CIS men's hockey Saturday roundup: RMC gets first win of the season with upset over No. 4 Western

Seven different Ravens scored in the victory including Brandon MacLean (Burlington, Ont.), who contributed a goal and three assists, giving him 11 points in his last five games.

With the Lions unable to find the back of the net, Ravens goalie Matthew Dopud (Point-Claire, Que.) recorded his first shutout of the season.

It was an action packed first period with the Ravens scoring four unanswered goals. Derek Wells (Aylmer, Que.) got things going early when he walked into the slot and beat Lions goalie Travis Rolheiser (Edmonton) three minutes into the game. Midway through the period, Joey Manley (Ottawa) broke in alone and made no mistake, putting the Ravens up 2-0.

Linden Bahm (Kinburn, Ont.) gave the Ravens a 3-0 lead on just their seventh shot of the game. Graham Klassen (Regina) rounded out the scoring for the Ravens in the first when he let go of a rocket from the point on the powerplay that found the back of the net.

Second period goals by Jordan Deagle (Lethbridge, Alta.) and Jeff Hayes (Ottawa) in the first six minutes of the frame gave Carleton a 6-0 lead. Manley picked the top corner late in the period for his second marker of the game, putting the Ravens up 7-0.

MacLean scored the lone goal of the third period, giving Carleton the 8-0 win.

Carleton's record now stands at 10-4-2. The Ravens will play their last game before the holiday break on Dec. 3 when they travel to Trois-Rivières, Que. to take on the UQTR Patriotes. The puck drops at 7 p.m.

Source: Carleton Sports Info

While the first period saw both teams exchange nothing but penalties, the teams scored early and often throughout the second.

The Axeman ran into penalty trouble to start the second period. The Panthers were able to capitalize on a 5 on 3 advantage 1:36 into the second frame as Matt Carter's one timer found its way passed Kristofer Westblom on the short side.

The lead did not last long for the Panthers as Chris Bruton was able to beat out an icing and find linemate Jonathan Laberge alone in the low slot for his 9th of the year.

Acadia gained their first lead of the night 13:50 into the second period when Chris Owens found the puck sitting in the crease under an unaware Panther Mark Guggenberger for his second of the weekend (and season) on the powerplay.

The Axemen took the 2-1 advantage into the second intermission and skated 5 on 4 in the opening of the final period as Cory Vitarelli was assessed a four-minute double minor for spearing in a scrum at the end of the second, but the Axemen failed to convert on the man advantage.

Dylan Quaile's screened point shot after Andrew Green's high sticking minor brought the teams back to even at 2 with 9:10 to play.

Axeman Zack McMillan's first of the season could not have come at a better time, as he was able to beat Mark Guggenberger with under 3 minutes to play on a broken play tight inside of the Panthers' crease.

The Axemen improve to 7-5-2 and look to continue their winning ways this Wednesday night as they travel to the Halifax Forum to faceoff against the CIS #7 ranked Saint Mary's Huskies (8-4-1) at 7pm.

The Axemen have met the Huskies twice thus far this season, posting 6-3 and 8-5 losses.

Source: Acadia Sports Info

It was the third straight one-goal game for McGill, the second consecutive overtime loss for Guelph and part of a bizarre night in the OUA, as six of nine contests went to an overtime and/or shootout.

McGill led 2-1 after one period and 4-2 after two before the Gryphons roared back to forced the extra period when Matthew Lyall of Richmond Hill, Ont., scored at 10:01 of the third.

Vossen, a six-foot, 195-pound senior, converted a nifty three-way passing play with winger Guillaume Doucet of Anjou, Que., and defenceman Ryan McKiernan of White Plains, N.Y., for the winning tally. Vossen also added a helper on McGill's third goal, which gave them a 3-2 lead late in the middle stanza.

Rookie blueliner Hubert Genest of Quebec City scored back-to-back goals for McGill, which also got singles from Patrick Belzile of Saint Eloi, Que., and sniper Francis Verreault-Paul of Mashteuiatsh, Que.

Cale Jeffries, a sophomore from Glenboro, Man., tallied twice for the Gryphons, who also received offensive production from Thomas Kiriakou of Richmond Hill.

McGill went 2-for-9 on the power-play, while Guelph was 1-for-6.

Redmen goalie Hubert Morin registered 27 saves and improved to 9-1. Guelph freshman Andrew Loverrock of Elmvale, Ont., made 21 saves and took the loss. His record fell to 2-3.

The Gryphons held a slim 27-26 margin in shots, marking the third straight game that McGill had been outshot after outshooting opponents in each of their first dozen contests.

McGill (14-0-1) plays at UQTR (10-5) on Dec. 1. The Redmen swept the first two meetings with the Patriotes, winning 6-2 in Trois-Rivieres and 6-3 at McConnell arena.

The Gryphons, who fell to 8-5-2, will close out their first half at Waterloo on Dec. 3 when they take on the Laurier Golden Hawks (7-4-4).

