CIS men's hockey Saturday roundup

MONTREAL - The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's hockey team (0-4-0) blew a three goal third period advantage as they dropped their fourth straight game to the Concordia Stingers (2-2-1) by a score of 5-4 Saturday afternoon.

After surrendering the opening goal late in the opening period, Laurier would score four unanswered markers to open up a 4-1 lead. Brett Vandenberg of Burlington, Ont., Mitch Lebar of Aurora, Ont., Thomas Middup of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Mitchell Good of Wellesely, Ont., would all score goals for the Hawks to open up the advantage.

With the game seemingly in hand with 15 minutes remaining, Concordia would reel off straight tallies against Hawks netminder David Clement of Oakville, Ont. Eric Begin of St. Lambert, Que., would start the comeback with a powerplay marker before Alexandre Monahan of Maschouche, Que., scored a pair of goals to tie the game with seven minutes to go in the third.

Concordia would complete the comeback when Samuel Morneau of Cowansville, Que., beat Clement with just over a minute to go in the game.

Clement finished the game with 36 saves while Nicholas Champion of Labrador City, Nfld., stopped 30 shots in the victory for the Stingers.

Laurier will now have a two week break in between games to try and regroup from a tough start to the season. Their next action will be Saturday, October 29 when they travel to Windsor to take on the Lancers. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.

Source: Laurier Sports Info

With the pair of losses, the Lancers are now 2-2 on the season and sit in a three way tie for fourth place in the OUA West Division.

On Friday night, Windsor fell behind early in game one as the Redmen built a 4-0 lead by the three minute mark of the second period.

The Lancers would rally later in the second frame as Barry Sanderson and captain Matt McCready each scored their first goals of the year on the power play to cut the McGill lead to 4-2 heading into the third period.

In the third, the Redman scored two more goals to make it 6-2 before Lancer defenseman Steve Ferry scored his first of the year to round out the scoring.

Dan Savelli made 15 saves in net for the Lancers in 37 minutes of play.

On Saturday night, trailing 1-0 heading into the second period, the Lancers came out on fire and lit up the score board with three goals in the first five minutes of the second period to take a 3-1 lead.

A minute into the period, Drew Palmer accepted a pass from Derek Lanoue and Steve Ferry to give Windsor their first short-handed goal of the year.

Less than two minutes later, Scott Todd put up his first of the year in off the sticks of Cory McGillis and Spencer Pommels, before McGillis popped his second of the year on the power play for the two goal lead.

Holding a one goal lead heading into the final period, the Redmen stepped it up a notch, registering three straight goals to re-gain the 5-3 lead with just over three minutes to play.

With under two minutes to go, Cory McGillis brought the Lancers to within one with his second goal of the game, but the Lancers were unable to tie it up, falling 5-4.

Dan Savelli made 33 saves in net for the Lancers.

Windsor will return home this week and host the Waterloo Warriors in a rare Thursday night game at 7:30pm at Windsor Arena.

Source: Windsor Sports Info

The X-Men hockey team scored a decisive 5-2 victory over the UPEI Panthers Saturday night in Charlottetown.  Kevin Undershute tallied the winning goal for StFX with 13 minutes remaining in the second period.
 
The X-Men got off to a 1-0 first period lead. Forward Josh Day had the lone goal, as he fired one home on the power play, unassisted, at the 13:31 mark.
 
The second period was a wide open affair, as both UPEI and StFX traded two goals apiece.  Brett Robertson (Murdock MacLellan) and Undershute (Brett Morrison, Bryce Swan) had markers for the X-Men.
 
Jared Gomes (Chad Locke, Chris Dasousa) and Mike MacIssac (Knox, Matt Carter) replied for UPEI as the visiting X-Men held a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.
 
The X-Men extended their lead and sealed the victory in the third period as Jason Bast and Scott Brannon scored for StFX, tallying goals 10 minutes apart. Bast scored on the power play just 56 minutes into the final frame, as Morrison and Swan each chipped in with their second assists of the game. Brannon scored at 10:19 with Nick Pageau and Brennen Wray earning assists.
 
Joseph Perricone had the win in nets for the X-Men, making 27 saves, while Mavric Parks also had 27 saves tending goal for UPEI in their loss. The X-Men outshot the Panthers 32-29.
 
Jason Bast was named the Subway Player of the Game, continuing his strong start for the X-Men.
 
