January 9, 2014
MEN'S HOCKEY ROUNDUP: Varsity Blues hand Laurier a 3-2 loss
Tuesday, January 7
McGill 4 @ UQTR 6
TROIS-RIVIERES, Que. -- Guillaume Asselin and Martin Lefebvre each tallied twice and added an assist as the No.8-ranked UQTR Patriotes outlasted No.6-McGill 6-4 in OUA men's hockey at Le Colisée, Tuesday.
Tommy Tremblay added five helpers for the streaking Pats, who won for the fifth straight outing, the ninth time in 10 games and their 15th in a row at home dating back to last January. Third-place UQTR (12-4-0) now sits one point behind second-place McGill (12-5-1), with two games in hand.
Despite the loss, McGill outshot the Patriotes by a significant 47-27 margin, including a 20-5 advantage in the final period.
"There was some things that were really positive but there were certainly some negatives that cost us the game," said McGill head coach Kelly Nobes. "In the first period, we didn't shoot the puck enough. (Le Colisée) is a small barn and once you are inside the blueline, there are a lot of opportunities to shoot and we didn't get enough shots on net. Clearly we rectified that over the last two periods, when we got 39 pucks on the net."
The story of the night was special teams and goaltending, at both ends of the rink. UQTR went 3-for-5 on the power-play, while the Redmen were 2-for-5.
"I thought we dominated the play at even strength but our penalty-klll can't allow three goals against," said Nobes, whose troops were missing three regulars from the PK unit, including veteran Marc-Olivier Vachon, their top centre, who was sick. "We've done well there most of the season but didn't get a good job of getting into shooting lanes and blocking shots tonight. We need to be better there if we want to go deep into the playoffs."
McGill dressed two rookie goaltenders, both with experience in the American Hockey League, but neither was especially effective.
Starter Jacob Gervais-Chouinard, who had a pro stint with the Montreal Canadiens farm team in Hamilton, has been ranked among the top three netminders in the OUA in most statistical categories through the first semester. He was beaten three times on nine shots before giving way to understudy Karel St. Laurent, who was making his CIS debut after pro stops in Providence (AHL) and Jonquiere (LNAH). The 6-foot-4, 197-pound St. Laurent collected his first assist in CIS play to spark a 3-goal rally for the Redmen but took the loss, conceding three goals on 18 shots over the final two periods.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, UQTR goalie Marc-Antoine Gelinas, was also credited with an assist, while registering 43 saves for the victory, 19 of them in the final stanza.
The Pats jumped into a 3-0 first-period lead, on markers by Guillaume Belanger, Pierre-Olivier Morin and a disputed goal by Lefebvre, who connected on a "buzzer-beater". A video replay later showed that the period-ending green light had been on before the puck entered the net. But CIS hockey does not use video replay and the referees eventually ruled that the goal was good.
Undaunted, the Redmen came out in the middle period and rallied to tie the score at 3-3 on markers by centre Mathieu Pompei (3:42) in addition to rearguards Ryan McKiernan(5:26) and Etienne Boutet (17:19). It was the team-leading ninth of the season for McKiernan, who is ranks second among all OUA defencemen in points, with a 9-11-20 record in 18 games.
It was the first career goal in CIS play for Boutet, a 21-year-old who joined the team earlier this week after playing pro for Idaho in the East Coast Hockey League. He had only one practice under his belt before making his debut with the Redmen.
Just 78 seconds later, however, Lefebvre struck for his second of the soiree to give UQTR a 4-3 edge after two.
Asselin added his first of two at 7:15 of the final stanza to put the Pats ahead 5-3 but Jean-Philippe Mathieu, another McGill blueliner, connected on the power-play at 13:47, setting the stage for a nervy finish. Asselin all but snuffed out any hopes of another McGill comeback when he scored again, just 73 seconds later, capping off a nifty three-way passing play from Tremblay and Billy Lacasse to put the contest on ice.
Although the game was a relatively tame one -- with only 30 minutes in penalties dished out by referees Pascal St-Jacques and Jonathan Trudel -- it ended with tempers on the verge of flaring, so the officials intervened as the teams were lining up to shake hands and instructed McGill to leave the ice.
