OUA men's hockey roundup: No. 3 Mustangs win 13th straight

WATERLOO, Ont. - The No. 3 nationally-ranked Western Mustangs won their 13th straight game defeating the Waterloo Warriors 5-3 at Columbia Ice Field on Saturday in a battle for first place in the OUA.

Western improves to 13-2 on the season.

Aaron Snow (Windsor, Ont.) and Kyle Lamb (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) scored two goals each, while Yashar Farmanara (West Vancouver, B.C.) scored once for Western.

After Snow opened the scoring midway through the period, Lamb made it 2-0 capitalizing on a Luke Turcotte turnover a minute later.

Goaltender Anthony Grieco (Brampton, Ont.), who played the first period and allowed no goals making 15 saves for the win, robbed Warrior Steve Whitely twice on a Waterloo power play with Trevor Koverko (Toronto) in the box.

Keyvan Hunt (Coquitlam, B.C.) came in to play goal to start the second period and made 16 saves on 19 shots in relief to preserve the victory.

Western surrendered their first goal while enjoying a five-on-three man advantage, as Shane Hart created a turnover from Ryan Martinelli's (London, Ont.) giveaway at centre ice, setting up Chris Ray's shorthanded goal which made it 2-1 for Western.

Still at five-on-three, Farmanara almost immediately restored the two goal lead to make it 3-1, after being set up by Geoff Killing (Embro, Ont.).

Ray nearly scored his fifth shorthanded goal of the night, and second of the evening, off another Western power play turnover, this time on a five-on-four advantage, but Hunt bailed out the team with a good save, closing the five-hole with just over six minutes left in the second period.

Western led 3-1 after two periods with Hunt making 11 saves on 12 shots.

The Mustangs, which have not lost this year after leading after the first or second period (8-0 and 9-0 records respectively), received a score five seconds into the third period.

Forward Mike Sharp (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) took a late second-period crosschecking penalty, so Western was shorthanded to start the period and Waterloo's Kurt Thomer scored five seconds in, firing the puck over Hunt's right shoulder to pull Waterloo within one goal at 3-2.

It would be Waterloo's only goal on eight power play opportunities.

With 12:13 left in the game, Western rebounded as Lamb scored his second of game, putting home a rebound after a Martinelli point shot which gave Warriors' goalie Keaton Hartigan difficulty.

Snow notched his second to make it 5-2 a couple of minutes later and Ray scored his second goal of the game for Waterloo to make it 5-3 with 12 seconds left, but it was too late.

TORONTO 4, MCGILL 3

At Toronto, the Varsity Blues overcame a 3-1 second-period deficit to upset the No. 5 McGill Redmen 4-3 on Saturday at Varsity Arena.

Joe Rand's (Hamilton, Ont.) shorthanded marker with 9:26 remaining in the game would secure the come-from-behind victory for the Blues. The fifth-year forward deked out McGill goaltender Hubert Morin (St-Georges-de-Beauce, Que.) and slid a backhand along the ice into the net for the eventual game-winner.

Blues captain Brendan Sherrard opened up the scoring 4:32 into the game as he came out of the penalty box, picked up a loose puck and found himself all alone with Morin. The Etobicoke, Ont. native made no mistake, sending a hard snap shot through Morin and into the back of the net.

The Redmen evened the score just over four minutes later when Simon Marcotte-Légaré (Longueuil, Que.) finished off an Evan Vossen (Swift Current, Sask.) rebound. McGill gained the lead before the end of the first period off a power play marker from Yan Turcotte (Laval, Que.).

The Blues came out hungry in the second period, recording numerous scoring chances in the first five minutes. However, it would be McGill who would score next as Glenn Tindle (West Vancouver, B.C.) sent a shot at the net and Alexandre Picard-Hooper (Boucherville, Que.) picked up the rebound, wiring a shot over Blues goaltender Andrew Martin's (Mississauga, Ont.) blocker.

The Redmen held a 3-1 lead heading into the final frame.

Second-year forward Robert Kay (Orono, Ont.) would cut McGill's lead in half on a Toronto power play as he sent a booming wrist shot into the top corner of the net at the 7:28 minute mark of the third period.

The Blues carried that momentum over, tying the game just 40 seconds later when Markham, Ont. native Joel Lenius tipped an Ed Snetsinger (Ajax, Ont.) point shot past Morin and into the back of the net.

After Rand's go-ahead goal, the Blues ran into some penalty trouble and found themselves down 5-on-3 for 36 seconds. Toronto stood tall and played some solid defence, keeping McGill forwards to the outside and blocking numerous point shots to walk away with their first win in six games.

