AROUND OUA: London, Colin! Behenna rips Stangs in regular season finale
On October 11 2012, Colin Behenna (Waterloo) burst onto the OUA scene with two goals in his regular season debut with the Waterloo Warriors. Now, nearly four years and a legendary career later, he made sure his final regular season contest was just as memorable.
SCOREBOARD
London, Colin! Behenna rips Stangs in regular season finale
On October 11 2012, Colin Behenna (Waterloo) burst onto the OUA scene with two goals in his regular season debut with the Waterloo Warriors. Now, nearly four years and a legendary career later, he made sure his final regular season contest was just as memorable.
Behenna registered four goals and an assist, and the Warriors claimed the third seed in the OUA West division playoff picture with a 5-2 win over the Western Mustangs on Saturday afternoon in London.
Brett Mackie (Whitby) scored a goal and added three helpers, while defencemen Joe Underwood (Canton) and Mike Moffat (Waterloo) chipped in with a pair of assists each. The win means Waterloo will finish with a record of 16-11-1, and they'll open the playoffs against the sixth-seed Ryerson Rams next week.
Meanwhile, the Mustangs let a chance to claim first place go by the wayside with the defeat. They finish with a record of 18-10-0, good for the second seed in the OUA West playoff picture. They'll open their quest for a title against the seventh-seed Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks.
Mike Morrison (Hamilton) completed his late-season turnaround with a 34-save victory. His save percentage was below .850 at one point, but Morrison helped lead the Warriors to a 12-3-1 record over their last 16 games, finishing with a .907 save percentage. Peter Delmas had a forgettable afternoon in the Mustangs' cage, stopping just 9 of 13 shots before being replaced by Greg Dodds in the first period.
The game almost instantly became the Behenna show, as the OUA West's leading scorer notched two goals before the game was three minutes old. After Western's Sean Callaghan got a goal back for the hosts, Behenna scored again on a breakaway to complete the hat trick, leaping into third all-time in Warriors scoring with 148 points. Mackie scored to make it 4-1 Warriors late in the first, chasing Delmas in the process.
The game stayed at 4-1 until midway through the third, when Behenna tapped home a Moffat goalmouth feed on the man advantage. Stephen Sanza scored late for the Mustangs, but they were unable to mount a miracle charges, and Waterloo took the decision by that same 5-2 margin.
The Warriors will now look to continue their hot streak into the postseason, as they face off against the Ryerson Rams for the best-of-three OUA West Division Quarterfinals. Game one is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, February 17 at 7:30 pm from the Columbia Icefield Arena.
Source: Waterloo Warriors
The Lakehead Thunderwolves beat the Laurier Golden Hawks 4-3 to end their season on a winning note in front of 2,084 fans at the Fort William Gardens on Saturday night.
The win was especially gratifying for graduating seniors Luke Maw, Jeff Bosch and Kelin Ainsworth, who donned the Lakehead jersey for the last time and were honored before the game.
The Wolves opened the scoring when Nathan Cull notched his first goal of the season with a shot from the high slot that beat Hawks' goalie Vinny Merante low on the stick side 16:17 into the game. Sam Schutt set Cull up with a nice pass from behind the net and Luke Maw picked up the other assist.
Lakehead went up by two while on the power play late in the period when Carson Dubchak scored from the edge of the crease, with Schutt and Brennen Dubchak getting the helpers.
Billy Jenkins put the Wolves up 3-0 at 6:05 of the second period on a goal assisted by Ainsworth and Garick Gray, but Laurier's Derek Schoenmakers rifled the puck over the shoulder of Lakehead netminder Jeff Bosch at 8:28 while the Hawks held the man advantage to cut the lead to 3-1.
Schutt restored the Wolves' three-goal cushion when he converted on a perfect feed from Cull at 11:54, with Jake Ringuette also getting an assist.
Lakehead's comfortable 4-1 lead got squeezed when Schoenmakers tallied twice in the third period to complete his hat trick and narrow the gap to 4-3 with just over seven minutes left on the clock.
The Hawks continued to apply pressure and pulled Merante for an extra attacker with a minute to go in the game, but were unable to get another one past Bosch and the Wolves held on for the win.