The Pats improved their overall head-to-head series record against McGill to 148-72-17 but the Redmen have posted a 19-10-0 mark in the last 29 meetings and won the season series 2-1. In regular season play, UQTR is now 107-47-17 against McGill.
McGill continues their five-game road trip in Ottawa on Friday, against the fifth-place Gee-Gees, who sit just two points back with an 11-6-1 record. The Redmen will conclude their marathon excursion in Kingston, Saturday, against division-leading Queen's (12-0-5) in the first of a home-and-home matchup. They return home to host the Gaels on Jan. 17 in the annual Management Winter Carnival Game
REDMEN RAP: It was the fifth time this season that McGill had been in a game that featured 10 or more goals... The Redmen have won three of them -- a 6-4 exhibition win over Concordia, a 9-1 decision at RMC and a 9-3 conquest over the Stingers... The other was a 6-4 setback to Carleton... McGill has now scored 19 goals from their defensive corps, the highest total among all 20 OUA teams... Windsor is ranked second with 13... McGill leads all OUA teams in PP goals and is ranked fifth in PP efficiency (23.8%), scoring 24 times in 101 opportunities... The Redmen PK unit dropped from third in the OUA to sixth at 85.1 per cent, killing off 74 of 87 chances.
Source: McGill Sports Info
Wednesday, January 8
York 3 @ Brock 4 (SO)
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – The Brock Badgers men's hockey team (7-8-3 OUA West) earned a pivotal two points in Wednesday's 4-3 shootout win over the York University Lions (8-8-1 OUA West).
York opened the scoring at 2:01 of the first period when Adam Logozzo potted his first career OUA goal, assisted from John De Gray and Chad Hohmann.
Midway through the first, Matt Abercrombie (Sarnia, Ont.) scored his 50th career OUA goal and 8th of the season on a pass from Johnson Andrews while on the man advantage.
After each team trade goals in the opening frame, Brock took its first lead of the game on a skilled play by Andrew Radjenovic (Hamilton, Ont.), who beat Chris Perugini for his fifth of the season. Mike McGurk and Dylan MacEacherneach tallied assists on the goal.
Brock would bolster its lead when Thomas Stajan (Mississauga, Ont.) set up Abercrombie, who buried his second of the game with eight seconds left in the second period.
York fought back in the third period, with goals at 7:50 and 14:55 by John De Gray and Tyler McGee, respectively, to tie the game at 3-3 and force overtime.
Scoreless through the extra frame, with several excellent stops by Brock's Adrian Volpe (Burlington, Ont.) and York's Chris Perugini, resulted in a shootout to decide the outcome.
Radjenovic, Abercrombie and Tanel were all stopped through the opening round of the shootout, with Volpe denying the three York shooters bearing down on him at the other end.
With a sudden death scenario and important divisional points on the line, Sammy Banga (Windsor, Ont.) went to his backhand and beat Perugini to lift the Badgers to victory and move into a three-way tie with York and Waterloo, each with 17 points apiece in the OUA West.
Volpe made 40 saves in the win for the Badgers.
Brock returns to action Friday, January 10th when they host the Lakehead University Thunderwolves at 7:15pm at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
Source: Brock Sports Info
Thursday, January 9
Toronto 3 @ Laurier 2
WATERLOO, Ont. - Despite scoring a pair of goals in the third period, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's hockey team could not overcome the Toronto Varsity Blues as they lost 3-2 on Thursday night at the Waterloo Recreation Complex.
Tyler von Engelbrechten of Markham, Ont., led the Blues with a pair of goals while Tyler Liukkonen of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., scored the game winning goal on the powerplay midway through the third period.
Greg Cerilli of Barrie, Ont., and Ben Skinner of Markham, Ont., responded with goals for the purple and gold.
In what was a very chippy game between two OUA West division rivals, it was the Blues that took control early on as von Engelbrechten scored his seventh of the season just 28 seconds into the contest.
That score would hold until early in the second period when von Engelbrechten struck again for Toronto, banging a rebound home past Hawks goalie Duncan Long of Brantford, Ont., on the powerplay.
