CIS men's hockey Saturday roundup: Mustangs close out season with 2-1 loss to York

WATERLOO, Ont. - In the final game of their regular season, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men' s hockey (9-17-2) team played host to the UOIT Ridgebacks (6-21-1), the only team seated lower than them in the west of the OUA. The Hawks hoped to be able to close out their season on a positive note after dropping their previous two.

The Hawks came out quickly opening the scoring in the first minute of play on a goal by Mitchell Good of Wellesley, Ont., assisted by Tyler Stothers of Oakville, Ont., and Mitch Lebar of Aurora, Ont. Laurier would continue the early pressure adding to their lead a few minutes later, this time on a goal from Thomas Middup of Richmond Hill, Ont., helped by Chad Lowry of Waterloo, Ont.

UOIT would pull within one for a portion of the third before Lebar would re-establish the two goal lead as well as earning his 20th point in the season. The Ridgebacks would show frustration throughout the game taking many penalties including four 10 minute misconducts throughout the course of the game and though they were able to pull back within one late in the third, Duncan Long of Brantford, Ont., and the Hawks would hold them off to ensure the win.

For Long, the win is the first in his OUA career in his first career start.
Though the win will not affect their position in the standings, it serves as a confidence booster before entering into the playoffs where Laurier will be facing the No. 1 Western Mustangs in the first round. Stay tuned to www.laurierathletics.com for up-to-date playoff information.

Source: Laurier Sports Info

The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team will take a welcome dose of momentum into the playoffs after knocking off the Concordia Stingers in dominant fashion with a 7-0 win on Saturday afternoon at the Ice House.

Ryan Dube (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) made 25 saves for the win and the shutout in his first start since Jan. 24, while Shane Bakker (Navan, Ont.) scored shorthanded for his seventh goal of the season to pace a three-goal outburst for Carleton in the opening frame.

The Ravens defence was able to stifle one of the nation’s top-scoring teams the rest of the way, holding George Lovatsis (Markham, Ont.) and Mike Stinziani (Montreal), two of the league’s top three scorers, off the score sheet. Meanwhile in the third, Carleton put an exclamation point on its success at home this weekend, getting four more goals to make it a route.

The action started early, when Jeff Hayes (Ottawa) opened the scoring in the first period on a rebound in front to give the Ravens a 1-0 lead on the power play. A holding penalty to Brad Albert (Nepean, Ont.) would give Concordia a chance to get its vaunted power play going, but it was the Ravens who struck.

Bakker took a breakout pass after a Concordia turnover and broke away from the defenceman with his speed and size, eventually using his long arms to get around first-year goaltender Nicholas Champion (Labrador City, Nfld.) and excite the eager Ice House crowd.  Joey Manley (Ottawa) capped off the opening frame with his ninth goal of the season, beating a sliding Champion through the five-hole.

After a scoreless second, the Ravens opened the third with a vengeance. Before the first whistle, captain Brandon MacLean (Burlington, Ont.) continued his hot streak with his 12th goal of the season.

Not long later, defenceman Christian Bourdeau-Mifflen (Ottawa) joined the rush and made no mistake off a rebound for his ninth of the year, before Linden Bahm (Kinburn, Ont.) would also strike on a jam play at the side of the net.

Finally, to cap off a stretch of four goals over a span of eight minutes, Mike Lomas (Burlington, Ont.) took a feed from Hayes, toe-dragged the defenceman, and snapped his first career CIS goal past back-up goaltender Loic Boivin (Montreal) to make it a 7-0 game.

The Ravens never looked back, asserting themselves in one of their most dominant performances of the season while spoiling any playoff hopes for the Stingers, who needed at least a point to have a chance to get into the post-season.

Champion made 20 saves on 25 shots before being pulled in the third period. It was the second game in a row the Stingers were shutout, after scoring at least a goal in each of their first 26 games of the season.

