OUA roundup: Nipissing continues stellar opening season with weekend sweep

NORTH BAY, Ont. - The Nipissing Lakers finally delivered a triumphant reason for their fans to celebrate and it was a familiar face who rang the doorbell.

Justin Villeneuve, no stranger to Memorial Gardens after playing junior 'A' hockey for parts of the past two seasons with the North Bay Skyhawks, scored the game-winning goal with 8:47 remaining in regulation as the Nipissing Lakers clinched their first victory on home ice with a 4-3 nailbiter against the Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday.

It was Villeneuve's second goal of his young Ontario University Athletics career, the first coming 6:28 earlier when he staked the Lakers a 3-2 lead on a harmless shot that fooled Blues goalie Russ Brownell, who may have been screened by his own defenceman.

The Lakers shot early and often, dumping 38 shots at Brownell, including 18 in the second period as Dan Watt, with a top-shelf backhand on a breakaway, and Sam Hopewell scored for the Lakers to stake a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.

Byron Elliot scored twice on the power play for the Varsity Blues, who were able to jump on Lakers mistakes. But both times Villeneuve struck back, including a yawning cage tap-in with 8:47 remaining, and goalie Kyle Cantlon held tight with a couple of solid saves with the clock ticking down to secure the win.

Cantlon made 30 saves on the night for his second win of the season. Joel Lenius scored the other goal for the Varsity Blues, who were without their top defenceman in Ed Snetsinger and a couple other players due to injuries.

The Nipissing Lakers rode their power play to victory Saturday afternoon, scoring twice on six opportunities and extending their winning streak to three games with a 5-2 victory over the Ryerson Rams.

Andrew Marcoux, with his league-leading fifth goal of the season and Matt Lahey, with the game-winner, both scored on the man advantage while Villeneuve, Marcus Pryde and Watt, with an empty-netter, scored even-strength goals for the Lakers (3-1-1).

After scoring two goals in their past three games on the power play, the Lakers doubled their output Saturday by spreading the puck around the offensive zone. Friday, they went 0-fer on the man advantage because they were focusing too much on setting up plays on one side of the ice, head coach Mike McParland said.

As did Lakers 'keeper Kyle Cantlon, who earned his second win in less than 24 hours with a 32-save performance. It was Cantlon's third straight victory as well following last weekend's 8-2 triumph over the Concordia Stingers.

But by no means was it an easy romp on the road for the Lakers, however, as they played to a tie through 40 minutes with the Rams in the close and cozy George Bell Arena as Matt Schmermund scored a pair for Ryerson in the first and second periods.

It wasn't until the third when the Lakers jumped on their chances and nearly had the lead early when a penalty shot goal by Lahey was waved off despite the fact the Lakers captain squeaked a puck past George, who made the initial save.

McParland was a bit miffed because he said the referee hadn't blown the play dead and George was still moving toward the net before the puck trickled in.

No matter, Lahey scored on a power play at 3:22 to ice the game.

MCGILL 5, CONCORDIA 2

At McGill, the Redmen won their OUA home opener by defeating the Concordia Stingers 5-2 in the Battle of Montreal.

Scoring for the Redmen were Yan Turcotte, Ben Morse, Evan Vossen, Maxime Langelier-Parent and Guillaume Doucet.

Left winger Cory McGillis scored both Concordia (0-4-0) goals.

CARLETON 5, OTTAWA 2

At Ottawa, the Carleton Ravens extended its winning streak Friday night with a 5-2 victory over cross-town rivals the uOttawa Gee-Gees at the uOttawa Sports Complex.

The Gee-Gees opened the scoring when Ryne Gove (Cornwall, Ont.) beat Ravens goalie Alexander Archibald (Ottawa). With just over two minutes left in the period, Ravens forward Andrew Self (Peterborough, Ont.) made a cross-crease pass to Justin Caruana (Orono, Ont.) who made no mistake, putting Carleton on the board.

The Gee-Gees did a good job of keeping the Ravens to the outside but with 10 seconds left in the two-man advantage, Shane Bakker (Navan, Ont.) beat uOttawa goalie Riley Whitlock (Calgary) to give Carleton its first lead of the game.