Despite trailing by two goals entering the third period, the Hawks had generated offence for much of the game and finally capitalized less than a minute into the third period. Cerilli fired home his fourth of the season past Toronto starter Brett Willows of Rivers, Man., to cut into the Blues lead.
After Liukkonen restored Toronto's lead by finishing off a 5-on-3 man advantage, Laurier got a lucky bounce with less than four minutes to play. Skinner's centering pass deflected off a stick and into the net to give the Hawks life.
However, despite a late push from the purple and gold, they could not find the tying goal en route to their third consecutive loss.
With the defeat, Laurier's record falls to 5-10-1 on the year while Toronto improves to 10-7-2.
The Hawks will now head to London where they will face their rivals, the Western Mustangs, on Friday night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Thompson Arena.
Source: Laurier Sports Info
Ryerson 3 @ Guelph 2 (OT)
Guelph, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphon men's hockey team opened their 2014 schedule at the Gryphon Centre Thursday night and came out on the short end as the CIS No. 10 Ryerson Rams left Guelph with a 3-2 overtime victory.
The Gryphons made a late charge with two third period goals to tie the game and send it to overtime but it was the Rams Jamie Wise to score the winner.
The Gryphons started out strong taking control of the puck for the first few minutes of the first period, but an attempted shot by a Guelph player caused a turnover and Ryerson took control of the puck. Both teams were evenly matched, with both teams successfully boxing out the opposing offenses. Gryphon player Leonard Fabbri (Mississauga, Ont.) would come close to scoring for Guelph, but Ryerson's goalie Troy Passingham (Mississauga, Ont.) would ultimately keep the game scoreless. The Rams were able to take advantage of the Guelph turnovers, setting up scoring frequent scoring opportunities. Domenic Alberga (Maple, Ont.) was able to break through the Gryphon defensemen into Guelph territory, but was unable to beat Gryphon goalie, Andrew Loverock (Elmvale, Ont.).
Ryerson got the first power play of the game after a charging call on Guelph player Kyle Neuber at 6:03. The Gryphons would successfully kill the penalty and the first period would remain scoreless.
The Rams started the second period with a scoring opportunity early on with an across the ice pass to Jamie Wise (Stouffville, Ont.), who was unable to beat Loverock. The Gryphons would get a power play after a hooking call on Ryerson player Daniel Lombardi (Richmond Hill, Ont.) at 2:45. Brett Appio (Bolton, Ont.) would come close to making a play, with Robert De Fulviis (Toronto, Ont.) chipping the puck over just over the net shortly after.
The Gryphons upped the intensity later on in the period, passing the Rams in shots on goal with Ryerson goalie, Troy Passingham saving 11 shots in the second half of the second period. Despite the Gryphons outshooting the Rams in the second period, it would be Ryerson who would get on the board first with Lucas Froese (Grunthal, MB) making it 1-0 in the last minute of the second period, with Victor Terreri (Mississauga, Ont.) and Daniel Lombardi on the assists.
The Gryphons started the third period with penalties early on after a checking to the head call on Brett Appio at 1:28 that included a 10 minute misconduct and a tripping call on Nicklas Huard (North Bay, Ont.) shortly after, at the 2:00 minute mark. Ryerson player Michael Fine (Toronto, Ont.) would use the two man-advantage to score the Ram's second goal of the game at 2:38 in the power play from the top of the crease, with Alberga and Wise on the assists.
The Gryphons would not go scoreless however with Thomas Kohler (St. Thomas, Ont.) scoring Guelph's first goal of the night in a scrum in front of the net at 15:23 in the third period, with Appio and Michael Hasson (Ariss, Ont.) on the assists making it 2-1. Nicklas Huard would score from the red line to tie it up 2-2 against the Rams in the last two minutes of play, with Kenneth Peroff (Astorville, Ont.) on the assist sending the game into overtime.
The Gryphons would put up a fight, but ultimately it would be the Rams who scored in overtime. Ryerson player Jamie Wise would score the game-winning goal for the Rams with Kent McPherson (Stratford, Ont.) on the assist. It would be a final score of 3-2 in favour of the Rams.
Despite being out scored, the Gryphons out shot the Rams with a total of 28-23 for Guelph.
