UOIT Ridgebacks Media Release
Thursday, January 29, 2009

Lions roar back against the Ridgebacks
 
Men’s Hockey: York defeated UOIT 4-3 (OT)

North York, Ont. – First place York University scored two goals in the second half of the third period to force overtime against the UOIT Ridgebacks, where the Lions would eventually prevail winning by a final score of 4-3.

For UOIT, their road woes continue as they are now 0-10-2 away from the Campus Ice Centre, compared to 5-6-1 on home ice.

The Ridgebacks (5-16-3) looked confident heading into Thursday’s game against York (13-9-3) after coming off a record breaking offensive performance against Ryerson the night prior. Shane Nolan (Enfield, N.S.) netted his seventh goal of the season on the power play to open up scoring in the game, but York would eventually tie things up late in the period with a power play marker of their own.

Nathan Spaling (Drayton, Ont) of the Ridgebacks scored the lone goal in the second period at the 4:06 minute mark, his eighth of the year. The goal marked Spaling’s second point of the night, which extended his point scoring streak to five games.

In the third period, the Ridgebacks looked as if they added some insurance as captain Derrick Bagshaw (Oshawa, Ont.) scored the team’s second power play marker of the night, giving UOIT a two goal cushion.

York’s top line had different thoughts though. Lions forward Scott Restoule would net a pair of back-to-back goals in the late stages game to knot things up at 3-3 to send the game into overtime.

Just 46 seconds into the extra frame, Jeff Matheson of York would beat UOIT goaltender Jeff Dawson (Bracebridge, Ont.) to complete the comeback for the Lions.
 
Scott Restoule was the hero for York on the night as he recorded four points in the win. UOIT’s Josh Vatri (Barrie, Ont.) picked up two assists in the losing effort, giving him eight points in his last three games. Vatri is first in team scoring and third in OUA freshmen scoring with 28 points in 20 games this season.

UOIT’s power play unit was in full gear on the night as they went 2-for-4 with the man advantage. The Ridgebacks power play is in the top half of the OUA this season as they sit in eighth position, running at an 18.6 per cent efficiency rate.

Dawson, who made his eighth straight start in net for UOIT, stopped 39 of 44 shots. Across the ice, David Davenport stopped 32 of 35 shots for York.

In five meetings all-time between the two sides, UOIT is still yet to lose in regulation to York as the Ridgebacks hold a 3-0-2 advantage over their Mid-West divisional rival. The teams will meet one more time this year at York University on Saturday, February 7 at 7 p.m.

The Ridgebacks next home action will be on Friday, February 6 against the Brock Badgers. The Ridgebacks will be supporting the Humane Society of Durham Region at the Campus Ice Centre that night. For full event details, please visit www.uoitridgebacks.com.

GAME RECAP

UOIT 3 at York 4 (OT)

1st Period
1. UOIT, S. Nolan (7) (N. Spaling, K. Wetering) 5:10 PP
2. York, J. Grespan (13) (N. Brooks, S. Restoule) 18:28 PP

2nd Period
3. UOIT, N. Spaling (8) (J. Vatri, S. Spade) 4:06  

3rd Period
4. UOIT, D. Bagshaw (8) (J. Vatri, M. Noyes) 6:41 PP
5. York, S. Restoule (12) (N. Brooks, J. Matheson) 12:07  
6. York, S. Restoule (13) (N. Brooks, J. Grespan) 15:35  
 
OT Period
7. York, J. Matheson (2) (S. Restoule) 0:46  

UOIT Shots: 9 12 14 0 TOTAL: 35
YOR Shots: 14 11 16 2 TOTAL: 43

Power Play Conversion
UOIT 2-4
York 1-3

Goaltenders
UOIT
Dawson 2-5-1-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:46 SV: 39 GA: 4 [L]

York
Davenport 7-5-0-2 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:46 SV: 32 GA: 3 [W]

A QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS

Conference Record: 5-16-3
Overall Record: 6-21-3

Next Home Action:
Friday, February 6 vs. Brock (7:30 p.m.) – Campus Ice Centre

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Scott Dennis
Sports Information and Marketing Coordinator
Durham College and UOIT Athletics
905.721.2000 Ext. 2784 (P)
905.721.3117 (F)