MEN’S and WOMEN’S HOCKEY

UOIT Ridgebacks Media Release
Saturday, January 05, 2008

Ridgebacks in Tough Against OUA Defending Champions

Oshawa (OUA) – Both the men’s and women’s UOIT Ridgebacks hockey teams made road-trips on Saturday to face the defending OUA champions and top ranked teams in the nation. Upsets were not in the cards as the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) and Wilfrid Laurier University came out on top against the first year Ridgebacks.


UQTR MANAGES TO SUSTAIN EARLY LEAD

After picking up a win over the Carleton Ravens on Friday night, the UOIT Ridgebacks men’s hockey team traveled to Quebec to take on the defending OUA Champion UQTR Patriotes. Despite a strong effort from the boys in blue, the Patriotes came out with a 7-2 win, breaking open the game in the third. With the loss, UOIT slipped to 3-12-3 on the season while UQTR improved their record to 14-3-1, the best record in the OUA this season. UQTR has dominated the rest of the OUA as of late winning the six provincial championships in the past nine years.

After playing the first 10 minutes to a scoreless draw, UQTR opened up the scoring as their assistant captain and CIS leading scorer Mathieu Gravel notched his 13th goal of the year. Later in the period, Gravel’s line was it at once again as they scored their second goal of the period when Thiery Poudier found the back of the net. Linemate Jonathan Boutin assisted on both first period goals.

The Ridgebacks managed to fight back midway through the second as Chris Lowe (Smiths Falls, ON) notched his fourth goal of the year, to cut the Patriotes’ lead in half. With their lead down to a single goal, UQTR responded one minute later as Boutin was able to beat goaltender Matt Mateja (Mississauga, ON) on a UQTR power play.

The eighth ranked team in the nation opened the flood gates in the third as they beat Mateja on four separate occasions, while UOIT only managed to score a single tally. Boutin picked up his second goal of the night, giving him two points and two assists while Gravel added to his nation leading total with a goal and two assists. The Ridgebacks only goal of the period was scored by Kevin Taylor (Bowmanville, ON), his first goal in the OUA.

UQTR had too much fire power on this night, as they outshot UOIT 33-16. Special teams also played a big role in the outcome as UQTR was 4-for-7 on the power play while UOIT was shutout with the man advantage (0-for-6).

The Ridgebacks will head home for a pair of games at the Campus Ice Centre next weekend as they host the Concordia Stingers on Friday night (7:30 PM) and then turnaround to play the McGill Redmen on Saturday afternoon (1:30 PM). UOIT founding president Gary Polonsky will be honoured during Saturday’s game.

GAME SUMMARY

UOIT 2 at UQTR 7 (Final)

Scoring Summary
1st Period
1. UQTR, M. Gravel (13) (J. Boutin, T. Poudrier) 10:53 
2. UQTR, T. Poudrier (8) (M. Gravel, J. Boutin) 18:17 
Penalties - C. Laroche Uqt (inter. on goaltender) 3:58, J. Freeland Uoit (hooking) 12:13, A. Demers Uqt (kneeing) 15:25

2nd Period
3. UOIT, C. Lowe (4)   10:04 
4. UQTR, J. Boutin (12) (F. St-Denis, M. Gravel) 11:46 PP
Penalties - N. Desilets Uqt (interference) 8:06, B. Connolly Uoit (hooking) 9:47, B. Varty Uoit (cross checking) 11:17, K. Petit Uqt (boarding) 14:25, A. Demers Uqt (boarding) 19:48, J. Freeland Uoit (inter. on goaltender) 19:53

3rd Period
5. UQTR, K. Petit (6) (A. Demers, A. Joanisse) 6:31 PP
6. UQTR, J. Boutin (13) (F. St-Denis, T. Lafontaine) 7:05 PP
7. UOIT, K. Taylor (1) (T. Legge, D. Turner) 7:30 
8. UQTR, J. Breton (4) (K. Petit, C. Laroche) 11:45 PP
9. UQTR, C. Laroche (1) (J. Breton, K. Petit) 17:56 
Penalties - B. Connolly Uoit (misconduct-visor) 3:33, R. Spencer Uoit (boarding) 4:41, D. Bagshaw Uoit (slashing) 5:44, I. Brunt Uoit (roughing, 10-minute misconduct) 9:41, A. Demers Uqt (holding, 10-minute misconduct) 9:41, D. Bagshaw Uoit (hooking) 10:32, N. Desilets Uqt (roughing) 12:34

UOIT Shots: 5-6-5 TOTAL: 16
UQT Shots: 10-7-16 TOTAL: 33

Power Play Conversion
UOIT 0-6
UQTR 4-7.

Goaltenders
UOIT - Mateja - 60:00 min, SV: 26, GA: 7 [L]
UQTR - Laliberte - 60:00 min, SV: 14, GA: 2 [W]

RIDGEBACKS AT A GLANCE (MEN’S)
Ridgebacks Conference Record: 3-12-3
Ridgebacks Overall Record: 5-16-3

NEXT HOME GAMES (MEN’S)
Friday, January 11, 2008 (7:30 PM)
vs. Concordia Stingers
Campus Ice Centre
Oshawa, ON

Saturday, January 12, 2008 (1:30 PM)
vs. McGill Redmen
Campus Ice Centre
Oshawa, ON
*Gary Polonsky Day


DEFENDING CHAMPS TOO MUCH FOR RIDGEBACKS

The UOIT women's hockey team dropped an 11-0 decision against the #4 nationally ranked Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks Saturday night in Kitchener-Waterloo. The Golden Hawks have been the pinnacle of women’s hockey as they have won the OUA provincial championship in four consecutive seasons.

The first period saw Laurier demonstrate why they are one of the top teams in the nation and why they are atop of the OUA standings as they skated to a 5-0 first period lead, holding the Ridgebacks to just one first period shot. Things did not get much better after the first as the Golden Hawks scored three more goals in both the second and third periods to run away with an 11-0 victory.

The Ridgebacks were unable to sustain any offensive pressure on the Hawks goaltender as Laurier’s defense limited their scoring opportunities the sixty minutes. Laurier now improves to 14-1-1 on the season, with two wins coming against UOIT. In their first meeting of the year, Laurier shutout the Ridgebacks 7-0.

UOIT will now head to York University for an afternoon tilt against the Lions on Sunday, before heading home for a two-game set against the University of Guelph Gryohins beginning on Saturday night. UOIT founding president Gary Polonsky will be honoured during Saturday’s game.

GAME SUMMARY

UOIT 0 at Laurier 11 (Final)
 
Scoring:
1. Laurier, H. Fortuna (2) (K. Powers) 4:57  
2. Laurier, K. Shirriff (7) (L. Barch, H. Fortuna) 8:46 PP
3. Laurier, L. Barch (9) (V. Bennett, V. Ley) 9:26  
4. Laurier, D. Di Felice (5) (K. Shirriff) 16:15  
5. Laurier, C. Kellough (4) (H. Fortuna) 17:20  
Penalties - M. Friel Uoit (tripping) 7:54, Served by L. TEAM Lau (too many men) 12:55, K. Shirriff Lau (hooking) 19:25

2nd Period
6. Laurier, A. Ironside (7)   0:52 SH
7. Laurier, L. Barch (10) (L. Meschino) 11:36 PP
8. Laurier, E. Weber (1) (K. Powers, A. Martin) 17:32  
Penalties - K. Powers Lau (hooking) 6:10, L. Meschino Lau (interference) 7:23, K. Edwards Uoit (roughing) 10:06, A. Martin Lau (slashing) 17:56, K. Powers Lau (checking to the head, 10-minute misconduct) 19:44, D. Di Felice Lau (body checking) 20:00

3rd Period
9. Laurier, K. Psota (2) (H. Fortuna, K. Shirriff) 6:25 PP
10. Laurier, A. Ironside (8)   9:49 SH
11. Laurier, V. Bennett (1) (K. Shirriff, L. Barch) 18:03 PP
Penalties - S. Carter Uoit (roughing) 4:59, A. Ironside Lau (tripping) 5:40, A. McMillin Lau (hooking) 8:51, M. Bell Uoit (tripping) 14:30, J. Campitelli Uoit (roughing, unsportsmanlike cnd.) 17:58, K. Edwards Uoit (roughing) 17:58, D. Di Felice Lau (roughing) 17:58, J. McArthur Uoit (cross checking) 18:57

UOIT Shots: 1-1-3 (5)
Laurier Shots: 11-10-11 (32)

Power Play Conversion
UOIT 0-9
Laurier 4-7

Goaltenders
UOIT
Taggart - 40:00 min, SV: 13, GA: 8 [L]
Scott - 20:00 min, SV: 8, GA: 3

Laurier
Wielgosz 60:00 min, SV: 5, GA: 0 [W]