The X-Men come away with a 1-1 record on the opening weekend of AUS play, they dropped a 3-1 decision to UNB on Friday night. Their next games will be on home ice October 21st and 22nd as they will have rematches against both the Varsity Reds and Panthers. UNB (2-0) will be in Antigonish on Friday night, while UPEI (1-1) plays Saturday night against the X-Men. Game time is 7:00 pm on both evenings and fans attending the games will receive a free X-Men magnetic 2011-12 schedule.

Source: StFX Sports Info

WOLFILLE, NS - The Axemen hockey team record stands at 2-0 after the opening weekend of the AUS men's hockey season. A tough fought 3-1 win over the St. Thomas Tommies puts the Axemen in good position to head to New Brunswick for next weekend's rematches against the Tommies and Moncton.
 
After a first period draw at zero, the Axemen took advantage of the powerplay when Chris Owens scored his second goal of the regular season early in the second frame.
 
Acadia scored less than 40 seconds later, evenhanded, when rookie Liam Heelis netted his first goal of his university career and the eventual game winner to give the Axemen a quick 2-0 lead.
 
Late in the second period, Tommie Jordan Scott silenced the crowd with St. Thomas' first and only goal of the night.

Former Ottawa 67, Travis Gibbons nailed the coffin shut with his first goal to give Acadia the eventual 3-1 victory over the winless Tommies.
 
St. Thomas landed 29 shots on net and first year goaltender Peter DiSalvo handled 28 saves including an 11 shot first period.

The Tommies return home to host the Axemen next Saturday night following a game against Dalhousie on Friday, while Acadia will battle hard against the Moncton Aigles Bleus before traveling to Fredericton on Saturday for the rematch against the Tommies. 

Source: Acadia Sports Info

OTTAWA - The Gee-Gees Men’s hockey team played their second game in two nights against the same opponent, the Lakehead Thunderwolves. Once again, poor defensive play cost the Gee-Gees, who lost their second game against Lakehead by a score of 3-1.
 
The Garnet & Grey got off to a very slow start on Saturday night, allowing a goal against only one minute and 39 seconds into the first frame. The Gee-Gees were caught flat footed on a neutral zone transition, allowing Lakehead forward Andrew Wilkins to be sprung on a breakaway. Wilkins made no mistake on the play, splitting the Gee-Gee defence and making a backhand move that fooled uOttawa goaltender Aaron Barton (Carlisle, Ont.).
 
The damage didn’t stop there, however, as Thunderwolves were awarded a penalty shot in the fourth minute. Lakehead forward Matt Caria swung way out wide, gaining speed into the net and burying the wrist shot in the top left corner, putting the Thunderwolves up by two.
 
This time, though, the Gee-Gees were able to respond. At the 13:42 mark, second year forward Dominic Jalbert, (Gatineau, Que.) received a perfect diving pass allowing him some free space so skate down the left wing and fire a shot in the top right corner, decreasing the Thunderwolves goal to one.
 
A relatively uneventful second period saw some choppy back and forth play between the two teams. Undisciplined play by Lakehead gave the Gee-Gees numerous power play chances. However, it was Lakehead who was able to capitalize. The Gee-Gees defenseman failed to keep a puck in the offensive zone, which Andrew Wilkins took advantage of, making a perfect move on the Gee-Gee goaltender and scoring his second goal of the night.
 
Despite many power plays and offensive chances, the Gee-Gees failed to mount a comeback on the Thunderwolves. “We had a lot of opportunities on the power play,” explained head coach Real Paiement, “but, to their credit, [Lakehead] didn’t panic. We created more chances then they did, but they did a great job of blocking shots, sacrificing themselves, and in the end they deserved their victory.”
 
The Gee-Gees will now begin preparing for a home game next Friday, October 21, against cross town rival Carleton. The Garnet & Grey will be looking to rebound from a difficult, but productive weekend against a difficult opponent.

Source: Ottawa Sports Info

KINGSTON, Ont. – The Queen's Gaels extended their win streak to three games as they nipped the York Lions 3-2 in an extended shootout victory.
 
Queen's David Chubb of St. Georges, Nfld., was the ninth shooter in the tiebreaker, beating Lions netminder David Blair of Ajax, Ont., to secure the Gaels third victory this year.  Queen's outscored York 3-2 in the shootout. The Gaels improve to a 3-1-0 record while York falls to a 1-0-3.
 