Before the game, the Ravens held a ceremony to honour their graduating players, including MacLean as well as fifth-year player Justin Caruana (Orono, Ont.), who continues to miss action with an injury, Kyle Stanley (Aylmer, Que.), Chris Downey (Burlington, Ont.), Brett Halstead (Burlington, Ont.), Andrew Self (Peterborough, Ont.) and Ryan Berard (Niagara Falls, Ont.).

With the win Carleton clinches fifth place in the OUA East over cross-town rival, the Ottawa Gee-Gees, and will battle the fourth-place Toronto Varsity Blues in the first round of the playoffs.

Source: Carleton Sports Info

With their playoff hopes on the line, the uOttawa Gee-Gees hosted the OUA East top dog McGill Redmen on Friday evening at the uOttawa Minto Sports Complex. Despite putting out their best effort of the season against the Redmen the garnet and grey would come up just short, losing 3-2.

It was clear from the get-go that the Gee-Gees knew they needed a strong performance in order punch their ticket to the post season. The two teams drew neck and neck in the first frame, exchanging odd man rushes and power play opportunities. But it was the goalies who stole the spotlight in the first frame, as Gee-Gee goaltender Russell Abbott (Mill Bay, B.C.) stopped all 13 shots he faced and McGill’s rookie goaltender Mark Segal turned aside the six shots the Gee-Gees generated.

Finally, 4:14 into the second period, Redmen defenseman Ryan McKiernan fired a power play point shot past Abbott to break the deadlock. McKiernan was given plenty of space to walk in and fired the clapper through a screen and over Abbott’s right shoulder.

The OUA East’s third best power play was not done there, making the most of another man advantage with a goal from speedy sniper Francis Verrault-Paul that found its way through heavy traffic, leaving Abbott no chance on the play.

“We had plenty of chances to get the puck out on their power play, and we didn’t,” said Gee-Gees head coach Réal Paiement. “It’s those kind of mistakes that we cannot make against those teams and expect them not to jump all over them.”

The Gee-Gees would manage to pull within one goal shortly thereafter though, with a tap in goal by rookie Maxime Chamberland (Chateauguay, Que). Goaltender Segal was sprawled out of position when the puck squeaked out to the open side for Chamberland to finish.

The two teams would exchange goals in the third period, but it was at the 18:50 mark of the final frame when controversy struck. Gee-Gees forward Stephen Blunden (Ottawa, Ont.) redirected a point shot to tie the game, but not before the official called Blunden on goaltender interference, negating the goal and leaving the Gee-Gee faithful up in arms. 

It wasn’t all bad news for the Gee-Gees though, as a Ryerson loss elsewhere in OUA action Friday night solidified a playoff spot for the garnet and grey. Their ultimate position in the division will be determined after their final performance on Saturday evening at the uOttawa Minto Sports Complex against the UQTR Patriotes.

“UQTR is the type of team that, if you aren’t going to play hard against them, they are going to get the odd-man advantages to put the puck in, so we are going to have to be very solid defensively and play more desperate around the net offensively,” said Paiement.

Source: Ottawa Sports Info

LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs men’s hockey team finished their last regular season game with a 2-1 loss against the York Lions on Sat. Feb. 11 at Thompson Arena.
 
Keaton Turkiewicz scored Western’s only goal while Jesse Messier and Troy Barss added goals for the Lions.
 
Western’s first shot on goal came from Turkiewicz off a pass from Baker. Baker threaded a pass through the slot, but York netminder Andrew Perugini got his stick down in time to stop Turkiewicz. Perugini’s stick save wasn’t enough to hold the Mustangs off as Turkiewicz grabbed the loose puck and put it in the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
 
York tied the game up at the 3:42 mark of the second period on a shorthanded opportunity as Messier dumped the puck into Western’s end looking for a change. The puck took an unexpected bounce just in front of the net and beat a surprised Unice. The game remained tied at one at the end of the second frame.
 
Mustangs’ defenceman Matt Paltridge was called for a slashing infraction after three minutes of play in the third period. The Lions wasted no time with a man-advantage as Barss maintained possession of the puck and skated through the slot. Barss beat the Western defender and lifted a backhand shot over Unice’s glove to take a 2-1 lead.
 
