UOIT Ridgebacks Media Release
Friday, November 28, 2008

UOIT drops a close decision to Waterloo

Men’s Hockey: Waterloo defeated UOIT 5-3

Waterloo, Ont. – The UOIT men’s hockey team fell just short of their first road win of the year as the University of Waterloo defeated the Ridgebacks by a final score of 5-3 on Friday night.

UOIT opened up scoring in midway through the first period as Chris Lowe (Smiths Falls, Ont.) notched his second goal of the year to give the Ridgebacks a 1-0 lead. Freshman forward Tony Rizzi (Kingston, Ont.) picked up an assist on the play, his 14th point of the year as he is now second in team scoring.

Waterloo would strike back in the period with two late goals to take a 2-1 lead heading into the dressing room after one. In the second, Waterloo would add to their lead as they scored the period’s only goal as fifth year winger Doug Spooner netted his fifth goal of the season, beating Ridgeback goalkeeper Matt Mateja (Mississauga, Ont.).

UOIT would cut the Warrior lead to 3-2 at the 6:01 minute mark of the third, but a Waterloo goal 19 seconds later would put an end to the Ridgebacks comeback as they would skate to an eventual 5-3 victory. Shane Nolan (Enfield, NS) and Nathan Spaling (Drayton, Ont.) were the goal scorers in the third period for UOIT.

For the Ridgebacks, it was the fifth time they scored the games opening goal, but failed to come up with a win in the midst of their nine game conference losing streak.

As the scoresheet reflected, the game was very close with both teams having a number of scoring chances. Waterloo outshot the Ridgebacks 36-27 while going 2-for-9 on the power play. Spaling’s fifth goal of the year was UOIT’s lone power play goal as they went 1-for-6 with the man advantage.

The Ridgebacks have been outshot in 11 of 13 games this season, with the Ridgebacks finishing in the positive side of shots in only their two wins of the year.

Things will not get any easier for the blue and white as they match up against nationally sixth ranked Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday night in Kitchener. Last week, the Hawks defeated UOIT 6-4 at the Campus Ice Centre.

UOIT’s next home action will be against Western on Thursday, December 4 at the Campus Ice Centre (7:30 p.m.). Students will have a chance to win a free trip to Montreal at the game!
 
GAME RECAP

UOIT 3 at Waterloo 5

1st Period
1. UOIT, C. Lowe (2) (T. Rizzi) 12:13  
2. Waterloo, K. Sonnenburg (1) (A. Dileo) 14:40  
3. Waterloo, J. Brenner (6) (D. Edgeworth, C. Ray) 18:00 PP

2nd Period
4. Waterloo, D. Spooner (5) (C. Ray, D. Philpott) 13:23 PP

3rd Period
5. UOIT, S. Nolan (3) (M. Noyes, J. Fransky) 6:01  
6. Waterloo, D. Philpott (2) (S. Hart) 6:20  
7. Waterloo, D. Spooner (6) (K. Sonnenburg) 8:43  
8. UOIT, N. Spaling (5) (P. Pascuzzi, B. Varty) 9:54 PP

UOIT Shots: 10 9 8 TOTAL: 27
WAT Shots: 10 14 12 TOTAL: 36

Power Play Conversion
UOIT 1-6
Waterloo 2-9

Goaltenders
UOIT
Fontana 0-2-0-0 Start: 2nd 14:00 Min: 6:00 SV: 4 GA: 0
Mateja 2-7-1-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 54:00 SV: 27 GA: 5 [L]

Waterloo
Hartigan 3-0-0-1 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 24 GA: 3 [W]

A QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS

Conference Record: 2-9-2
Overall Record: 3-14-2

Next Action:
Saturday, November 29 @ Laurier (7:30 p.m.)

Next Home Action:
Thursday, December 4 vs. Western (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)