The Gaels opened the scoring at 1:37 of the first period when Corey Bureau registered his fourth goal of the season.  The rookie forward from Amhurstview, Ont., has now scored in each of the Gaels first four games to start the season.
 
Despite the early lead the Lions would pepper Gaels netminder Riley Whitlock of Calgary putting up 17 shots in the first period alone.  The onslaught would see Whitlock allow only a single goal in the opening frame coming from York's Jordan Forfar of Sutton, Ont.
 
The Gaels would manage only six shots in the first period but picked up the pace in the remaining periods to edge York 32-29 in shots.
 
Queen's jumped back into the lead at 1:25 of the second period when defenceman Stephane Chebot of Rockland, Ont., netted his first of the season on the power play.  Joey Derochie of Sudbury, Ont., assisted on the goal.
 
The lead however was short lived as York tied the game just minutes later when Mark Cross of Strasbourg, Sask, knotting up the contest at 2-2 at 4:20 of the second.
 
From that point on the Gaels controlled play allowing York to register only eight more shots in regulation plus an additional three in overtime.  The third and overtime frames settled nothing setting up the extended shootout.
 
Bureau and Patrick McEachen of Stouffville, Ont., were the other two shootout scores for Queen's while Fofar and Jessie Messier of Keswick, Ont., countered for the Lions.
 
Whitlock made 27 saves plus seven in the shootout to pick up his second victory on the season.
 
Next up the Gaels will battle cross-town rival Royal Military College on Wednesday, October 19 at Constantine Arena.  The puck is set to drop at 7:00pm.
 
NOTES: Queen's Kelly Jackson of Toronto assisted on Bureau's opening goal and has now registered eight points in the last four games to sit tied for fourth in OUA scoring... This is York's second shootout loss this season having lost to Toronto Varsity Blues 5-4 to open the season.  

Source: Queen's Sports Info

TORONTO - The Varsity Blues men’s hockey team were narrowly defeated 3-1 by the Western Mustangs on Saturday, October 15 at Varsity Arena.
 
The Blues drop to 2-1-0 and sit in sixth place in the OUA East, while the Mustangs improve to 3-0-1 and remain on top of the West division.
 
Rookie forward Tyler von Engelbrechten scored the Blues only goal of the game midway through the second period on the powerplay, evening the score at 1-1. The Markham, Ont. native fired a wrist shot from the slot that found its way through Western goaltender Josh Unice. Byron Elliott (Burlington, Ont.) and Dan Brewer (Cambridge, Ont.) assisted on the goal.
 
The Blues controlled play for most of the first period but a rash of penalties turned momentum in favour of the Mustangs before Yashar Farmanara buried his own rebound at 13:12 to open the scoring.
 
After von Engelbrechten evened the score in the second, the Blues fell behind 2-1 midway through the third period on a goal from Western’s Keaton Turkiewicz. Toronto would pull goaltender Garrett Sheehan (Cremona, Alta.) in the final minute to press for the tying goal, but Blues captain Andrew Kizito (Toronto) was turned away on a point shot with nine seconds remaining.
 
Farmara would then add an empty net goal—his second of the game—in the final seconds to secure the victory for the visiting squad.
 
Western’s Turkiewicz and Toronto’s Michael Markovic earned player of the game honours.
 
The game was played with a RUBR brand hockey puck, a Canadian-made hockey puck made from rubber tapped naturally from the trees of Liberia. The pucks began circulation October 14 and will be used by all 64 universities across the country.
 
The Blues return to action this Wednesday, October 19 when they take on the Ryerson Rams at Varsity Arena. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Source: Toronto Sports Info

TROIS RIVIERES, QC - The Brock University men's hockey team (2-2 OUA) defeated the UQTR Patriotes by the score of 6-2 Saturday afternoon on the road.
 
Brock rookie goaltender Adrian Volpe (Burlington, Ont.) made his CIS debut registering 37 saves for his first career victory as a Badger.
 
The Badgers took a 3-0 lead in the opening 11 minutes of the game. Five minutes into the first, freshman Daniel Tanel (Brampton, Ont.) and sophomore Matt Abercrombie (Sarnia, Ont.) setup sophomore Jordan Gignac (Hamilton, Ont) for his fourth goal of the campaign on the powr play.
 
