall to Rams 6-3
The Lakehead Thunderwolves fell 6-3 to the Ryerson Rams before a crowd of 1,946 at the Fort William Gardens on Saturday night.
Ryerson opened the scoring 3:57 into the game when Daniel Clairmont beat Jeff Bosch, who was making his first start in the Wolves' net since November.
Luca Doctor put the Rams up by two midway through the period, but Garick Gray replied for Lakehead on a goal assisted by Luke Maw and Austin McDonald at 13:34.
Clairmont notched a short-handed marker with just over three minutes left in the period to put Ryerson in front 3-1 heading into the second.
Gray got his second goal of the game at 6:36 of the middle frame when he fired the puck past Rams' netminder Taylor Dupuis after a nice feed from Tyler Anton, with Kelin Ainsworth getting the other assist.
Ryerson responded on the power play when Aaron Armstrong knocked home a rebound at 14:23, and then Vince Figliomeni rifled a shot over Bosch's shoulder a few minutes later to give the Rams a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Clairmont completed his hat-trick with another short-handed goal early in the third to put the Wolves in an even deeper hole.
Justin Sefton converted on a Lakehead power play on a blast from the point set up by Jake Ringuette at 6:39 of the final stanza to round out the scoring.
Total shots on goal were 49-28 for Ryerson.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1. Daniel Clairmont, Ryerson
2. Garick Gray, Lakehead
3. Aaron Armstrong, Ryerson
The loss drops Lakehead's OUA record to 4-12-4 (8-14-5 overall), and keeps the Wolves four points shy of a playoff berth.
After three weeks at home, Lakehead will hit the road for games at Brock and York next weekend.
Source: Lakehead Thunderwolves
UOIT matches program high in wins after Stoughton's OT winner
OSHAWA, Ont. – Jesse Stoughton (Bobcaygeon, Ont.) scored 1:44 into overtime giving the UOIT men's hockey team a 5-4 victory over Concordia Saturday night at the Campus Ice Centre.
Stoughton, who was injured in the first period after being speared, split two defenders and roofed the puck past goaltender Robin Billingham in OT to earn the Ridgebacks 12th win of the season, matching the all-time program high set back in 2010-11.
Stoughton's goal was the 40th of his career and sixth game winner.
The win also puts some separation between UOIT (12-7-1) and Queen's (11-5-1) for fourth place in the OUA eastern conference standings. Queen's suffered a 3-2 overtime loss to UQTR (18-3-1) on Saturday night.
It was fitting that Saturday's game went into overtime as it featured everything but the kitchen sink.
Concordia set the tempo for the game getting the opening goal just 30 seconds into the contest on a nice solo effort by Frederic Roy. Things went from bad to worse for UOIT as forward Charles-Eric Legare scored on a shorthanded penalty shot just over a minute later, giving the Stingers a 2-0 lead.
UOIT was able to bounce back quickly scoring two goals of their own five minutes into the game. Loren Ulett (Port Perry, Ont.) scored the Ridgebacks' opening goal on a solo effort very similar to Roy's. Ryan Doucette (Waterloo, Ont.) would deflect an Alex Yuill (Wellington, Ont.) point shot two minutes later to level the score.
The Stingers would take a 3-2 lead into the locker room after Dany Potvin scored at the 12-minute mark. To close out the period, things would turn rough. After the dust settled, Roy was ejected from the game for spearing Stoughton, but UOIT was unable to capitalize on the five-minute power play.
Alex Derlis (Campbellford, Ont.) would score the lone goal of the second period, knotting the game at three goals apiece.
Midway through the third period, Jake Logan (Napanee, Ont.) set up Cameron Yuill (Wellington, Ont.) with a highlight reel cross-ice pass from the point as the Ridgebacks jumped out in front 4-3.
With the Ridgebacks two-minutes away from victory, Concordia took advantage of a late slashing penalty to Ulett. Matt Boudreau scored on the 6-on-4 as the Stingers had their goalie pulled, tying the score at 4-4 and setting the stage for Stoughton in overtime.
Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.) made 33 saves for his 12th win of the season while Billingham had 27 in the losing effort. Concordia outshot UOIT 37-31.
Concordia was 1-for-4 on the power play and UOIT went 0-for-5.
The Ridgebacks will hit the road next week for games against the Nipissing Lakers (Friday) and Laurentian Voyageurs (Saturday). Nipissing (8-8-3) and Laurentian (7-10-4) sit seventh and eighth respectively in the conference standings.
Source: UOIT Ridgebacks
Blues notch second straight win
Third-year goalie Andrew Hunt made 24 saves in helping the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team to a 4-1 victory over the Brock Badgers on Saturday night (Jan. 16) at Varsity Arena.
With the win, the Blues improve to 8-11-2 and move into sole possession of seventh place in the OUA West division.
The Blues opened the scoring as Connor Cleverly potted his sixth goal of the season just 1:58 into the game. The Badgers were quick to respond when Tyson Dallman capitalized on a turnover in the Blues zone less than four minutes later.
Second-year defenceman Corey Jackson then gave Toronto the lead, netting his first goal of the season off a nice top-corner shot that ricocheted off Badgers goalie Real Cormier and into the net.
The Blues were up 2-1 after 20 minutes.
Rookie forward Mathew Campagna extended Toronto's lead 5:07 into the second frame when he one-timed a cross-crease pass from Patrick Marsh. The Blues were up 3-1 heading into the final frame.
