UOIT Ridgebacks Media Release
Saturday, November 08, 2008

Thunderwolves Sweep the Weekend Series against UOIT

Men’s Hockey: Lakehead defeated UOIT 6-3

Oshawa, Ont. – The UOIT Ridgebacks men’s hockey team could not come up with a win over the weekend against the visiting Lakehead Thunderwolves as they dropped a 6-3 decision in game two of the series on Saturday afternoon at the Campus Ice Centre.

Lakehead took the first game of the series on Friday night with a 5-1 victory over the Ridgebacks. UOIT drops to 2-4-1 in OUA conference play while the Thunderwolves move to 6-3-1. UOIT is winless in four games in two years against the squad from Thunder Bay.

UOIT’s Nathan Spaling (Drayton, Ont.) opened up scoring in the first period with his second goal of the year, but the Thunderwolves would storm back as they scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead. Mike Noyes (Lucan, Ont.) netted his fourth goal of the year midway through the second stanza, but Lakehead would go on another streak and score the next three goals to put the victory on ice.

Spaling, the Ridgebacks inaugural season leading scorer, had his best game of the season as he ended the goame with three points (one goal, two assists). Spaling has five points in seven games this season. Josh Vatri (Barrie, Ont.) also had a busy game for UOIT as he registered a goal and an assist while picking up twelve penalty minutes. Vatri scored the Ridgebacks lone goal on Friday night.

Oshawa native Chris Whitley picked up the win in net for Lakehead, improving his conference record to 4-1. Matt Mateja (Mississauga, Ont.) started in goal for the Ridgebacks, making 27 stops in the loss.

Shots on goal were 27-23 in favour of Lakehead. The Thunderwolves were 1-for-4 on the power-play while UOIT finished 1-for-5 with the man-advantage.

UOIT will now face the University of Windsor Lancers on the road for back-to-back games next weekend. The Ridgebacks next home action will take place on Friday, November 21 against the Waterloo Warriors. Puck drop at the Campus Ice Centre is 7:30 p.m.



GAME SUMMARY

Lakehead 6 at UOIT 3
 
1st Period
1. UOIT, N. Spaling (2) (J. Koch-Butterworth) 7:30  
2. Lakehead, D. Kivell (1) (S. Dobben, M. Soares) 16:57  
3. Lakehead, S. Dobben (4) (M. Soares, R. Baird) 18:54  
Penalties - T. Whelan Lkhd (interference) 2:22, R. Spencer Uoit (interference) 5:05, J. Vatri Uoit (10-minute misconduct) 10:55, T. Rizzi Uoit (hooking) 14:27, J. Smith Lkhd (holding) 19:08

2nd Period
4. Lakehead, R. Molenaar (1) (P. Guilbault) 1:40  
5. UOIT, M. Noyes (4) (N. Spaling, J. Vatri) 10:44 PP
6. Lakehead, B. McPherson (5) (R. Molenaar) 16:30  
Penalties - T. Whelan Lkhd (hooking) 5:35, P. Guilbault Lkhd (tripping) 9:39, T. Legge Uoit (high sticking) 18:38

3rd Period
7. Lakehead, T. Whelan (5) (A. Hyvarinen, A. Brown) 5:52  
8. Lakehead, B. McPherson (6) (R. Baird, A. Brown) 11:06 PP
9. UOIT, J. Vatri (3) (N. Spaling, T. Rizzi) 13:15  
Penalties - T. Legge Uoit (tripping) 10:51, S. Dobben Lkhd (holding) 13:50, J. Vatri Uoit (holding) 13:50, R. Molenaar Lkhd (holding) 15:50

LKHD Shots: 6 20 7 TOTAL: 33
UOIT Shots: 7 8 11 TOTAL: 26

Power Play Conversion
Lakehead 1-4
UOIT 1-5

Goaltenders
Lakehead
Whitley 4-1-0-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 23 GA: 3 [W]

UOIT
Mateja 2-4-0-0 Start: 1st 0:00 Min: 60:00 SV: 27 GA: 6 [L]

Start: 3:35 PM
End: 5:54 PM
Attendance: 333

A QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS

Conference Record: 2-4-1
Overall Record: 3-9-1

Next Action:
Friday, November 14 @ Windsor (7:30 p.m.)

Next Home Action:
Friday, November 21 vs. Waterloo (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)