RYERSON 4, CARLETON 3

At Ryerson, the Rams edged the Carleton Ravens 4-3 in a key divisional match-up Saturday afternoon in Toronto.

The Ravens were full of confidence after their decisive 8-2 victory over the RMC Paladins last night. They came out hard from the moment the puck dropped and opened the scoring just two minutes in when Connor Barrett (Ottawa) notched his second goal in as many games. But the Rams answered back minutes later as Andrew Buck (Newmarket, Ont.) put the puck past Ravens goalie Alex Archibald (Ottawa). Both teams pushed for the go-ahead goal but neither was successful and the game remained tied at one at the end of the first.

Ryerson was able to pull ahead seconds into the second period when Brent Small (Pickering, Ont.) scored on the power play. A few minutes later, the Ravens got into penalty trouble, giving the Rams a two-man advantage. Ryerson was able to capitalize on a goal by Cory Konecny (Stoney Point, Ont.). Carleton cut into Ryerson's lead before the period was out when Ryan Medel (Ruthven, Ont.) beat Rams goalie Paul Gibson (St. Thomas, Ont.).

Early in the third, the Ravens tied the game when Barrett put away his second marker of the match. But, the Rams were hungry for the win and went up 4-3 midway through the period thanks to a goal by Stewart D'Eall (Toronto).The Ravens battled hard, but could not get the tying goal and Ryerson won their second game of the season series between the teams by a single goal.

UOIT 4, WINDSOR 2

At Windsor, Josh Vatri scored two goals including the game winner as the UOIT Ridgebacks defeated the Lancers 4-2 to split their two-game weekend series.

UOIT came out with a lot of confidence on Saturday scoring three goals on their first eight shots, chasing Windsor starting goaltender Jim Watt out of the game at the 13:06 minute mark of the first period. It was a complete turnaround from one night earlier as Watt had shutout the Ridgebacks in a 3-0 Windsor win.

Vatri (Barrie, Ont.) would go on to score his second goal of the game at the 2:25 minute mark of the second period to give UOIT a 4-0 lead.

In the third period, Windsor managed to score two goals to cut the Ridgebacks lead in half, but the blue and white shut the Lancers down the rest of the way to pull out their fifth win of the season.

Nathan Spaling (Drayton, Ont.) finished the night with three assists for UOIT, while freshman Scott Baker (Mactiar, Ont.) had two. Vatri and Spaling lead the Ridgebacks in scoring this season with 18 and 16 points respectively.

Jason Guy (Whitby, Ont.) was excellent in net for UOIT stopping 47 Lancer shots in the win, including 21 in the third period. Final shots in the game were 49-42 in favour of Windsor.

The Ridgebacks defensive unit did an excellent job of shutting down the Lancers with the man advantage as Windsor was only able to capitalize on one power play opportunity in nine tries. UOIT's specialty units have been great as they are now ranked seventh in penalty killing and fourth in power play efficiency.

LAURIER 3, BROCK 2

At Wilfrid Laurier, Mitchell Good scored the game winner to lift the Golden Hawks to a 3-2 victory over the host Brock Badgers.

The first period play was very back and forth with the Hawks edging the Badgers in shots 14-10. Laurier's Ryan Bellows (St. Catharines, Ont.) extended his goal scoring streak to four games with a power-play marker at 18:26. The goal also increased his current point streak to eight games.

The Hawks Paul Bradley (Calgary) picked up an interference penalty early in the second, but after killing it off Laurier came back and Nathan Peacock scored to make it 2-0. The score would stand until the third period.

The Badgers finally got on the board at 5:13 when Vince Scott beat Ryan Daniels (Pickering, Ont.), ruining his shutout bid. Brock tied it up midway through the third with a goal from Josh Schram. Two minutes later Good (Wellesley, Ont.) scored the game winner off a nice pass from Chad Kennedy (Mississauga, Ont.).

Daniels earned his fourth win of the season, stopping 28 of 30 shots on net, while his counterpart Mark Yetman turned aside 31 of 34 for the loss.

Laurier was able to capitalize on one of three power play opportunities while Brock was unable to score in three chances.

UQTR 4, TORONTO 3, OT

At Toronto, the Varsity Blues fell 4-3 in overtime to the No. 4 UQTR Patriotes on Friday.

Fourth-year UQTR defenceman Nicolas Desilets (Nicolet, Que.) secured the win just 1:15 into the overtime frame, sending a low shot from the point that trickled through a screened Blues goaltender Russ Brownell (Oakville, Ont.).