Third-year forward Dean Klomp widened the gap to three early in the third period, picking up a loose puck in front of the net and showing great poise to skate around a Brock defenceman before slotting it into the open net.
The Varsity Blues return to the ice next Thursday, January 21 as they travel to London, Ont., to take on the Western Mustangs. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Gryphons pick up big two points with win over Lancers
GUELPH, ON – It could have been déjà vu for the Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team against the Windsor Lancers on Saturday night at the Gryphon Centre.
A third-period collapse had sunk them in their first meeting with the Lancers earlier this season in Windsor. And now it was in danger of happening again, with the Lancers scoring on each of their first two shots in the final frame to pull to within a goal of Guelph.
But the Gryphs slammed the door shut and added two late insurance markers, earning a 6-3 victory that helped them leapfrog Windsor into third place in the OUA West Division standings. They now have a 12-8-0 record while the Lancers fall to 10-8-3.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't have that in the back of my mind," netminder Andrew D'Agostini said of that earlier game in Windsor, where the Lancers scored four times in the third period to win 5-1.
On Saturday, Windsor trailed 4-1 entering the third but scored twice in the first two minutes to make the score 4-3. The Gryphs called a time-out to regroup, and managed to fend off the threat.
"We felt a little bit too comfortable, but we didn't play on our heels and we kept at it. We stayed as disciplined as we could," D'Agostini said. "Our goal was to just keep getting pucks on net and be responsible in our end. Credit to Lenny Fabbri for putting it away."
It was Fabbri's goal with 3:37 left in the third that gave Guelph some much-needed breathing room. Dylan Gilbert iced the contest by scoring into an empty net in the final minute.
Head coach Shawn Camp noted that the Gryphs had also been victimized in the third period of their two most recent games, losses to Waterloo last weekend and to Western in the Frosty Mug on Thursday.
"This is a good confidence builder for our young team," Camp said of Saturday's triumph. "We're really pleased that we had the lead, and that when we met some adversity, we handled it the right way."
Gilbert scored twice for Guelph. Single markers went to Robert Lepine, Scott Simmonds, Kyle Neuber and Fabbri. Carlos Amestoy picked up three assists. Gilbert's first goal, midway through the second period, extended his point streak to five games.
Windsor's scorers were Justice Dundas, Blake Blondeel and Ryan Green.
The Lancers outshot the Gryphs 41-27, including by a 14-6 margin in the third period as they pressed for the equalizer. D'Agostini had a good look at most of the pucks he saw, and was grateful to his defencemen for clearing the shooting lanes in front of him as well as they did. He added he was thrilled at how the team fought to snap its two-game losing streak.
"We looked at ourselves in the mirror. We had to try to figure out our identity, what we want to be known as," said the second-year netminder from Scarborough, ON. "We were a hard-working bunch the first half of the year, and we didn't want to let that get away from us because we saw what our hard work did for us last year."
They'll need that work ethic as they hit the road for four games, starting next Friday in Montreal against McGill, the No. 2-ranked team in the CIS. The following night, they'll visit Toronto.
"We seem to be a pretty good road team," Camp said. "When we get away together and hang out together, we have a lot of fun together. We're a very close-knit team. So we're looking forward to it. That will hopefully make us better for a chance at the playoffs."
Guelph won't play again at the Gryphon Centre until February 2 against Laurier.
Source: Guelph Gryphons
No.5 UQTR beat Queen's in double overtime
KINGSTON, ONT. (January 16, 2016) - The Gaels men's hockey team (11-5-1) fell short of a thrilling comeback in a 3-2 double overtime loss to the No.5 UQTR Patriotes (18-3-1) at the Memorial Centre on Saturday.
GAME FLOW
Pierre-Maxime Poudrier opened the scoring for UQTR midway through the first period. The puck was thrown into a scramble in front of the net when Poudrier shovelled one of the Patriotes 24 shots in the first frame into the open cage.
The Gaels started the second stanza with a great chance from Ryan Bloom (Calgary, Alta.), but he was turned aside by the glove of Patriotes goalie Sebastien Auger. Queen's managed only 16 shots through 40 minutes of play, while UQTR threw another 18 shots at Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) in the second period.
The pace picked up after a heavy collision caused a lengthy delay to fix the door to the Patriotes bench. After the extra intermission early in the third period, UQTR doubled their lead on a wrap-around from Mathieu Lemay. The Gaels were not be dismissed, however, as Peter Angelopolous (Nobleton, Ont.) buried a rebound on a shot from Spencer Abraham (Campbellville, Ont.) to cut the deficit in half with 8:20 to play. In the final five minutes, Queen's tied the game and forced overtime when Eric Ming's (Williamstown, Ont.) slap pass found the tape of Slater Doggett's (Oakville, Ont.) stick in front of the net.
In the first overtime period, Auger stopped the Gaels only shot on goal, while Bailie passed the 50 save mark as UQTR put five more shots toward the Queen's net.
With the shootout looming, the Patriotes broke out on a 2-1 counter attack with Tommy Giroux leading the rush. Bailie had no chance when the puck went cross-ice to Guillaume Asselin, who deposited his OUA leading 18th goal to win the game.
BY THE NUMBERS
57 – Kevin Bailie stopped 54 of 57 shots faced
8 – UQTR scored with eight seconds remaining in 2OT
12 – Eric Ming has 12 points in his current eight-game point-streak
UP NEXT
The Gaels host the No.9 Carleton Ravens in a rare Tuesday night game at the Memorial Centre, with puck drop set for 7:30pm.
Source: Queen's Gaels