Four minutes later at 8:59, Brock would add their second power play goal as sophomore Thomas Stajan (Mississauga, Ont.) and Sean Jones (Newmarket, Ont.)  found sophomore Kaine Geldart (Kingston, Ont.) who buried it past UQTR starter Vincent Lamontagne.
 
At 10:41, Geldart would put the Badgers up 3-0, adding his second goal with sophomores Kevin Christmas (Hamilton, Ont.) and Stajan adding assists.
 
Midway through the second period, Brock would add to their lead, with junior Josh Schram (Paris, Ont.) and freshman Andrew Boudreau (St. Catharines, Ont.) setting up C.J. Dickson (Thorold, Ont.) for his first goal of the season.
 
UQTR would cut the lead to two 4-2 five minutes into the third period, getting single markers from Pierre-Luc Lessard and Maxime Gravel.
 
The Badgers would add another power play marker at 6:21 of the third, when Isaac Smeltzer (Estevan,Sask.) setup Christmas for his second goal of the season.
 
Just under five minutes later at 10:50, Brock would secure the victory as Schram recorded a shorthanded goal, with Stajan and Tanel adding assists.
 
The Badgers return to action on October 21st at 7:15 pm when they host the Windsor Lancers at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.

Source: Brock Sports Info

OTTAWA - The Carleton University Ravens men’s hockey team crushed the University of Waterloo Warriors 6-2 Saturday night at the Ice House to cap off a strong weekend at home.
 
Ryan Berard (Niagara Falls, Ont.) scored two goals and captain Brandon MacLean (Burlington, Ont.) chipped in four assists as the Ravens handed the Warriors their first loss of the season.
 
Ryan Dube (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) played great in goal when he needed too, and a strong defensive effort strangled the nation’s leading offence to just two goals on 28 shots.
 
After outplaying the Warriors in the first period, the Ravens got two goals in the final 90 seconds to jump to a 2-0 lead.
 
The Warriors narrowed the gap to 2-1 less than a minute into the second and threatened to tie the game on the power play after MacLean took a high sticking penalty. The Ravens penalty kill was spectacular however, and a great effort from Connor Barrett (Ottawa) led to a shorthanded goal to put the Ravens up by two goals.
 
The Ravens then scored twice on the power play, lifting them out of an early season 1-24 slump.
 
Tensions flared in the third, but strong defence and sturdy goaltending let the Ravens take the convincing 6-2 win to improve their record to 2-2 on the year.
 
The Ravens will look to extend their winning streak to three games when they visit cross-town rivals, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees on Oct. 21. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.

Source: Mitch Goldenberg, Carleton Sports Info

Lethbridge – After trailing 2-0 early into the second period, the UBC Thunderbirds rallied with five unanswered goals to skate away with the 5-3 victory over the Lethbridge Pronghorns. In the process the T-Birds earned the weekend split and won for the first time at Nicholas Sheran Arena since November 1, 2008.
 
The Thunderbirds improve to 2-0-2 on the season and the ‘Horns drop to 1-2-0 after the loss.
 
Thunderbird captain Justin McCrae started the comeback, while Cole Wilson, Michael Wilgosh, Max Grassi and Scott Wasden also scored for the T-Birds.

Taylor Gal responded with two goals for the ‘Horns and Ryan Pottruff scored the other ‘Horns marker.
 
Gal beat UBC Thunderbird’s goalkeeper Steven Stanford with a high blocker side rocket midway through the first to give the ‘Horns an early edge.
 
Pronghorn net-minder Scott Bowles looked sharp from the start. Making a number of quick pad saves and staying strong between the pipes, he managed to keep the T-Birds scoreless through one making 10 saves.
 
Stanford, getting the start for UBC, faced 8 shots in the first including a solid wrister from Pronghorn’s captain Dustin Moore who was looking to extend their lead in the dying seconds of the first.
 
Looking to extend their lead, Potruff fired a blistering shot from just inside the blueline sneaking the puck past Stanford, making it 2-0 ‘Horns. But the T-Birds answered quickly and a shot from McCrae managed to find its way over the line, just out of the reach of Bowles, closing the gap back to one.
 
Minutes later, a shot from Mike McGurk was denied by a screened Bowles but a great second effort by Wilson knotted the game up at two ‘s as he controlled the loose puck and found the back of the net.
 
Penalty trouble seemed to plague the Pronghorns’ midway through the second frame leading to the first of two  5-on-3 opportunities on the night for UBC; one that they would capitalize on quickly as Wilgosh beat Bowles blocker side for a third unanswered goal.
 