The Ravens would capitalize on a power play when Mike Byrd (Kemptville, Ont.) netted the Ravens third goal. Just a couple of minutes later, Gee-Gees centre Brandon McBride (Whitby, Ont.) made a great pass from the half boards to Corey Thibaudeau (Ottawa) who put the puck in the net. The Gee-Gees had a great chance to tie the game when Gove got past the Carleton defenders for another breakaway but Archibald stoned him again. Yves Bastien (Dowling, Ont.) came right back and scored.

Gee-Gees forward Paul Forster (North Vancouver, B.C.) passed to Scott Ashton (Ottawa). It looked like he had a wide open net but he couldn't put it away. The Gee-Gees pulled their goalie in favour of an extra attacker with just over a minute left to play. Derek Wells (Alymer, Que.) showed great speed to beat the Gee-Gees to the puck and put it in the empty net, giving Carleton the 5-2 win.

LAKEHEAD 9, UOIT 5

At UOIT, Scott Dobben (Drayton, Ont.) scored a goal in all three periods and added an assist to lead the Lakehead Thunderwolves to a 9-5 win against the UOIT Ridgebacks, Friday night at the Campus Ice Centre in Oshawa, Ont.

Dobben's first marker came as part of a dominant first period during which the Thunderwolves outscored the Ridgebacks 5-1 to put the game nearly out of reach in the early going. Mark Soares (Burnaby, B.C.), Pierre-Marc Guilbault (St. Julie, Que.), Adam Sergerie (Thunder Bay, Ont.), and Dan Speer (Thunder Bay, Ont.) also scored during the opening 20 minutes while Shandor Alphonso (Orangeville, Ont.) and Brock McPerson (Brampton, Ont.) added goals in the second and third periods, respectively.

Freshman Victor Anilane (Gothenburg, Sweden), Ryan Baird (Thunder Bay, Ont.), Kalvin Sagert (Abbotsford, B.C.) and Mitch Maunu (Thunder Bay, Ont.) added multi-point nights, each registering two assists.

Kyle Wetering (Pickering, Ont.) led the Ridgebacks with two goals while Scott Baker (Mactier, Ont.), Brent Varty (Oshawa, Ont.) and Mike Noyes (Lucan, Ont.) added markers of their own. Derrick Bagshaw (Oshawa, Ont.) was UOIT's top set-up man with two assists.

WESTERN 3, YORK 0

At Western, rookie netminder Anthony Grieco (Brampton, Ont.) was the key component in Western's 3-0 win over the York Lions, earning a shutout on Oct. 16 at Thompson Arena.

Western's goals were claimed by Kevin Baker (Georgetown, Ont.), Patrick Ouellet (Baie-Comeau, Que.), and Joe McCann (Essex, Ont.).

The Mustangs (2-2-0) took a 1-0 lead early in the game after Jason Swit (Mississauga, Ont.) held the puck in at the offensive blue-line and pushed the puck past York's defenceman to Yashar Farmanara (West Vancouver, B.C.) who hit a wide open Baker in front of the net. Baker released a quick one-timer past Lions goaltender David Davenport (Bradford, Ont.).

Ouellet redirected Mustang defenceman Ryan Martinelli's (London, Ont.) shot from the point through Davenport's legs to go 1-for-3 on the power play.

McCann earned Western's third goal after the puck sat on the goal line and he was able to tap his own rebound in past Davenport.

BROCK 4, WATERLOO 3, SO

At Brock, the Badgers (4-0-0) extended their winning steak as Ryan Allen (Ft. McMurray, Alta.) scored the shootout winner to defeat the Waterloo Warriors (3-0-1) by a 4-3 score. Waterloo led by a goal at two different points during the game, but Brock always managed to battle back.

Brock opened the scoring early, as Derek Brochu (Welland, Ont.) scored his third marker of the season just 3:41 into the first period. The seesaw battle began as Waterloo answered with Thomas Cardiff (London, Ont.) burying his own rebound to tie the game at one. Late in the period rookie goaltender Mark Yetman (Mt. Pearl, Nfld.) came up big to keep the game all square heading into the second period.

Penalty trouble allowed fifth year forward Shane Hart (Guelph, Ont.) to put Waterloo ahead. A tick-tac-toe passing play found Hart all alone in the slot, where he made no mistake and found the back of the net.