REDMEN RAP: McGill improved to 26-13-5 lifetime against Guelph... It was the sixth time the rivals have gone into overtime against each other and the Redmen are 2-1-3 in those match-ups... McGill now owns a 503-362-58 lifetime record overall against Ontario-based teams... Verreault-Paul continues to lead the nation with 21 goals in 13 games, while linemate Alexander Picard-Hooper leads the country in assists with 24 in 15 games... Marc-Andre Dorian remains the top-scoring blueliner in the CIS with a 6-19-25 record in 15 contests.

Source: McGill Sports Info

Brock had been on a three game winning streak until tonight, knocking down top OUA East teams such as McGill, Concordia, and Carleton.

"We stared down two big physical opponents [this weekend] and showed we can play that way," said head coach Dave Leger, "At the end of the day our skilled players ended up making the difference."

The Gee-Gees came out hard in the first period and despite taking an interference penalty early, looked solid on their penalty kill. Methot would score his first goal on the powerplay after a Brock hooking penalty. Picking up a loose rebound from the goalie, Methot would slam the puck in for his eighth goal of the season.

"We came in knowing it was going to be a huge game," said Methot, "We knew we had to compete. [Brock] is a team that never gives up."

Both teams would come out hard in the second as Brock aggressively looked for their first goal. They would get it after five and a half minutes of play as Badgers forward Jordan Gignac would rifle a shot past third-year Gee-Gees goalie Aaron Barton, Carlisle, Ont. However, Methot would answer right back twenty seconds later to put the Gee-Gees up 2-1.

Brock would start a third period charge however, scoring a goal 43 seconds into the third period after starting with the man advantage. Methot would answer back with his third goal of the game to complete the hat-trick, only to have the Badgers tie it up less than two minutes later.

"We had a rough night penalty wise," added Leger, "The guys were excited to get a win, so we got a bit ahead of ourselves."

In overtime, Brock would take an early penalty for too many men on the ice, allowing the Gee-Gees to go on the power-play. Blain would go onto score the winning goal with less than two minutes gone in the extra frame. The Gee-Gees first line of Methot, Blain, and first-year forward Kyle Ireland, Rosetown, Sask., would combine for 10 points on the night (4G, 6A) with both Methot and Blain having four-point games.

"I'm just happy for the team," said Blain, "I got the winning goal, but I think everybody worked hard. We deserve the two points today."

The Gee-Gees would also go three for five on the power-play, while Brock was limited to only one goal in six chances.

The game was helped by an improved atmosphere thanks to members for the Ottawa East Novice B1 and Cumberland Bandits Atom A2 hockey teams, who, with some noise-makers supplied by the Gee-Gees promo team, created a raucous atmosphere to aid the Garnet and Grey.

The Gee-Gees next two games will be on the road as they will travel to Montreal to take on the OUA East leading McGill Redmen (14-0-1 OUA) on December 3rd and 4th, with both games starting at 7:00 p.m.

Source: Ottawa Sports Info

Kevin Baker, Steve Reese and Chris Rocca scored for Western. While Matthew Pinder scored twice for RMC with the remaining goals scored by Mitchell Smith and Alexandre Leclerc notched the shootout goal.

RMC outshot Western 42-29 and Mustangs netminder Anthony Grieco turned aside 38 shots.

Western plays host to the Brock Badgers on Thursday Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. for their final game of the 2010 half of the season.

Source: Western Sports Info

With the win, the Blues improve to 5-7-3 and move into seventh place in the OUA East, while the Ridgebacks drop to 5-7-4 and are eighth in the West division.

After Blues rookie Anthony Bergin (Scarborough, Ont.) and UOIT's Derrick Bagshaw of Oshawa, Ont., both made good on their shoot out attempts, Elliott (Burlington, Ont.) stepped up with some quick stick handling and beat Ridgebacks goaltender Jason Guy through his five-hole for the game-winner.

First-year forward Kevin George of Uxbridge, Ont., scored just 33 seconds into the contest to give the visiting Ridgebacks a quick edge. However, the Blues bounced back and went on to outshoot UOIT 22-1 and scored two late goals to take the lead heading into the first intermission.

Rookie forward Blake Boddy (Ajax, Ont.) finished off a nice tic-tac-toe play with Anthony Bergin and Kyle Ventura to get the Blues on the board. Varsity Blues player of the game and Toronto native Bryden Teich followed that up just over two minutes later when he backhanded a Robert Kay rebound into the net.

After a scoreless second period, the Ridgebacks finally evened the score with just over four minutes remaining in regulation. Bagshaw picked up the rebound off a Chris Purves point shot and backhanded it in to force overtime.

Despite a late powerplay opportunity for the Blues, overtime solved nothing as the game headed into a shoot out for the second straight night at Varsity Arena.

Martin came up with 21 saves in the win.

The Varsity Blues return to the ice next Friday, December 3 when they travel to North Bay, Ont., to take on the Nipissing Lakers. Game time is 7 p.m.