York held Western scoreless for the remainder of the game despite being outshot 31-19. The Mustangs power play continued to struggle going 0/6 on man-advantage opportunities as York capitalized on one of their five power play chances.
 
Western plays host to the Laurier Golden Hawks on Thurs. Feb. 16 for Game One of OUA West Quarterfinals.
 
Head coach Clarke Singer commented on Thursday’s upcoming game, “It’s going to be tight checking, very physical and probably a one goal game either way. Laurier is a very similar team to York in terms of how they play and how hard they work.”
 
“I think right across the league, the playoff series are going to be very tight,” said Singer. “We have to work on the two or three things we always focus on, our defensive game, our special teams and preparing for the opposition.”

Source: Western Sports Info

KINGSTON, Ont. – Despite a 6-4 loss on the final regular season game of the year to the Nipissing Lakers (17-7-4), the Gaels (13-13-2) will still advance to the OUA playoffs thanks to a Concordia Stingers loss earlier in the afternoon.

The Gaels finish the season as the eight seed and will take on the first place McGill Redmen. Queen's and Concordia finished the regular season with similar records, including a 1-1 record against each other, but thanks to a goal differential of 10 to eight in favour of the Gaels, Queen's is awarded the playoff position.

The Gaels were led by Jordan Mirwaldt of Winnipeg who had a goal and an assist while the Lakers Lucas McKinley of Fredericton had two goals, including the game winner.

The Lakers scored the first three goals of the game, including two in the first period, putting the Gaels on their heels as they looked to gain valuable points in the OUA standings.

After second period goals from Joey Derochie of Sudbury, Ont., his fourth of the season, and Brandon Perry of Timmins, Ont., his second of the season, the Gaels entered the third frame down 5-2.

Nipissing's Dorian Peca of Oakville, Ont. scored his 14th goal of the season pushing the lead to 6-2 at the 8:03 mark of the third period. The Gaels scored two more times but were unable to climb all the way back falling 6-4.

David Aime of Clandeboye, Man. made 12 saves in a relief effort for the Gaels.

Queen's will now advance to the OUA playoffs where they will take on the McGill Redmen.

Source: Queen's Sports Info

The University of Regina's men's hockey team lost a heartbreaker on Saturday night, falling 4-3 in a shootout to the No. 5-ranked Alberta Golden Bears at The Co-operators Centre.

The win improves Alberta's record to 18-6-2 as the Golden Bears keep pace with first-place Manitoba and remain one point back of the Bisons, while the Cougars drop to 5-18-3 and are mathematically eliminated from the postseason.

Levko Koper scored the shootout winner in the sixth round after going five-hole on Cougar goalie Andrew Hayes, while Alberta's Kurtis Mucha stopped five of the six shooters he faced to secure the win for the Golden Bears.

The Cougars had the edge early in the game as two goals by third-year forward Terrance DeLaronde gave the U of R a 2-0 lead after the opening 20. DeLaronde's first goal came on a nice setup from Brock Appleyard that gave him a wide-open net, while his second came on a partial breakaway that saw Mucha make the initial save before the puck eventually slid across the line.

The Golden Bears had a chance to get back into the game when Johnny Lazo was awarded a penalty shot under a minute into the second period, but Lazo's attempt to go five-hole was stopped by an impressive right pad save by Hayes to keep Alberta off the scoreboard.

John Sonntag increased Regina's lead to three when his point shot found the back of the net just over eight minutes into the second, but Hayes' shutout bid came to an end five minutes later. Jordan Rowley's point shot took a fortuitous bounce off the end boards and off the inside of Hayes' pads to end up in the back of the net, drawing the Golden Bears to within to going into the second intermission.

