CIS men's hockey Saturday roundup: Rattie leads UOIT to a big win over No. 7 Lakehead in his OUA debut

SASKATOON - University of Saskatchewan Huskies captain Kyle Ross recorded a hat trick in a 5-4 victory over the visiting University of Alberta Golden Bears Saturday afternoon at Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon.

Ross’ trio of goals came at 7:27 in the first period, 26 seconds into the second period and at 13:46 in the second period. The second and third tallies were on the power play. Ross’ linemates Derek Hulak and Kyle Bortis each had two assists in the game.  The three players lead the Canada West in scoring.

With the win the No. 5 Huskies complete the sweep over the No. 4 Golden Bears and continue to hold sole possession of first place with a 15-3-2 record.  Alberta falls to 13-5-2. The sweep was the first by Saskatchewan over the Golden Bears since a series in 2006-07 in Saskatoon.

Ross’ first goal opened the scoring at 7:27 when his shot from behind the net hit Golden Bear goalie Kurtis Mucha in the back and fell into the goal. But the Huskies lead didn’t last long, Alberta tallied the next three goals. James Dobrowolski scored at 9:22 after he came streaking down the ice beating Ryan Holfeld’s glove to tie the game.

A Huskie giveaway in the neutral zone allowed Johnny Lazo to give the Golden Bears a 2-1 lead at 11:54 once again beating Holfeld’s glove. Zack Dailey scored the final Bears’ goal of the first period at 17:13 on a scramble in front of the net that trickled under a sprawling Holfeld.

Saskatchewan’s offence came to life in the second period scoring four unanswered goals – three on the power play.

Ross brought the game within one on the power play just 26 seconds into the first period when he fired home a Shaun Vey rebound. Matthew Delahey and Ross each added goals for the Huskies on the power play at 12:16 and 13:46. Craig McCallum scored the Huskies’ fourth of the frame at 17:42 after streaking down the left side and beating Mucha glove side for the 5-3 lead.

Alberta made the bid for a comeback late in the third period when Thomas Carr scored on a scramble in front of the net at 18:22 but it was all the Golden Bears could muster.

Holfeld made 33 saves in net for the Huskies, while Mucha stopped 19 before being pulled in favour of Real Cyr to begin the third period. Cyr stopped all three shots he faced.

Special teams were the difference for the Huskies capitalizing on 4-of-9 nine chances with the man advantage. Alberta was 0-for-5 on the power play.

The Huskies hit the road to face the Manitoba Bisons next weekend, while the Golden Bears return home to host the Lethbridge Pronghorns.

Source: Saskatchewan Sports Info

HALIFAX - The X-Men hockey team handed the CIS ranked No. 1 UNB Varsity Reds their second loss of the weekend as they won 5-4 in a shootout Saturday night at the StFX Keating Centre. X-Men forward Kevin Undershute potted the shootout winner as StFX snapped a five-game losing streak. The V-Reds dropped a 2-1 game to Saint Mary's last night in Halifax and the X-Men regrouped after yesterday's 7-3 drubbing from the UPEI Panthers.
 
Michael Kirkpatrick scored two first period power play goals for the X-Men as they held a 2-1 lead after the first. His first goal came 2:02 into the game as he picked up his own rebound and fired the puck past Varsity Reds goaltender Dan LaCosta. Jason Bast and Spencer McAvoy assisted on the play. Shayne Weibe evened the score for the Varsity Reds at the 7:47 mark, breaking down the wing unassisted as he sniped one past Joey Perricone in the StFX net. Kirkpatrick gave the X-Men back the lead with his second power play marker at 10:56 as Jason Bast picked up his second assist of the night. 
 
Second period play saw the X-Men increase their lead to 4-1 over the top ranked team. Stephen Simms took a Jarrad Struthers pass as he jumped back on the ice after serving a penalty and scored low on the short side of LaCosta at the 8:37 mark. Defenseman Gabriel O'Connor followed up with a goal off a shot from the point after a UNB turnover. Brett Morrison and Murdock MacLellan picked up assists on the 11:01 goal that gave the X-Men a three goal advantage at 4-1.
 
The lead would not hold, however, as the Varsity Reds showed why they are the number one team in the country this season, fighting back to score two goals before the second period buzzer sounded. Chad Denny, who just joined the Varsity Reds lineup, scored at 14:47 from Taylor MacDougall and Bretton Stamler, then Stamler scored off the draw with only 11 seconds left in the period to pull the V-Reds to 4-3 after 40 minutes of play. Kyle Bailey assisted on the Stamler goal.
 
As the two teams played a fast-paced, hard-checking third period, the lone goal of the period came off the stick of UNB forward Weibe who scored his second goal of the evening, beating Perricone at the 13:14 minute mark, from Luke Gallant and Chris Culligan. The 4-4 score held for the remainder of regulation play.
 
The four-on-four overtime period saw the X-Men outshoot the Varsity Reds 7-4 as UNB fought off two penalties. Gallant took a hooking call, then 15 seconds after his penalty expired, UNB was called for too many men on the ice. StFX was unable to capitalize on the four minutes with the extra attacker. The score remained deadlocked at 4-4 after the ten minute OT period.
 