Shots on goal for night were 35-31 in favor of Laurier.
The Wolves went 1-for-2 on the power play while the Hawks were 2-for-5.
The Molson Three Stars of the game were:
1. Sam Schutt, Lakehead
2. Derek Schoenmakers, Laurier
3. Nathan Cull, Lakehead
Lakehead finished the season in ninth place in the ten-team OUA West Division with a record of 8-16-4 in league play and missed the playoffs for the first time in the team's history. Including non-conference games, the Wolves were 12-18-5 overall.
Source: Lakehead Thunderwolves
Ravens set modern era records in finale
(OTTAWA, ON) — Both individual players and the larger Carleton Ravens men's hockey team as a whole reached impressive milestones in Saturday night's regular season finale. Each of the three players on Carleton's high-octane top line set records, while the team's overall defence was crowned as the best in the country during the regular season.
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Despite a three-point performance on Saturday, first-year Ravens forward Brett Welychka (London, ON) came up short in the national scoring race, losing out to UQTR's Guillaume Asselin by a single point. The freshman did, however, set a remarkable single-season school modern-era record* in points (46).
"It's a great accomplishment for myself, I can't thank my teammates and line mates enough—they did a heck of a job," said Welychka, who put up seven points (1G, 6A) in the final three games of the regular season to tighten up the scoring race.
"He's been outstanding from day one," said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston. "It's one of those seasons that will stand in the history of Ravens hockey—he has two excellent line mates that have been unbelievable from start to finish, this is a tribute to the three of them."
Welychka, 21, skated for both the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning organizations in rookie camps, and has attracted attention from the hockey world beyond the OUA in his freshman campaign.
*The previous single-season modern-era record mark of 40 points was set by Brandon MacLean in 2011-12.
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Ravens first-line centre Michael McNamee (Perth, ON) notched three assists in Saturday's win, setting a career-high in points (39) in the process. McNamee, 23, also set a career-high in goals (16).
The former Quebec Remparts forward set the OUA on fire during his 2013-14 rookie season, posting 37 points and leading Carleton to its first appearance at nationals. McNamee then dealt with moderate injury problems in his 2014-15 sophomore campaign, but still managed to post over a point-per-game (1.23) in 22 games.
If Carleton's first line is to continue its success in the playoffs, its centre will have to continue to show off his silky hands and pinpoint passing ability.
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With a hat-trick in Saturday's win, winger Ryan Van Stralen (Prescott, ON) set a program record* in goals (22).
For Coach Johnston, the goalscoring record is a reward for Van Stralen, 22, in his transition from rookie to leader.
"Last season he was frustrated, expecting to produce more than he did early in the season," explained Coach Johnston. "He's a guy who worked really hard in the summer, and he wants to learn every little detail of the game—he's taken big steps in terms of where his game needed to go."
"It's special; this is a pretty good program here, and to do it with this group of guys is special," said Van Stralen, who nearly tripled his goal total from his freshman season (22 to 8). "It's a credit to my line mates, we've worked well together all year, and you've got to give credit where credit is due."
*Modern-era
Source: Carleton Ravens
Flanagan on fire in season finale
Behind a four-point night from second-year forward Max Flanagan, the Varsity Blues ended their regular season in style, knocking off the OUA-West leading York Lions 4-1 at Varsity Arena Saturday night (Feb. 13).
With the victory U of T ends the season 11-15-2 and will face a very familiar foe in the first round of the OUA playoffs. The very same York Lions they defeated tonight claimed first place in the OUA West with a 16-7-5 record.
Both the Blues and Lions came out flying Saturday night as the GTA rivals looked to match energy levels in the early going. Marsh was the first to capitalize in the high-paced matchup opening the scoring on the night with a nifty deflection on the powerplay just five minutes in handing Toronto a 1-0 lead they would hold through the first frame .
However, York responded late in the second on the powerplay as Mark Cross banged home the game-tying goal with just five minutes left in the period.
Less than one minute later, it was Flanagan who struck for Toronto finishing off a beautiful passing play, which was setup by Marsh and first-year standout Matt Campagna restoring the Blues one goal lead.