The Gryphons hit the ice again on Saturday, January 11th against the Windsor Lancers at the Gryphon Centre with the puck set to drop at 7:30 p.m.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
McGill 4 @ UQTR 6
TROIS-RIVIERES, Que. -- Guillaume Asselin and Martin Lefebvre each tallied twice and added an assist as the No.8-ranked UQTR Patriotes outlasted No.6-McGill 6-4 in OUA men's hockey at Le Colisée, Tuesday.
Tommy Tremblay added five helpers for the streaking Pats, who won for the fifth straight outing, the ninth time in 10 games and their 15th in a row at home dating back to last January. Third-place UQTR (12-4-0) now sits one point behind second-place McGill (12-5-1), with two games in hand.
Despite the loss, McGill outshot the Patriotes by a significant 47-27 margin, including a 20-5 advantage in the final period.
"There was some things that were really positive but there were certainly some negatives that cost us the game," said McGill head coach Kelly Nobes. "In the first period, we didn't shoot the puck enough. (Le Colisée) is a small barn and once you are inside the blueline, there are a lot of opportunities to shoot and we didn't get enough shots on net. Clearly we rectified that over the last two periods, when we got 39 pucks on the net."
The story of the night was special teams and goaltending, at both ends of the rink. UQTR went 3-for-5 on the power-play, while the Redmen were 2-for-5.
"I thought we dominated the play at even strength but our penalty-klll can't allow three goals against," said Nobes, whose troops were missing three regulars from the PK unit, including veteran Marc-Olivier Vachon, their top centre, who was sick. "We've done well there most of the season but didn't get a good job of getting into shooting lanes and blocking shots tonight. We need to be better there if we want to go deep into the playoffs."
McGill dressed two rookie goaltenders, both with experience in the American Hockey League, but neither was especially effective.
Starter Jacob Gervais-Chouinard, who had a pro stint with the Montreal Canadiens farm team in Hamilton, has been ranked among the top three netminders in the OUA in most statistical categories through the first semester. He was beaten three times on nine shots before giving way to understudy Karel St. Laurent, who was making his CIS debut after pro stops in Providence (AHL) and Jonquiere (LNAH). The 6-foot-4, 197-pound St. Laurent collected his first assist in CIS play to spark a 3-goal rally for the Redmen but took the loss, conceding three goals on 18 shots over the final two periods.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, UQTR goalie Marc-Antoine Gelinas, was also credited with an assist, while registering 43 saves for the victory, 19 of them in the final stanza.
The Pats jumped into a 3-0 first-period lead, on markers by Guillaume Belanger, Pierre-Olivier Morin and a disputed goal by Lefebvre, who connected on a "buzzer-beater". A video replay later showed that the period-ending green light had been on before the puck entered the net. But CIS hockey does not use video replay and the referees eventually ruled that the goal was good.
Undaunted, the Redmen came out in the middle period and rallied to tie the score at 3-3 on markers by centre Mathieu Pompei (3:42) in addition to rearguards Ryan McKiernan(5:26) and Etienne Boutet (17:19). It was the team-leading ninth of the season for McKiernan, who is ranks second among all OUA defencemen in points, with a 9-11-20 record in 18 games.
It was the first career goal in CIS play for Boutet, a 21-year-old who joined the team earlier this week after playing pro for Idaho in the East Coast Hockey League. He had only one practice under his belt before making his debut with the Redmen.
Just 78 seconds later, however, Lefebvre struck for his second of the soiree to give UQTR a 4-3 edge after two.
Asselin added his first of two at 7:15 of the final stanza to put the Pats ahead 5-3 but Jean-Philippe Mathieu, another McGill blueliner, connected on the power-play at 13:47, setting the stage for a nervy finish. Asselin all but snuffed out any hopes of another McGill comeback when he scored again, just 73 seconds later, capping off a nifty three-way passing play from Tremblay and Billy Lacasse to put the contest on ice.
Although the game was a relatively tame one -- with only 30 minutes in penalties dished out by referees Pascal St-Jacques and Jonathan Trudel -- it ended with tempers on the verge of flaring, so the officials intervened as the teams were lining up to shake hands and instructed McGill to leave the ice.