The shootout saw StFX's Jason Bast and UNB's Kyle Bailey exchange misses on the first two attempts, then Kirkpatrick solved LaCosta to give StFX the edge. Thomas Nesbitt was stopped by Perricone then Kevin Undershute fired it home for StFX to secure the victory.
 
Perricone posted 29 saves in the StFX net as UNB held the slight edge in shots at 33-30. Michael Kirkpatrick was named the Subway Player of the Game for the X-Men.

 The win was a stark contrast to the same X-Men team who fell 7-3 to the UPEI Panthers the night before.

Source: StFX Sports Info

WATERLOO, Ont. - The Warriors are still in search of their first win of 2012 after losing their third straight game 3-2 to the York Lions on Friday night at the Columbia Icefield Arena.
 
Jesse Messier (Keswick, Ont.) scored his eighth goal of the season at the 16:23 minute mark of the second period which would stand up as the winning goal.  The win put York (10-8-3) within two points of the third place Warriors (11-6-3).
 
The Lions opened the scoring eight minutes into the game as Tyler McGee (Timmins, Ont.) found the net for his seventh of the season.  Waterloo would tie the game on the penalty kill as Tyler Moir (Calgary) would notch his third shorthanded marker and ninth of the season to send the game tied into the second frame.
 
York would regain their one goal lead seven minutes into the second period off the stick of Bryan Weinberg (Thornhill, Ont.) for his third of the season.  Ten minutes later Messier would notch his insurance marker that would stand up as the game winner.
 
Kirt Hill (Winnipeg) added a third period goal but it would not be enough as Waterloo would fall to the Lions 3-2.  Warriors goalie Keaton Hartigan (Kitchener) stopped 33 of 36 shots faced in the loss while Andrew Perugini was less busy with 23 saves.
 
Waterloo will look to get back in the win column on Saturday nice as they face cross-town rivals Laurier Golden Hawks at the CIF arena.  Puck drop is set for 7:30pm and the game can be seen live on the Streaming Sports Network (SSN Canada).

Source; Waterloo Sports Info

TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams men's hockey team won its second game is as many days as David Grant scored with 1:02 left in regulation to lift the Rams to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Carleton Ravens on Saturday night.

Grant (Owen Sound, Ont.) was sent in alone on a nifty feed from newcomer Victor Terreri before beating Carleton goaltender Matthew Dopud with a backhand deke.

With the win, the Rams climb above the .500 mark at 9-8-3 and remain in the thick of the playoff race in the OUA East division. The Ravens slip to 11-7-2.

Ryerson captain Andrew Buck opened the scoring four minutes into the first period. The Rams went up 2-0 on the power play early in the second frame on Kelly Geoffrey's third goal of the season.

Carleton would respond with a pair of goals before the end of the middle period. Andrew Self got the Ravens on the board four minutes after the Geoffrey goal and then Brad Albert tied it 10 minutes later.

Troy Passingham stopped 29 of 31 shots and made several key third period stops for the victory between the pipes. Dopud stopped 12 of 15 shots he faced.

Ryerson was 1-for-6 on the power play while Carleton was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

The Rams host the Toronto Varsity Blues on Thursday at George Bell Arena before travelling to Kingston on Friday to face the RMC Paladins.

Source: Ryerson Sports Info

TORONTO - Byron Elliott’s two-goal performance led the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team to a 4-3 win over the No. 2 McGill Redmen on Saturday, January 14 at Varsity Arena.
 
With the win, the Blues improve to 10-7-3 and remain sixth in the OUA East division.
 
Elliott’s goals were his 14th and 15th of the season. The Burlington, Ont. native leads the Blues in both goals and points (29). The Blues also saw goals from Kyle Ventura (Scarborough, Ont.), and Blake Boddy (Ajax, Ont.).
 
"We provided the team with a simple game plan and for the most part, we followed it," commented Varsity Blues head coach Darren Lowe. "We had some tremendous goaltending and timely scoring. It was a real team effort."
 
The Blues entertained a raucous Saturday night crowd, scoring just four minutes into the first period on a high-light reel goal from Elliott. With the Blues on a penalty kill, Elliott stole the puck at his own blue line and raced in, fighting off a McGill defender before roofing the puck over Redmen goalie Hubert Morin to put Toronto up 1-0.
 
Later in the period, Blues goaltender and Cremona, Alta. native Garrett Sheehan stopped Max Langelier-Parent on a penalty shot to preserve the Blues lead.
 
Toronto added to their lead midway through the second, when Boddy took a stretch pass from Ventura and wristed the puck underneath Morin’s blocker.
 
Ventura then picked up his second point of the night, grabbing the puck near the blue line and cutting to the slot before sliding it five-hole to put the Blues up 3-0.
 
McGill would eventually respond with two powerplay goals, one late in the second from Marc-Olivier Vachon, and the other early in the third off the stick of Ben Morse, to cut U of T’s lead to one.
 
But the Blues received more heroics from Elliott. The veteran forward blasted a slapshot from the top of the circle that beat Morin high over the glove to restore the two-goal lead.
 
The Redmen would again narrow the gap on a goal from Andrew Wright, but were unable to produce the tying goal in the latter half of the third period.
 
Sheehan made 36 saves on the night en route to being named the game’s second star.
 
The Redmen’s loss is just their second regulation loss of the season. They are now 16-2-2.
 
The Blues return to action next Thursday, January 19 at Ryerson against the Rams. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.

Source: Toronto Sports Info

OSHAWA, Ont. – Making his OUA debut, UOIT goaltender Jacob Rattie of Niagara Falls, Ont. made 46 saves to lead the Ridgebacks to an 8-5 victory over the No. 7 ranked Lakehead Thunderwolves in OUA men’s hockey action.

The win put an end to Lakehead’s nine game winning streak and has the Ridgebacks back in the playoff hunt in the OUA western conference.

“The team really worked hard for our goaltender tonight,” said head coach Marlin Muylaert. “Jacob has been at every practice for the past two years and he earned this opportunity in which he took advantage of. We needed this win as the team really stepped up their game.”

Rattie, who played his junior career with the Niagara Falls Canucks, had only dressed for UOIT in OUA conference play and had never got into a game before tonight.

The Ridgebacks came out flying in front of Rattie as they scored four first period goals, three of which were in the first seven minutes of the game. The team took a 4-1 lead into the locker room after twenty minutes.

UOIT had a 6-2 advantage late in the second period, but Lakehead stormed back with three consecutive goals to cut into the Ridgebacks lead to 6-5.

With Lakehead pressing for the equalizer, Rattie and his defence stood strong and the team scored two late goals including an empty netter to give UOIT an 8-5 victory.

A program record seven Ridgebacks were in double-digits in scoring as the blue and white had their best offensive performance of the year.

Jesse Stoughton and Brendan Wise each had two goal nights while Mike Noyes, Kyle Wetering, Kevin George and Tony Rizzi had three points apiece. Wetering’s goal in the first period was the 25th of his career.

Luke VanMoerkerke finished the night with a goal and an assist, giving him five points in the weekend series against Lakehead.

Keith Grondin was Lakehead’s leading scorer with two goals. Lakehead goalie Jeff Bosch made 28 saves in the losing effort.

Both power plays were busy and effective as Lakehead went 3-for-9 while UOIT was 2-for-7 with the man advantage.

UOIT will look to build momentum from the win and put together their first winning streak of the season as they host the Guelph Gryphons on Thursday, January 19 at the Campus Ice Centre. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Guelph is one of the teams within striking distance for UOIT, as they are ahead of the Ridgeabacks by just five points.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 7-18-1
Conference Record: 4-16-1

Source: UOIT Sports Info

CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos used an early surge of scoring to defeat the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns 4-1 on Saturday night at Father David Bauer in the second game of a home-and-home set.
 
The win gives Calgary three out of a possible four points this weekend to improve to 10-9-1 on the campaign. Lethbridge now sits with a record of 5-12-3 this season after collecting two points on Friday night. The loss ended the Pronghorns' mini two-game winning streak.
 
The Dinos were hungry to avenge the double-overtime loss they suffered in Lethbridge Friday night, when Calgary was up 2-0 going into the third period before the Pronghorns netted two goals and the game-winner in the second extra frame to clinch the win.
 
The home team lit the lamp early and often in the first period as they stormed out to an early lead in the first. Walker Wintoneak let a backhander go in the slot which sailed over the shoulder of Scott Bowles for the game's first goal at the 1:43 mark.
 
The relentless pressure continued for Calgary as Taylor Stefishen and Colton Grant each got on the board before the period could end. Stefishen was able to beat Bowles with a shot from atop the right face-off circle at 9:09. Grant connected with a shot at 15:39 as he walked through to the front of the net and finished as the Dinos carried a 3-0 advantage into the first intermission.
 
After allowing three goals on ten shots through twenty minutes, Lethbridge pulled Bowles in favor of back-up Dylan Tait. The Dinos gave Tait a rude welcome at 3:52 of the second as Cory Pritz fired a quick shot past the Pronghorns' goaltender. Calgary held the 4-0 lead after two periods.
 
While on the power play at 11:28, the Pronghorns scored the lone goal of the final frame as Clayton Cumiskey finalized the 4-1 score. The tally was Cumiskey's first CIS goal, coming in only his fourth game.
 
The Dinos outshot the Pronghorns 30-22. Calgary went 0-for-4 on the man advantage, while Lethbridge was 1-for-4.
 
The Dinos will stay at home next weekend as the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds make their first visit to Father David Bauer this season on Jan. 20-21. The Pronghorns will travel north for their next two games when they visit the University of Alberta Golden Bears for two games on Jan. 20-21.
 
NOTE: Tonight's game marked Kodie Curran's second game of the campaign. The smooth skating defenceman transitioned well back into the Calgary line-up after playing last season as a first-year.

Source: Calgary Sports Info