AROUND OUA: Diodati leads Warriors to upset win over Concordia

SCOREBOARD

Concordia 3 @ Waterloo 4

Ryerson 7 @ Western 4

Nipissing 2 @ RMC 4

UQTR 2 @ Laurier 3

Lakehead 4 @ Ottawa 8

Diodati leads Warriors to upset win over Concordia

Waterloo Warriors blueliner Eric Diodati (Niagara Falls) picked a fine time to become an offensive defenceman.

The former St. Thomas University veteran scored his first two OUA goals, including the game winner in double overtime, as the Warriors topped the ninth-ranked Concordia Stingers 4-3 in a wild affair at the Columbia Icefield Arena Friday night.

Diodati also registered an assist for a three-point night, as the Warriors won for the fourth time in their last six games. Zac Coulter (Owen Sound) and Phillip Fife (Oromocto) pitched in with a goal and an assist each for the Warriors, who improved to 7-9-3 on the season.  

The Stingers (14-5-1) got goals from Dominic Beauchemin, Julien Avon, and Anthony Beauregard in the loss, which snapped Concordia's five-game winning streak. Mike Morrison (Hamilton) earned the win with 28 saves for the Warriors, while Marc-Antoine Turcotte turned aside 34 shots for Concordia.

The contest didn't lack intensity out of the gate, as the physicality ramped up soon after puck drop. The frenetic pace also created some man-advantage opportunities, and the Warriors were first to take advantage – on a two minute five-on-three power play, Diodati one-timed a Mike Moffat (Waterloo) feed past Turcotte for a 1-0 Waterloo lead.

Just when it looked like the Warriors would escape the first period with a lead, the Stingers responded with under two minutes to play in the period. After a broken play behind the Warriors net, a pretty goalmouth passing play was finished by Beauchemin to make the score 1-1 after 20 minutes.

After Avon striped Sam Caldwell (Cape Breton) and fired one through Morrison's legs to put the Stingers ahead in the second, it was the Warriors' turn to answer back in the period's late stages. This time, it was Fife who slammed home a rebound on the power play with only 10 seconds left in the middle stanza, drawing the Warriors even after two periods.

Waterloo took the lead midway through the third when Coulter took a Riley Sonnenburg (Cambridge) feed on a 3-on-2, beating Turcotte with a wicked wrister to make it 3-2 for the Warriors. But the Stingers weren't about to roll over, and with just over three minutes left in regulation, Beauregard potted one past Morrison to knot things at 3-3. It looked as though the Warriors would be able to end it, as the Stingers were assessed a pair of minors in the game's final two minutes. However, Concordia weathered the storm in regulation, and then again in the first overtime, sending the game to a 3-on-3 extra session.

Diodati wasted no time in the 3-on-3 period, curling to shake a check on a 2-on-2, and then zipping it off the post and in for an emotional game winner. The Warriors will now look to extend their winning streak to three, when they host the UQTR Patriotes. Puck drop at the Columbia Icefield Arena is slated for 6:30 pm on Saturday, January 14.

Source: Waterloo Warriors

Rams come back to beat Mustangs for 15th win

LONDON, Ont. - It was a night filled with adversity for the Ryerson Rams men's hockey team but they took it in stride in order to overpower the Western Mustangs in a 7-4 victory at the Thompson Arena in London Friday night. 

BOXSCORE

After a convincing 6-2 victory over the Brock Badgers just the night prior, the Rams may have been a little too passive coming into Friday's dance with the Mustangs.

The Mustangs wasted little to no time in getting the game's first goal and shocked the Rams just 48 seconds in for an early 1-0 lead.  Robert Polesello and Mike Dipaolo sprung in on the 2-on-1 before Dipaolo received the pass and buried it past the outstretched glove of the Rams' Taylor Dupuis. 

The momentum immediately swung in favour of the Mustangs and put the Rams into overdrive in hopes of getting back on track.  The Rams looked determined yet in control and patient as they waited for their opportunity to arise.  It finally came midway through the period after the Mustangs' Mitch Brooks was called for the cross check.

