OUA West Quarter Final: Ridgebacks can't hold off Mustangs comeback

OSHAWA, Ont. - The UOIT Ridgebacks men's hockey team was five minutes away from a series sweep over the No. 5 nationally-ranked Western Mustangs at the Campus Ice Centre on Friday night. Unfortunately for the Ridgebacks, Western managed to pull out a late third period comeback and came out with a 4-2 win in game two of the best-of-three OUA West quarter-final series, forcing a third and final game on Sunday, February 21 at Thompson Arena in London, Ont.

Things could not have started better for UOIT in their first home playoff game as they opened up scoring just under two minutes into the first period to take a 1-0 lead, sending the packed house at the Campus Ice Centre into a frenzy.

It was graduating senior Ryan Spencer (Woodville, Ont.) who scored his first goal of the playoffs, which was assisted by Brent Varty (Oshawa, Ont.) and Chris Purves (Pickering, Ont.).

The Ridgebacks would hold onto the lead until the 7:04 mark of the second period when third year veteran Ryan Martinelli netted his first goal of the playoffs, knotting the game at 1-1.

The second period Western goal ended UOIT goalie Jason Guy's (Whitby, Ont.) shutout streak of 80:32 minutes, stretching back to the first period of game one in the series.

Tied at one, Tony Rizzi (Kingston, Ont.) lifted the Ridgeback fans to their feet as he scored his second goal of the playoffs just 1:44 into the third period, to regain UOIT's one goal advantage. Spencer and Varty recorded assists on the play, giving both veterans two points on the night.

With their season hanging in the balance, Western did not lose hope and were eventually rewarded with their hard play as Yashar Farmanara put home a loose puck on a scramble in front of the net to tie the game at 2-2.

Just three minutes later and less than two minutes left in regulation, Farmanara would set up Kyle Lamb for the game-winning goal, silencing the Dog Pound.

Western would score an empty net goal to put the game on ice and send the series back to London.

Farmanara was the difference maker down the stretch as he finished with a goal and two assists while teammates Lamb and Chris Corbeil recorded a goal and an assist.

Guy had another great outing for the Ridgebacks in net stopping 31 of 34 Western shots while Keyvan Hunt made 24 saves in the win.

Both teams struggled with the man advantage in game two as Western went 0-for-6 while UOIT went 0-for-5. UOIT's penalty killing unit has done a great job of shutting down the Western offence as they are 0-for-13 on the power play in this series (Western was ranked fourth in the OUA during the regular season.

Game three is schedule for Sunday, February 21 at 7:30 in London, Ont. Ticket information is online at www.westernmustangs.ca. Fans can also listen online at www.chrwradio.com.

PLAYOFFS SERIES
Game 1: UOIT defeated Western 2-1
Game 2: Western defeated UOIT 4-2
Game 3: Sunday, February 21 @ Western (7:30 p.m.)

AROUND THE OUA

Western Conference
Western 4 at UOIT 2 - Series tied at 1-1
Waterloo 4 at Windsor 3 - Series tied at 1-1
York 4 at Lakehead 9 - Series tied at 1-1
Guelph vs. Wilfrid Laurier - Guelph leads series 1-0

Eastern Conference
UQTR 1 at Carleton 2 - Series tied at 1-1
McGill 7 at Nipissing 2 - McGill won series 2-0
Carleton 4 at Queen's 1 - Series tied at 1-1
Ryerson won series 2-0 over Toronto

Source: UOIT Ridgebacks