And in the third it was all Varsity Blues as Campagna would add one of his own assisted by Marsh and Flanagan, followed by Flanagan's second of the night on a 5-on-3 man advantage and assisted by Marsh and Blues scoring leader Christian Finch.
U of T goalies Andrew Hunt and Michael Nishi split duties on the night with Hunt finishing with 25 saves and Nishi stopping 8.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Brennan makes 30 saves for first career shutout in Gaels 4-0 win
KINGSTON, Ont. (February 13, 2016) - The Queen's Gaels defeated Laurentian 4-0 on Saturday night at the Invista Centre thanks to a strong performance from rookie netminder Jacob Brennan (Halifax) who stopped all 30 shots faced in the victory.
Despite the win, the Gaels will finish fifth in the OUA East after being tied in points with the Ridgebacks but losing the tie breaker. Queen's will open up the playoffs on Wednesday at UOIT.
GAME FLOW
Taylor Clements (Toronto) was the first to score in the game as he was able to deflect a point shot past Laurentian starting netminder Alain Valiquette. The Gaels enjoyed the 1-0 lead throughout the opening period and shots finished an equal 10 per side.
Mid-way through the second period Eric Ming (Williamstown, Ont.) recorded his 17th goal of the season giving Queen's a 2-0 lead. Ming was the third man in on a three on two and finished off the final pass with ease. The Gaels killed off eight minutes of penalty time in the second frame thanks in part to the 15 saves from Brennan.
In the third Slater Doggett (Oakville, Ont.) and Peter Angelopolous (Nobleton, Ont.) scored 5:05 apart and the Gaels were in the driver seat up 4-0.
Brennan wasn't as busy in the third stopping five shots to pick up the shutout victory.
BY THE NUMBERS
1st - Career shutout for Brennan
5th - Place in the OUA East for Queen's
2nd - Year in a row the Gaels have finished 5th in the OUA East
UP NEXT
Queen's will open up their first round playoff matchup at UOIT on Wednesday night.
Source: Queen's Gaels
Stoughton's OT winner clinches home ice for UOIT
OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT men's hockey team secured home ice advantage in the playoffs for the first time in program history as Jesse Stoughton (Bobcaygeon, Ont.) scored in double overtime to give the Ridgebacks a 3-2 victory over Nipissing.
The Ridgebacks (18-8-2) will be taking on Queen's (17-7-4) in the opening round of the OUA playoffs with game one taking place on Wednesday, Feb. 17 in Oshawa at 7:30 p.m. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams in the postseason.
Queen's and UOIT finished the year tied with 38 points with the Ridgebacks securing fourth place and home ice advantage by winning the tie-breaker (most wins). The season series was just as close as their point totals with each team picking up a victory in a home-and-home series in November.
Stoughton, who was playing in his 100th OUA conference game on Saturday, would drive in front of the net and fire two shots on goal that starting goaltender Kirk Rafuse would stop. With the puck loose in the crease, a Nipissing defender ended up knocking it in, giving the Ridgebacks their second straight overtime win.
In regulation time, it was the defenders doing all of the goal scoring for UOIT as Jake Logan (Napanee, Ont.) and Jason Shaw (Belleville, Ont.) scored goals in the second and third period respectively. This is the second straight year Jake Logan has scored his first goal of the year in the season finale.
Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.) made 28 saves as he finishes the year with 17 wins and 759 saves, ranking second and third respectively amongst OUA goaltenders. In five of his last six games, O'Neill has allowed two goals or less including a shutout performance on Friday.
With Saturday's game being the Ridgebacks regular season finale, the team celebrated the careers of the 2016 graduating class. Luke VanMoerkerke (Tillsonburg, Ont.), James Woodcroft (Milton, Ont.), Dylan King (Middle Sackville, N.S.) and Stoughton were all honoured prior to the game.
UOIT outshot Nipissing 42-30 with both power plays going 0-for-4 on the night.
The Ridgebacks will be looking to create more program history in the postseason as they try to win their first playoff series. UOIT has qualified for the postseason five times.
QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 21-12-2
Conference Record: 18-8-2
Next Game: Wed. Feb. 17 vs. Queen's (7:30 p.m.)
Source: UOIT Ridgebacks