Source: Toronto Sports Info

Led by a Steven DaSilva hat trick and another two goals by Kyle Bortis, the No. 6 ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies thumped the visiting University of Lethbridge Pronghorns 10-1 Saturday night in Saskatoon's Rutherford Rink.

DaSilva, the 2008-09 CIS Rookie of the Year, finished the night with four points adding a helper to his three goals. Bortis notched five points in the game adding three assists to his two goals. Huskie captain Kyle Ross added three points for his team with a goal and two assists.

The win was redemption for the Huskies after losing a 4-2 contest a night earlier to the 'Horns.

With the victory, the Huskies close out the first half with an 8-6 record, while the Pronghorns fall to 4-5-3 in the standings. The Huskies now sit tied for third place in the Canada West standings with the University of Calgary Dinos at 16 points.

Saskatchewan jumped out to an early 2-0 lead scoring two goals in the first six minutes. The first from Huskie leading scorer DaSilva's stick just 2:08 into the game. Travis Brisebois added the second goal at 6:03. DaSilva scored his second of the game at 15:57 in the same frame.

The Huskies would score four more goals in the second period including both of Bortis'. The second year notched his first at 6:19, before DaSilva scored his third on the power play exactly two minutes later. Chris Durand slid one over the shoulder of Scott Bowles at 10:40 to make the game 6-0. Bortis then notched his second with the man-advantage at 12:36.

Ross scored at 8:32 in the third period, followed by Steven Gillen at 14:25 and Shaun Vey tallied the final goal at 17:10.

Taylor Gal was able to beat Huskie netminder Ryan Holfeld at 19:03 in the second period for the Pronghorns' lone goal on a scramble in front of the net. Lethbridge had another chance to score in the third period when a shot from the point rang off the crossbar.

Holfeld made 25 saves in the victory for the Huskies, while Bowles made 27 in the loss.

It is the last game before the December break for the Huskies. Lethbridge returns home to host the UBC Thunderbirds December 3-4. The Huskies return to action January 7-8 in a home-and-home weekend series with provincial rival the University of Regina Cougars.

Source: Saskatchewan Sports Info

Alberta's Chad Klassen scored the winning goal early in the third period when the initial Alberta shot missed the net, but banked hard off the end boards, coming back out in front, leaving Klassen with an empty net. His goal put the Golden Bears up 3-1 at the time, and although they'd give up one, they wouldn't let the Bisons tie the game after that.

Bisons head coach Mike Sirant said one period could have changed his team's fortunes on this night. "The second period was the difference. We took a few bad penalties that allowed Alberta to gain momentum," he said. "That being said, we showed a lot of character and determination in the third, and came close to getting the equalizer a couple times. For us, the main thing we take out of this is when we're playing like we're supposed to for an entire game, we might have seen a different outcome tonight."

The first period brought all the pace carried over from the previous night's (November 26) match up, and also saw a few stretches of play without whistles for several minutes. The only markings on the scoresheet came from coincidental penalties taken by the Herd's Chris Benias and Alberta's Derek Ryan following a big hit in the neutral zone. Alberta would have the only powerplay opportunity when Blair Macaulay's hooking penalty put the Bisons down one skater, but the #8 ranked home team was able to kill off the penalty, and head into the dressing room with the score tied at zero.

Fans didn't have to wait long for scoring in the second period, as the Bisons Greg Beller worked a give-and-go play with Macaulay on a two-on-one that developed in the neutral zone. Beller was able to beat Alberta netminder Kurtis Mucha with a late move to his forehand, to put the Bisons up 1-0. But Alberta would tie the game with a two-on-one play of their own, when Klassen buried the late pass from Ryan over Bisons goaltender Steve Christie. The Golden Bears weren't done yet, as Jesse Craige was able to beat Christie with a slap shot from the point during four-on four with just under six minutes to go in the second frame. The Herd was able to minimize the damage by killing a late hooking penalty to Beller to head into the final period down 2-1.

The Golden Bears would extend their lead before the third period was two minutes old, when Macaulay was caught without a stick in his defensive end, and couldn't defend Klassen in front of Christie, and as a result Klassen was able to put Alberta ahead 3-1. The Bisons wouldn't go down without a fight, as Jeremy Schappert snapped a shot from the blue line past a screened Mucha to bring the Bisons within one. But despite the Herd's efforts, they weren't able to get the tying marker, and would have to settle for the weekend split with the #1 ranked team in the CIS. Tensions boiled over as the buzzer sounded to end the game, but the gathering of players only resulted in one minor penalty.

Sirant summed up the Bisons first half. "We're disappointed tonight. We believed we had an opportunity to take both games from Alberta and only be one point back at the halfway mark of the season," he said. "But we're still in second, and considering the adversity we faced with injuries and a short bench earlier in the season, I give our guys a lot of credit for stepping up and not making excuses."

Both teams are now finished the first half of their respective conference seasons. The Bisons next action comes when they play two non-conference games in Lakehead at the end of December, while the Golden Bears will wait until January 7, 2011, when they will host the UBC Thunderbirds.

Source: Manitoba Sports Info