Brock answered late in the second period as Joe Tolles (Toledo, Ohio) let a howitzer go from the top of the circle to tie the game up. Tolles has proven an early threat for the Badgers, as the freshman defencemen is tied for the team lead in scoring with three goals.

The Badgers dominated the third period, yet it was Waterloo who took the lead early in the third as Hart made a nifty move to his backhand on the rush and beat Yetman. The Badgers hero came in the form of Steve Pattison (Red Deer, Alta.) who capitalized on a rebound and tied the game with just 1:25 left in the game.

Both teams managed scoring chances in the overtime period, but neither goalie was giving an inch, and the game had to be decided by a shootout.

Yetman put forth a brilliant display of goaltending saving all three Waterloo shooters. Brock's Ryan Allen outmanoeuvred Keaton Hartigan (Kitchener, Ont.) in the first shootout attempt giving the Badgers their fourth victory of the season.

LAURIER 4, WINDSOR 2

At Laurier, the Golden Hawks (3-0-1) were victorious with a 4-2 win over the visiting Windsor Lancers on Saturday.

The purple and gold struck early with a Ryan Bellows (St. Catharines, Ont.) goal just 24 seconds into the first period. Jason Bergeron (Ancaster, Ont.) gave the Hawks a two-goal margin late in the first to send Laurier to the dressing rooms with a two point advantage over the visitors.

Clinton Pettapiece (Christina Lake, B.C.) started off the second period well with a goal. The Lancers would finally beat Hawk netminder Jeff MacDougald (Shallow Lake, Ont.) with a power play marker from Danny Anger (Woodslee, Ont.) midway through the second.

Laurier received a power play goal of their own courtesy of Phil Magistrale (Tsawwassen, B.C.) who was setup by team captain Jean-Michel Rizk (Dunham, Que.). Lancers player Mike Barbour (New Glasgow, N.S.) would score a goal late in the third but it would be too little too late for the visitors.

Laurier netminder Jeff MacDougald (Shallow Lake, Ont.) turned aside 28 of 30 shots on net while the goaltending tandem of Jim Watt (Edmonton, Alta.) and Frank Dayus (Tecumseh, Ont.) stopped 27 of 31 shots.

OTTAWA 5, CARLETON 2

At Carleton, the Ravens (3-1-0) suffered their first defeat of the season, falling 5-2 to the uOttawa Gee-Gees (1-3-0).

Gee-Gees forwards Lucas Bini (Rouen, France) and Ryne Gove (Cornwall, Ont.) came in on a two-on-one and put it past Ravens goalie Alexander Archibald (Ottawa) for a shorthanded goal. uOttawa was a man down when Andrew Self (Peterborough, Ont.) fired a shot from the point and beat Gee-Gees goalie Riley Whitlock (Calgary) to tie the game with just over a minute left.

Carleton's Brandon MacLean (Burlington, Ont.) dropped the puck for Mike Byrd (Kemptville, Ont.) who scored. The Gee-Gees tied the game at two when Corey Thibaudeau (Ottawa) came in on a two-on-one. He opted to shoot and fired the puck into the back of the net. Just minutes later, Mikaël Morin (Gatineau, Que.) let go of a heavy shot just inside the blue line, beating Archibald to restore the Gee-Gees one-goal lead.

Just six minutes into the third, Gove passed to a wide open Jonathan Reid (Saint-John's, Nfld.) who made sure the puck found the back of the net. The Gee-Gees would add another before the final whistle. Gove picked up the puck at the half boards and put it between Archibald's legs for his second shorthanded marker of the game.

UOIT 6, LAKEHEAD 5, SO

At UOIT, the Ridgebacks (1-4-0) got into the win column with a 6-5 win over the Lakehead Thunderwolves (3-0-1) in a shootout.

After allowing a quick first goal just two minutes into the game, the Ridgebacks stormed back with two of their own to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Tony Rizzi (Kingston Ont.) scored on the power play while Josh Vatri (Barrie, Ont.) gave the Ridgebacks the lead shorthanded.

Midway through the second period, Jeremy Whelan (Pickering, Ont.) notched his fourth goal of the year while captain Derrick Bagshaw (Oshawa, Ont.) scored his second of the season.

Late in the second period, Lakehead added on two more goals to tie the game at 4-4, stunning the home faithful.

Lakehead took a 5-4 lead six minutes into the third period, but Brent Varty (Oshawa, Ont.) tied the game back up with seven minutes to go. The teams would go scoreless for the remainder of the game including overtime, sending it into a shootout.

In the shootout, Rizzi scored on the Ridgebacks first attempt with a slapshot from the hashmarks, giving UOIT a 1-0 lead. Rizzi's opening goal was all that is all the team would need as goaltender Jason Guy (Whitby, Ont.) stopped all three Thunderwolves attempts to secure the team's first regular season win.

YORK 6, WINDSOR 2

At York, the host Lions (1-3-0) collected its first win of the season on Sunday by thrashing the Windsor Lancers (0-4-0) by a 6-2 score in their home opener.

Captain Tyler Harrison (Whitby, Ont.) got things rolling with a quick goal on a pass from Nathaniel Brooks (Burlington, Ont.) in front of the Windsor net. The Lions seemed to be in control at this point, keeping the puck deep in the Lancers (0-4-0) zone until Windsor's Kyle Nishizaki (Chatham, Ont.) was able to convert on a cross-ice pass from Mike Barbour (New Glasgow, N.S.).

The Lions were unable to regain the momentum as they drew a tripping penalty and Windsor's Kyle Lang (Tilbury, Ont.) scored on a point shot to take the lead at 2-1.

Brooks scored 39 seconds into the second and Chris Jones (Grafton, Ont.) followed with another goal 68 seconds later to make it a 3-2 York lead. The Lions didn't stop there as Jesse Messier (Keswick, Ont.), J.K. Gill (Brampton, Ont.) and Matt Restoule (Val Caron, Ont.) scored within three minutes of each other to extend York's lead 6-2 on a five-goal period.

Brooks, Harrison and Jones all had three-point games with a goal and two assists each. Gill had an assist to go with his goal and Mackenzie Micks (Orillia, Ont.) and Kyle Searle (Newtonville, Ont.) each had two assists.

MCGILL 5, QUEEN'S 1

At Queen's, the Gaels (1-1-0) dropped their home opener, falling to the McGill Redmen (2-0-0) by a 5-1 score on Sunday.

Francis Verreault-Paul (Mashteviatsh, Que.), led the way for the Redmen with three points, netting two goals in the second period to break the game open. Verreault-Paul added an assist 28 seconds into the third on Marc-Andre Dorion (St. Hubert, Que.), first goal of the season.

The Gaels saw first-year forward Jordan Mirwaldt (Winnipeg, Man.) score his second goal of the season. Scott Kenway (Calgary), and rookie Payton Liske (Welland, Ont.), recorded assists on the Gaels lone goal.

TORONTO 3, RYERSON 1

At Toronto, the Varsity Blues (2-2-0) defeated the Ryerson Rams (1-2-1) by a 3-1 count in their 2009-10 home opener on Sunday at Varsity Arena.

The Blues opened up the scoring just 2:42 into the game when second-year forward Claudio Cowdrey (Mississauga, Ont.) sent a pass to linemate Byron Elliott (Burlington, Ont.) who made no mistake, one-timing it past Rams goaltender Paul Gibson (St. Thomas, Ont.).

The Rams finally got on the board when Matt Schmermund (Calahoo, Alta.) made a centering pass to Cory Konecny (Stoney Point, Ont.) who sent a snap shot into the top corner of the net.

Just 55 seconds later, Toronto native Bryden Teich tipped a Robert Kay (Orono, Ont.) shot that trickled through a hole and into the net.

After the scoreless second period, U of T added an insurance marker on the power play 6:31 into the final frame when first-year forward Brent McGrail (Mississauga, Ont.) tipped a Sean Kliewer (Brunkid, Man.) point shot past Gibson.

Martin made 36 saves and was named the Blues player of the game for his solid effort in net.

Source:

Nipissing Lakers, Carleton Ravens, Lakehead Thunderwolves, Western Mustangs, Brock Badgers, Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, York Lions, Queen’s Gaels, Toronto Varsity Blues with files from OUA Communications