This is the second time in 2009-10 that the nationally ranked Patriotes have needed extra time to get past the Blues - the first coming on Oct. 31 when UQTR defeated Toronto 4-3 in a shootout.

The Blues opened the scoring when assistant captain Ed Snetsinger (Ajax, Ont.) skated in off the blue line and fed a pass to second-year forward Claudio Cowdrey (Mississauga, Ont.) who sent a snap shot over the glove of UQTR goaltender Jean-Christophe Blanchard (Trois-Riviéres, Que.) and into the net.

Toronto went up by two on their first power play opportunity of the game as Snetsinger sent a low wrist shot from the point to fellow veteran Joe Rand (Hamilton, Ont.) who tipped it through Blanchard's legs to find the back of the net.

UQTR would finally get on the board 7:27 into the second period when Steve Bellefleur (St-Basile-le-Grand, Que.) skated around a sprawling Brownell, sending a shot off the post and linemate Olivier Donovan (Gatineau, Que.) was there to put in the rebound.

The Patriotes continued to press but a solid effort from Brownell, including a big save on first-year forward Pierre-Alexandre Joncas' (Matane, Que.) short handed breakaway, would allow Toronto to maintain their 2-1 lead heading into the third period.

UQTR evened the score 1:43 into the third period as Francis Charland (Victoriaville, Que.) sent a shot from the high slot into the bottom left corner of the Blues net.

The Patriotes took their first lead of the game five minutes later as Alexandre Demers (Laurier-Station, Que.) finished off a beautiful passing play with Charland on a power play advantage.

The Blues began to rally in the last 10 minutes of regulation with solid scoring chances from forwards Robert Kay (Orono, Ont.) and Byron Elliott (Burlington, Ont.).

With Brownell pulled and just 15 seconds remaining on the clock, Elliott would keep the Blues hopes alive as he fought through a scramble to bury a Cowdrey rebound and force overtime.

MCGILL 7, NIPISSING 2

At Nipissing, Marc-André Daneau, a sophomore forward from Aston Jonction, Que., scored twice, including the game-winner, as No-5 ranked McGill Redmen sunk the Lakers 7-2 in OUA men's hockey before 1,795 at the Memorial Gardens in North Bay, Ont., Friday.

It was the seventh straight loss for Nipissing, an expansion team in the OUA with a 6-8-1 record, and the fourth straight victory for McGill, which improved to 10-1.

The Redmen led 3-0 after one period and 3-1 after two. They outshot the teetering Lakers 46-25, including a 17-8 edge in the final frame.

Sophomore Maxime Langelier-Parent of Levy, Que., scored once and added two helpers for McGill who also got goals from sophomore Alex Picard-Hooper, plus rearguards Yan Turcotte of Laval, Que., Toronto native Ben Morse and Marc-André Dorion of St. Hubert, Que.

After only 11 games, the Redmen have had 14 of their 71 goals scored by defencemen, compared to nine goals tallied by their blueliners all of last season and 17 goals in 2007-08.

Simon Marcotte-Légaré, a third-year centre from Longueuil, Que., contributed three assists.

Laker goals were scored by left-winger Andrew Marcoux and blueliner John Quarrie.

Goaltender Hubert Morin, an engineering sophomore from St. Georges de Beauce, Que., made his sixth straight start between the pipes and recorded 23 saves, improving his unblemished record to 7-0 in eight outings. The Lakers' Matt Hache, who was beaten seven times on 46 shots, fell to 1-3.

QUEEN'S 8, OTTAWA 6

At Queen's, team captain Jonathon Lawrance of Steinbach, Man., had a goal and four assists as the Gaels snapped a two-game losing streak with an 8-6 win over the Ottawa Gee Gees on Friday night.

The win evens the Gaels record at 6-6-1 while the Gee Gees fall to 4-10-1.

Queen's game out of the gates flying, taking advantage of a tired Ottawa team that lost 15-4 on Tuesday night. The Gaels scored four times before the Gee Gees found the back of the net and took a 4-1 lead into the second.

After the Gaels took a 5-1 lead early in the second period thanks to David Chubb's (St. George's, Nfld.) second of the game, Ottawa came storming back and managed to tie the game early in the third. Shorthanded goals by Taurean White and Mattieu Germain 49 seconds apart evened the score at five.

With momentum swinging to the Gee Gees, Queen's took a timeout which seemed to jumpstart the team. Joey Derochie of Sudbury, Ont., restored the Gaels lead just 45 seconds after the second Gee Gees shorthanded marker. Lawrance and Jeffrey Johnstone of Etobicoke, Ont., would follow with goals of their own to secure the win.