On the ensuing power play, the Rams' Mitch Theoret took the puck and threw it on net before finding an open Daniel Clairmont in the crease for a scrambled goal.  The Mustangs' Greg Dodds had no chance on the play as Clairmont's second on the year pulled the Rams even at 1-1. 

The first period looked good and done before a debacle last minute by the Rams.  Polesello and Andrew Goldberg scored just 17 seconds apart in the final minute of the first and in the blink of an eye, the Mustangs had managed to go up a pair and take a 3-1 lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes.

The Rams accomplished to float what felt like a sinking ship due to the first with a complete 20-minute effort in the second frame.  Matt Mistele found an open Michael Fine, who pulled off a gorgeous move around the defender before finding Josh Sterk at the side of the net for the tally. 

Fine decided to share once again just a few minutes after the 10-minute mark in the period.  Fine sent a seeing eye shot off the pillows of Dodds and right onto the tape of an incoming Luke Mercer.  Mercer simply corralled the puck and shoveled it into the wide-open cage for the Rams to once again draw even with the Mustangs at 3-3.

The Rams wrapped up their three-goal period with a last minute goal of their own thanks to a Devon Paliani one-timer.  Paliani's third goal in two games gave the Rams their first lead of the night and sent them to the final frame with a 4-3 lead.

A Vince Figliomeni marker early in the third followed by Aaron Armstrong's 11th of the season catapulted the Rams to a convincing 6-3 lead. 

The Mustangs went on and added a late one in the period but Sterk's second of the night and empty netter sealed the deal as the Rams won their second in a row with a 7-4 victory over the Mustangs. 

Dupuis was solid once again between the pipes for the Rams as he made 20 saves for his seventh win of the season.

Dupuis' counter part, the Mustangs' Dodds, tasted a lot of rubber in the loss and finished the night with 41 saves in what was his 13th game of the season. 

Theoret, Mistele, and Fine all registered two assists apiece Friday night and were a huge part of the Rams' 15th victory of the season. 

The Rams now hold a three-point lead over the second place York Lions for tops in the West division.  With Friday night's win, the Rams now improve to 15-4-1 on the year for 31 points. 

The Rams don't return to game action until next Thursday, January 19th, against the Waterloo Warriors as they kick off a five game homestead at the Mattamy Athletic Centre through the month of January.

Source: Ryerson Rams

Gee-Gees double up visiting Thunderwolves 8-4

The Ottawa Gee-Gees men's hockey team stayed perfect in 2017 with an 8-4 victory over the visiting Lakehead Thunderwolves at the Minto Sports Complex on Friday night.

Defenceman Mike Poirier (Moncton, N.B.) proved the unlikely hero in the win for uOttawa, which improved to 8-1-3 in its last 12 games.

"We played a simple game," said Poirier, who doubled his goal total on the season from two to four. "You put pucks to the net, you get lucky and good things happen — we buried our chances when they came and have to be sharp tomorrow."

The Gee-Gees opened the scoring on a wicked Marc Beckstead (Morrisburg, Ont.) wrist shot midway through the opening frame, though a pair of Lakehead goals from Justin Sefton and Cody Alcock sent them to the dressing room trailing 2-1 at the first intermission.

A wild second period saw uOttawa outscore Lakehead 5-1 on goals from Cody Drover (Grand Falls-Windsor, Nfld.), Brendan Jacome (Caledon, Ont.), Connor Sills (Thunder Bay, Ont.) and the aforementioned Poirier — twice — to enter the second intermission up 6-3.

Jacob Hanlon (Mississauga, Ont.) polished offf a tic-tac-toe passing play in the early stages of the third period to put the game to bed, with Lakehead's Billy Jenkins and Ottawa's Kevin Domingue (Laval, Que.) exchanging late goals to make it 8-4.

"We're a lot more structured now," said Poirier of the team's excellent recent form. "(Head coach) Patrick (Grandmaitre) and his staff come up with great gameplans, so we're always prepared. We're working hard and getting bounces right now."

The Gee-Gees will have to come back to the Minto Complex with their work boots on for Saturday's rematch against the physical Thunderwolves. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. tomorrow on Gee-Gees Pride Night at the rink

Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees