UOIT RIDGEBACKS MEDIA RELEASE
December 2, 2007

Ridgebacks Men's Hockey Finish Productive Weekend with Loss to Laurier!
UOIT Picks up Three Big Points This Weekend!!!

Kitchener (OUA) - Wilfred Laurier University men¹s hockey team stormed out to a four goal advantage that the UOIT Ridgebacks (2-11-3) were unable to overcome, as the Golden Hawks soared to a 5-3 victory to close out the 2007 portion of the season for both teams on Sunday afternoon in Waterloo, ON.

Freshman forward Craig Voakes notched a hat-trick for the Golden Hawks (10-5-1), including the first two goals of the game. Voakes is currently leading the OUA in goals with 15 tallies on the season. Teammate Nick Vergeer also had a standout night as he added four assists in the Laurier win.

After a pair of goals eight minutes into the second period and a 4-0 Laurier lead, UOIT starting goalie Matt Mateja (Mississauga, ON) was pulled in relief for backup Josh Evans (Whitby, ON). Mateja had seen a lot of ice time over the weekend, having played two overtime games on Friday and Saturday night.

The emerging Ridgebacks, who picked up points in their last two games, came out storming after the goaltender switch and managed to capitalize at the
12:25 mark as Derrick Bagshaw (Oshawa, ON) scored his fourth goal of the season, with assists coming from Jordan Freeland (Belleville, ON) and TJ Legge (Chapleau, ON).

Laurier restored the four-goal lead on the power play as Voakes completed the hat-trick 34 seconds into the third period on a power play. UOIT managed to pull within two goals with a couple of third period scores from Freeland and Bagshaw, but the Ridgebacks were out of last minute heroics as they dropped the 5-3 decision. Legge, Bagshaw and Freeland all had two points in a losing effort.

The Ridgebacks finished 1-for-7 on the power play while Laurier was 2-for-6, with the Golden Hawks outshooting UOIT 36-26 in the game.

With the win, Laurier swept UOIT in the season series 2-0. The Golden Hawks defeated UOIT 5-1 in their inaugural meeting at the Campus Ice Centre on November 24, 2007.

The game wrapped up the 2007 portion of the schedule for both teams, with the regular season resuming in the new year. UOIT will hit the ice on Friday, January 4, 2008 on the road against the Carleton Ravens (7-8-1).
Puck drop is 7:00 pm. UOIT¹s next home action is on Friday, Janurary 11,
2008 at 7:30 pm at the Campus Ice Centre against the Concordia Stingers (9-7-1).

2007 has seen a lot of ups and downs for the inaugural Ridgebacks squad.
Head coach Marlin Muylaert has seen a lot of improvement from his team as they are 2-2-1 in their last five games on home ice and the team continues to work hard each and every game.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period
1. Laurier, C. Voakes (13) (A. Maccarone, N. Vergeer) 4:24 2. Laurier, C. Voakes (14) (N. Vergeer, M. Voakes) 11:33 PP Penalties - C. Kennedy LAUR (hooking) 6:00, T. Legge UOIT (hooking) 10:59, T. Legge UOIT (holding) 15:27, J. Rizk LAUR (hooking) 19:43

2nd Period
3. Laurier, M. Grennier (6) 3:34 SH
4. Laurier, R. Dmytruk (2) (N. Vergeer, C. Voakes) 8:26 5. UOIT, D. Bagshaw (4) (J. Freeland, T. Legge) 12:25 Penalties - N. Vergeer LAUR (tripping) 2:18, J. Fransky UOIT (tripping) 6:16, L. Girard LAUR (high sticking) 13:57, J. Fransky UOIT (holding) 19:54

3rd Period
6. Laurier, C. Voakes (15) (R. Dmytruk, N. Vergeer) 0:34 PP 7. UOIT, J. Freeland (6) (I. Brunt) 9:03 PP 8. UOIT, D. Bagshaw (5) (B. Connolly, T. Legge) 18:45 Penalties - C. Williams LAUR (high sticking) 4:48, D. Bagshaw UOIT
(slashing) 5:24, C. Voakes LAUR (high sticking) 7:27, M. Voakes LAUR
(roughing) 10:11, B. Connolly UOIT (slashing) 11:05, I. Brunt UOIT (high
sticking) 12:04, L. Girard LAUR (roughing) 12:04

UOIT Shots: 3-11-12 (26)
LAUR Shots: 14-13-9 (36)

Power Play Conversion
UOIT 1-7

Laurier 2-6

Goaltenders:
UOIT
Mateja - MIN: 28:26, SV: 16, GA: 4 (L)
Evans - MIN: 30:19, SV: 15, GA: 1

Laurier
Forer ­ MIN: 60:00, SV: 23, GA: 3 (W)

Start : 1:30 PM
End : 3:45 PM
Attendance : 106

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For Further Information:
Ken Babcock
Director of Athletics
University of Ontario Institute of Technology
905-721-3047