UOIT Ridgebacks Media Release
Friday, January 18, 2008

UOIT Lets It's Guard Down, Blown Out at Home 7-1

Heading into their home and home series with the University of Guelph, UOIT’s men's hockey had looked good to start the new year winning on consecutive weekends, but the Ridgebacks fell hard on Friday night in a 7-1 loss to the Gryphons in front of over 400 fans at the Campus Ice Centre.

Guelph defeated UOIT for the second time in as many nights, as the Gryphons also defeated the Ridgebacks 3-1 victory on Thursday in Guelph. UOIT is now 4-15-3 on the season while the Gryphons jump to 10-12-1, just two points behind the York Lions in the Mid-West Division.

As fans were still making the way to their seats, the Ridgebacks struck as Nathan Spaling (Drayton, ON) beat Guelph goaltender Andrew Arklie 20 seconds into the game, marking the fasted goal scored in UOIT history. Paul Pascuzzi (Whitby, ON) and Jonathan Koch-Butterworh (Uxbridge, ON) assisted on the record setting goal. For Koch-Butterworth, it was his second point of the week and third of the year.
 
With tensions built up from their game the night before and after some chippy play, UOIT’s Brett Connolly (Pickering, ON) and Guelph’s Chris Gibson dropped the gloves in an entertaining bout but were sent to watch the rest of the game in the stands. At this point of the game, the Ridgebacks ran into penalty trouble picking up seven of eight penalties called in the first period. Guelph managed to capitalize with the man advantage at the 9:24 mark as Zach Lillie slipped one past Ridgebacks goaltender Matt Mateja (Mississauga, ON) to tie the game at one.

The Gryphons began the second period on a two-man advantage and profited on the situation as Lellie scored his second power play goal of the game just 44 seconds into the period. Still with a man-advantage, Guelph registered another power play marker 15 seconds later Derek Knowles streaked in on net and beat Mateja for his tenth goal of the year.

The Ridgebacks continued to send a steady stream of players to the box and Guelph continued to capitalize as Alex Magera gave the Gryphons a 4-1 advantage at the 15:46 mark on yet another power play game. At one point of the game, UOIT had taken eight consecutive penalties, allowing the Gryphons to control puck possession and the overall flow of the game.

Guelph continued to apply the pressure on their Mid-West region opponents for the remainder of the game, scoring three more goals in the third period, two of which were on the power play. Magera finished the night with one goal and three assists while teammate Michael Nelson scored two goals and added an assist.

Josh Evans (Whitby, ON) entered the game at the 8:37 mark of the third period in relief of Mateja, after the starting goalie allowed six goals on 28 shots. Arklie picked up his second win over the Ridgebacks for Guelph as he made 15 stops on the night. UOIT failed to score a power play goal on five attempts while Guelph notched six goals on twelve attempts.

Head coach Marlin Muylaert’s first action against his former team did not turn out as Ridgebacks fans had imagined. The Ridgebacks will get a third shot at the Gryphons in their OUA inaugural season finale on February 9 in Guelph.