Alberta showed why it's ranked in the top five in the nation during a dominating third period that saw the Golden Bears outshoot the U of R 11-0 over the first 13 minutes of the frame and 18-4 overall. Alberta finally broke through with just over three minutes to go when Lazo streaked down the left side and wired a wrist shot top shelf to cut the lead to one. With only a minute and a half left in regulation, Alberta captain Greg Gardner tipped in a Thomas Carr point shot to send the game to overtime.

The four-on-four first overtime saw only two shots, both of which were registered by Regina on Mucha, but neither of which would go down as a quality scoring chance. The three-on-three second overtime was owned by Alberta, as the Golden Bears outshot Regina 7-1 in the session but were stymied by Hayes.

In the shootout, Lazo scored on Alberta's first attempt to put the U of A up 1-0 after Tyler Penny opened with a miss for Regina. Terrance DeLaronde was the lone player to score in the second round, and the next eight shooters all missed before Koper finally ended it in the sixth round.

Hayes was brilliant for the Cougars, making 48 saves as Alberta outshot Regina by a 52-24 margin during the contest.

The Cougars finish up the season with a home-and-home against the University of Saskatchewan next weekend, with the teams meeting in Saskatoon on Friday night and in Regina on Saturday night.

Alberta will wrap up its conference schedule at home against the University of Lethbridge next weekend.

Source: Regina Sports Info

CALGARY – For the third time this year, Joe Caligirui was a brick wall against the University of Calgary Dinos as the University of Manitoba Bisons picked up a 1-0 shootout victory at Father David Bauer Arena on Saturday night.
 
With the loss, Calgary ends the season with a record of 15-11-2 and sits in fourth place in the conference. However, with the UBC Thunderbirds losing Friday as well, the Dinos clinch home ice for the first round of the playoffs – and after a bye next weekend, they will host UBC in a best-of-three conference quarterfinal series Feb. 24-26. Manitoba, meanwhile, retained first place in the standings with the Saskatchewan Huskies and Alberta Golden Bears breathing down their necks.

The first period resembled nothing close to the previous night as the clubs went into the break deadlocked at 0-0. Colton Grant had the best chance as he broke in alone, only to have his shot swallowed up by Caligiuri. Defenceman Tyler Schmidt was assessed a two-minute penalty, plus a 10-minute misconduct for checking from behind in the final minute of the period.

The Dinos made it clear they stand behind their starting goaltender Dustin Butler as they gave him the call between the pipes after struggling on Friday. The reigning CIS goaltender of the year proved his coaches right as he stood tall for the Dinos on Saturday. His best save of the night came during a penalty kill midway through the middle frame. Butler denied Jared Walkers attempt and followed it up by throwing his right pad in the air to rob Canada West leading goal scorer Blair Macaulay.

The Dinos penalty killing was pushed to the test as the home team had players sent to the sin bin three consecutive times to begin the second period. Calgary's first-ranked penalty kill was able to hold off the Manitoba power play as the game remained scoreless through 40 minutes.

The third period went up and down the ice with furious action, but neither team could muster up a goal as the Dinos and Bisons went to overtime for the second consecutive night.

After one extra frame solved nothing, the teams went to three-on-three in the second overtime for another five minutes. With pond hockey style in play, players were able to skate all over the Olympic size ice. Despite numerous odd-man rushes, neither squad found the back of the net as the game had to go to a shootout.

After three players were stopped, Manitoba's second shooter Jeremy Schappert wristed a shot through the five-hole of Butler to put his team in front. Taylor Stefishen had a chance to extend the shootout, but was unable to solve Caligirui as he picked up his third shutout of the year at Father David Bauer Arena.

The Bisons outshot the Dinos 26-25. Calgary was 0-for-4 on the power play, while Manitoba went 0-for-5.

The Dinos will have a week to rest before the first round of the playoffs begins when they host UBC. The Bisons will round out their regular season next weekend as they host the Thunderbirds.

Notes: Before the game, fifth-year players Joel Eisenkirch, Teegan Moore, and Reid Jorgensen were honored for their time with Calgary. With tonight's game, Jorgensen moved into fourth all-time in regular season games played by a Dino.

Source: Calgary Sports Info