Seven Gaels would record multiple point games against Ottawa, highlighted by Lawrance's five-point effort.

LAKEHEAD 3, GUELPH 1

At Guelph, the Gryphons saw their four-game winning streak snapped after a 3-1 loss to the Lakehead Thunderwolves on Friday night.

Lakehead took a commanding three-goal lead in the first period that the Gryphons weren't able to overcome.

Thomas Kiriakou (Richmond Hill, Ont.) picked up the lone Gryphon goal while Ed Gale (Keswick, Ont.) and Derek Knowles (Vanderhoof, B.C.) tallied the assists.

Mitch Maunu, Kris Hogg and Adam Sergerie scored for the Thunderwolves.

Matt Smith (Waterloo, Ont.) would get the start for the Gryphons but would be replaced by Scott Van Bommel (Norwich, Ont.) in the second period after allowing three goals on nine shots.

Lakehead controlled the first period netting three unanswered goals on nine shots. With a number of penalties putting pressure on the Gryphons' defence, Lakehead was able to put their third goal in on the weakened Guelph squad.

The Gryphons came out much stronger in the second after making a goalie change.  Van Bommel was tested early in the second, putting a huge glove save on a hard shot from streaking Lakehead forward Dan Speer.  Van Bommel would get some more help from his glove at the end of the period on a Lakehead breakaway to keep the Thunderwolves from scoring in the second.

Guelph finally got on the board late in the period after a scrum following the whistle and another roughing penalty moments later, left the Gryphons on the power play.  A hard shot resulted in the puck squeaking loose in front of the net where Kiriakou was sitting, quickly putting his blade on the rolling puck, he was able to find the back of the net. The late score would make it 3-1 at the end of the second period.

Guelph turned it on again in the third getting a number of solid chances in the Lakehead zone.  The Gryphons, however, were unable to find the back of the net in the final period, leaving the score at 3-1 to end the game.

Van Bommel played a key role for the Gryphons, stopping all 14 shots faced including a Lakehead breakaway in the third that had everyone on the edge of their seats.  Van Bommel got caught on the deke but dove back across the net with outstretched arms to stop the wide-open chance on the goal line.

CARLETON 8, RMC 2

At RMC, the Carleton Ravens had a great all-round team effort on the road Friday night, as seven different players scored en route to an 8-2 victory over the host Paladins.

The Ravens came out flying and set the tone for the game. Shane Bakker (Navan, Ont.) opened the scoring for Carleton just two and a half minutes into the game with a shorthanded goal.

Just minutes later, Brandon MacLean (Burlington, Ont.) beat Paladins goalie Andrew Flemming (Quispamsis, N.B.) to give his team an early two-goal cushion.

The Ravens took a comfortable 3-0 lead midway through the period when Ryan Medel (Ruthven, Ont.) notched his second goal of the season. But, the Paladins got on the board seconds later when Matthew Cossaboom (Quispamsis, N.S.) put the puck past Ravens goalie Alex Archibald (Ottawa).

Carleton regained its three-goal lead as a marker by Justin Caruana (Orono, Ont.) put them up 4-1 heading into the locker room.

The Ravens had another quick start to the period as MacLean scored his second of the game two minutes in. Landon Lavictoire (Kirkland Lake, Ont.) put a dent in the Ravens lead, when he scored minutes later. But RMC took a couple of penalties and it would cost them as both Derek Wells (Alymer, Que.) and Mike Byrd (Kemptville, Ont.) scored on the power play to give Carleton a 7-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.

Connor Barrett (Ottawa) added another power play goal for the Ravens in the third to give them the 8-2 victory.

WINDSOR 3, UOIT 0

At Windsor, led by Jonathan Sciacca's three point night, the Lancers shut out the visiting UOIT Ridgebacks 3-0 Friday night at Windsor Arena.
 
A strong fore-check by Windsor generated a majority of the offence as the Lancers managed 42 shots on net.
 
Sciacca scored his first of the season just eight minutes into the first period to give Windsor a 1-0 edge. The Lancers continued to lead by one late in the second when Kyle Lang capitalized on a Windsor power play to put the Lancers up by two heading into the third period.
 
With his third point of the game, Sciacca secured the win for the Lancers with his second goal of the game in the dying minutes of the final frame.
 
The line of Kyle Nishizaki, Sciacca and Josh Gaynor combined for seven points on the night, while Jim Watt made 35 saves for his first shutout of the season.

Source: Western Mustangs, Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, Toronto Varsity Blues, McGill Redmen, Queen's Gaels, Guelph Gryphons, Carleton Ravens, Windsor Lancers, UOIT Ridgebacks