The Pats improved their overall head-to-head series record against McGill to 148-72-17 but the Redmen have posted a 19-10-0 mark in the last 29 meetings and won the season series 2-1. In regular season play, UQTR is now 107-47-17 against McGill.
McGill continues their five-game road trip in Ottawa on Friday, against the fifth-place Gee-Gees, who sit just two points back with an 11-6-1 record. The Redmen will conclude their marathon excursion in Kingston, Saturday, against division-leading Queen's (12-0-5) in the first of a home-and-home matchup. They return home to host the Gaels on Jan. 17 in the annual Management Winter Carnival Game
REDMEN RAP: It was the fifth time this season that McGill had been in a game that featured 10 or more goals... The Redmen have won three of them -- a 6-4 exhibition win over Concordia, a 9-1 decision at RMC and a 9-3 conquest over the Stingers... The other was a 6-4 setback to Carleton... McGill has now scored 19 goals from their defensive corps, the highest total among all 20 OUA teams... Windsor is ranked second with 13... McGill leads all OUA teams in PP goals and is ranked fifth in PP efficiency (23.8%), scoring 24 times in 101 opportunities... The Redmen PK unit dropped from third in the OUA to sixth at 85.1 per cent, killing off 74 of 87 chances.
Source: McGill Sports Info
Wednesday, January 8
York 3 @ Brock 4 (SO)
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. – The Brock Badgers men's hockey team (7-8-3 OUA West) earned a pivotal two points in Wednesday's 4-3 shootout win over the York University Lions (8-8-1 OUA West).
York opened the scoring at 2:01 of the first period when Adam Logozzo potted his first career OUA goal, assisted from John De Gray and Chad Hohmann.
Midway through the first, Matt Abercrombie (Sarnia, Ont.) scored his 50th career OUA goal and 8th of the season on a pass from Johnson Andrews while on the man advantage.
After each team trade goals in the opening frame, Brock took its first lead of the game on a skilled play by Andrew Radjenovic (Hamilton, Ont.), who beat Chris Perugini for his fifth of the season. Mike McGurk and Dylan MacEacherneach tallied assists on the goal.
Brock would bolster its lead when Thomas Stajan (Mississauga, Ont.) set up Abercrombie, who buried his second of the game with eight seconds left in the second period.
York fought back in the third period, with goals at 7:50 and 14:55 by John De Gray and Tyler McGee, respectively, to tie the game at 3-3 and force overtime.
Scoreless through the extra frame, with several excellent stops by Brock's Adrian Volpe (Burlington, Ont.) and York's Chris Perugini, resulted in a shootout to decide the outcome.
Radjenovic, Abercrombie and Tanel were all stopped through the opening round of the shootout, with Volpe denying the three York shooters bearing down on him at the other end.
With a sudden death scenario and important divisional points on the line, Sammy Banga (Windsor, Ont.) went to his backhand and beat Perugini to lift the Badgers to victory and move into a three-way tie with York and Waterloo, each with 17 points apiece in the OUA West.
Volpe made 40 saves in the win for the Badgers.
Brock returns to action Friday, January 10th when they host the Lakehead University Thunderwolves at 7:15pm at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.
Source: Brock Sports Info
Thursday, January 9
Toronto 3 @ Laurier 2
WATERLOO, Ont. - Despite scoring a pair of goals in the third period, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's hockey team could not overcome the Toronto Varsity Blues as they lost 3-2 on Thursday night at the Waterloo Recreation Complex.
Tyler von Engelbrechten of Markham, Ont., led the Blues with a pair of goals while Tyler Liukkonen of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., scored the game winning goal on the powerplay midway through the third period.
Greg Cerilli of Barrie, Ont., and Ben Skinner of Markham, Ont., responded with goals for the purple and gold.
In what was a very chippy game between two OUA West division rivals, it was the Blues that took control early on as von Engelbrechten scored his seventh of the season just 28 seconds into the contest.
That score would hold until early in the second period when von Engelbrechten struck again for Toronto, banging a rebound home past Hawks goalie Duncan Long of Brantford, Ont., on the powerplay.
Despite trailing by two goals entering the third period, the Hawks had generated offence for much of the game and finally capitalized less than a minute into the third period. Cerilli fired home his fourth of the season past Toronto starter Brett Willows of Rivers, Man., to cut into the Blues lead.