The ‘Horns tried to push back in the final minutes, maintaining pressure in the offensive end and looking to take advantage of a power play opportunity of their own. Despite their best efforts, Stanford stood tall and UBC would start the third period up one goal, leading 3-2.
 
Starting the third shorthanded, the ‘Horns looked to make a push for an equalizer but UBC’s Grassi was quick on the puck, wrapping the puck around from behind the net and opened their lead to two. 
 
Wasden beat Bowles top shelf blocker side to increase the margin to three and spelled the end of Bowles night. Freshman Dylan Tait came in relief nearly halfway through the third period and acquainted himself quite well in his first appearance as a Pronghorn. Tait stopped all 12 shots he faced in just over 10 minutes of work.
 
Gal took a pass from Moore and outwaited Stanford, notching his second goal of the night and his fourth of the two-game series. But that would be as close as the Horns would get. UBC outshot Lethbridge 16-7 in the third period.
 
UBC finished the night 2-for-10 with the extra man, while the Horns went 0-for-4 on the power play.
 
The Horns will head out on the road for the first time this season, traveling to Saskatoon to face the Huskies. The Thunderbirds will have a bye next weekend, returning to action the following week, traveling to Regina to face the Cougars.

Source: Lethbridge Sports Info

EDMONTON - The University of Manitoba Bisons hockey team literally snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat on Saturday night at Clare Drake Arena, as they skated to a 2-1 double OT win over the Alberta Golden Bears.

Moments after sophomore Golden Bear forward Alex Rodgers scored during the second OT period, a 3-on-3 session, the goal was waived off, and Alberta was handed a ‘too many men’ penalty, shocking fans and players alike.  With the Bisons on the PP, Blair Macaulay beat Bears’ goalie Real Cyr for the controversial winner.

Zack Dailey scored the only goal that counted for the Golden Bears, while Dane Crowley scored Manitoba’s first goal.  Cyr, making his second start this season, stopped 35 shots, while Bisons’ backstopper Joe Caligiuri made 34 saves for his fourth win of the season.

With the win, Manitoba becomes the first team to sweep Alberta in Edmonton since the 2007 Lethbridge Pronghorns.

Following Friday night’s wild finish, in which the teams combined for four third-period goals, Saturday’s affair got off to a slow start with no scoring, but Alberta ahead in the shot count 15-9.

It looked like the second period was going to go scoreless as well until Dailey picked his first of the season at 19:08 of the middle frame on a strange play.  Skating shorthanded, the sophomore winger tipped a Colin Joe shot over the Manitoba net, only to see the puck ricochet off the glass, and then off Caligiuri and into the net for the 1-0 lead.

Cyr and the Golden Bears did a good job limiting Bison chances in the third period, but the visitors finally broke through at 13:34 when Crowley beat Cyr on a slapshot from the top of the circle.

Neither team did much in the first OT session, which is 4-on-4 for five minutes, but the Golden Bears recorded the best chance when Johnny Lazo broke in on a partial breakaway, only to have his shot stopped by the shoulder of Caligiuri.

Just over a minute into the second OT period, Rodgers appeared to have won the game for Alberta when he slapped a rebound out of midair at the side of the net and across the Bisons’ goal line.  Although the play was initially awarded as a goal, and the teams skated to centre ice to shake hands, the referees took a moment to confer, and decided to waive off the goal, and hand the Bears a ‘too many men on the ice’ penalty, stating that Rodgers joined the play at an illegal time. 

After a delay, play resumed with Manitoba skating on a 4-on-3 power-play opportunity, which culminated in Macaulay’s heroics.

Controversy aside, the Golden Bears will look at their 13% (2-for-15) weekend power-play percentage as an area for improvement.

The finish marred an otherwise stellar goaltending duel between Caligiuri and Cyr.  Both goalies made a number of clutch stops, which is fitting given that Cyr leads Canada West in goals against average (0.94), and is second in save percentage (.958), while the rookie Caligiuri has a 1.21 GAA and a conference-best .959 save percentage.

Alberta, now 2-1-1, will next play the 1-3-0 Calgary Dinos in a home-and-home series beginning on Friday night, October 21, at 7:00 pm MT in Edmonton.   The conference-leading Manitoba Bisons will host the winless Regina Cougars next weekend in Winnipeg.

Source: Alberta Sports Info