After Liukkonen restored Toronto's lead by finishing off a 5-on-3 man advantage, Laurier got a lucky bounce with less than four minutes to play. Skinner's centering pass deflected off a stick and into the net to give the Hawks life.
However, despite a late push from the purple and gold, they could not find the tying goal en route to their third consecutive loss.
With the defeat, Laurier's record falls to 5-10-1 on the year while Toronto improves to 10-7-2.
The Hawks will now head to London where they will face their rivals, the Western Mustangs, on Friday night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Thompson Arena.
Source: Laurier Sports Info
Ryerson 3 @ Guelph 2 (OT)
Guelph, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphon men's hockey team opened their 2014 schedule at the Gryphon Centre Thursday night and came out on the short end as the CIS No. 10 Ryerson Rams left Guelph with a 3-2 overtime victory.
The Gryphons made a late charge with two third period goals to tie the game and send it to overtime but it was the Rams Jamie Wise to score the winner.
The Gryphons started out strong taking control of the puck for the first few minutes of the first period, but an attempted shot by a Guelph player caused a turnover and Ryerson took control of the puck. Both teams were evenly matched, with both teams successfully boxing out the opposing offenses. Gryphon player Leonard Fabbri (Mississauga, Ont.) would come close to scoring for Guelph, but Ryerson's goalie Troy Passingham (Mississauga, Ont.) would ultimately keep the game scoreless. The Rams were able to take advantage of the Guelph turnovers, setting up scoring frequent scoring opportunities. Domenic Alberga (Maple, Ont.) was able to break through the Gryphon defensemen into Guelph territory, but was unable to beat Gryphon goalie, Andrew Loverock (Elmvale, Ont.).
Ryerson got the first power play of the game after a charging call on Guelph player Kyle Neuber at 6:03. The Gryphons would successfully kill the penalty and the first period would remain scoreless.
The Rams started the second period with a scoring opportunity early on with an across the ice pass to Jamie Wise (Stouffville, Ont.), who was unable to beat Loverock. The Gryphons would get a power play after a hooking call on Ryerson player Daniel Lombardi (Richmond Hill, Ont.) at 2:45. Brett Appio (Bolton, Ont.) would come close to making a play, with Robert De Fulviis (Toronto, Ont.) chipping the puck over just over the net shortly after.
The Gryphons upped the intensity later on in the period, passing the Rams in shots on goal with Ryerson goalie, Troy Passingham saving 11 shots in the second half of the second period. Despite the Gryphons outshooting the Rams in the second period, it would be Ryerson who would get on the board first with Lucas Froese (Grunthal, MB) making it 1-0 in the last minute of the second period, with Victor Terreri (Mississauga, Ont.) and Daniel Lombardi on the assists.
The Gryphons started the third period with penalties early on after a checking to the head call on Brett Appio at 1:28 that included a 10 minute misconduct and a tripping call on Nicklas Huard (North Bay, Ont.) shortly after, at the 2:00 minute mark. Ryerson player Michael Fine (Toronto, Ont.) would use the two man-advantage to score the Ram's second goal of the game at 2:38 in the power play from the top of the crease, with Alberga and Wise on the assists.
The Gryphons would not go scoreless however with Thomas Kohler (St. Thomas, Ont.) scoring Guelph's first goal of the night in a scrum in front of the net at 15:23 in the third period, with Appio and Michael Hasson (Ariss, Ont.) on the assists making it 2-1. Nicklas Huard would score from the red line to tie it up 2-2 against the Rams in the last two minutes of play, with Kenneth Peroff (Astorville, Ont.) on the assist sending the game into overtime.
The Gryphons would put up a fight, but ultimately it would be the Rams who scored in overtime. Ryerson player Jamie Wise would score the game-winning goal for the Rams with Kent McPherson (Stratford, Ont.) on the assist. It would be a final score of 3-2 in favour of the Rams.
Despite being out scored, the Gryphons out shot the Rams with a total of 28-23 for Guelph.
The Gryphons hit the ice again on Saturday, January 11th against the Windsor Lancers at the Gryphon Centre with the puck set to drop at 7:30 p.m.
Source: Guelph Sports Info
