2009-10 NEWS RELEASES

UOIT Ridgebacks Media Release
Sunday, February 21, 2010

Ridgebacks playoff run comes to an end in London

Men’s Hockey: Western defeated UOIT 5-1

OUA Playoffs: UOIT vs. Western
Game 1: UOIT defeated Western 2-1
Game 2: Western defeated UOIT 4-2
Game 3: Western defeated UOIT 5-1
Western wins series 2-1

LONDON, Ont. – The UOIT men’s hockey team playoff run came to an end on Sunday evening as the Ridgebacks were defeated 5-1 in game three of their western conference quarter-final playoff series against the Western Mustangs in London.

The Ridgebacks first playoff appearance in program history was the highlight of 2009/10 season, with UOIT 4:11 minutes shy of knocking out the top-seeded and defending national finalists out of the first round.

The year also featured the Ridgebacks defeating a number of nationally ranked opponents throughout the year including Lakehead (10/17 & 2/5), Western (1/15 & 2/17) and Waterloo (10/24 & 2/13) enroute to the best record in UOIT men’s hockey three year program history.

In Sunday’s series deciding game, Western’s Keaton Turkiewicz opened the scoring just over seven minutes into the contest, scoring his first goal of the playoffs. The Ridgebacks had done an excellent job of stopping the Mustang’s leading scorer (43 points during the regular season) in their previous two outings as Sunday’s goal was his first point of the playoffs.

The 1-0 lead was short lived as Ridgebacks captain Derrick Bagshaw of Oshawa, Ont. scored shorthanded off a deflection, tying the score at one goal apiece. Brent Varty (Oshawa, Ont.) picked up an assist on the shorthanded marker.

On the Mustang’s next power play, the Ridgebacks were not as fortunate as Ryan Martinelli scored to regain the one goal advantage. The Mustangs would continue to build their lead as they added one more goal in the period, to head into the first intermission with a 3-1 lead.

Although the Ridgebacks pushed hard to get back in the game, the Mustangs would score single goals in the second and third period, while Western goalie Keyvan Hunt stopped everything UOIT threw at the net, leading the Mustangs to a 5-1 series clinching victory.

Freshman Jason Guy (Whitby, Ont.) was impressive in goal for UOIT throughout the postseason, making 102 saves over the three game series, 35 of which were in game three. He finished the series with a 3.01 goals against average and .919 save percentage. His counterpart in net (Hunt) stopped 27 of 28 Ridgeback shots in the game three victory.

Varty, who played his final game in a Ridgebacks uniform Sunday night, led the Ridgebacks in scoring in the postseason averaging a point per game with three assists.

The Ridgebacks finished the regular season in eighth place in the OUA western conference with a record of 11-15-2 and finish the year off with an overall record of 13-22-2.

Head coach Marlin Muylaert and the Ridgebacks will look to build off a successful 2009/10 campaign heading into the fourth year of the program’s history.
 
GAME RECAP

(M) UOIT 1 At (M) Western 5 - Status: Final
Feb 21, 2010 - Thompson Arena

UOIT 1 0 0 - 1
Western 3 1 1 - 5

1st Period
1, Western, Turkiewicz 1 (Martinelli, Snow), 7:03
2, UOIT, Bagshaw 1 (Varty), 9:36 (sh)
3, Western, Martinelli 2 (Aarssen, Baker), 12:42 (pp)
4, Western, Ouellet 1 (Martin, Swit), 14:57

2nd Period
5, Western, Nemeth 1 (Farmanara, Corbeil), 16:38

3rd Period
6, Western, Swit 1 (Furlong, McCann), 19:11

Shots on Goal
UOIT 5-10-13-28
Western 13-17-10-40

Power Play Opportunities
UOIT 0 of 5
Western 1 of 6

Goalies
UOIT, Guy 1-2-0 (40 shots-35 saves)
Western, Hunt 2-1-0 (28 shots-27 saves)

A QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 13-22-2
Conference Record: 11-15-2

PLAYOFFS SERIES
Game 1: UOIT defeated Western 2-1
Game 2: Western defeated UOIT 4-2
Game 3: Western defeated UOIT 5-1

AROUND THE OUA

Western Conference
Western (1) defeated UOIT (8) 2-1
Windsor (7) defeated Waterloo (2) 2-1
Lakehead (3) defeated York (6) 2-1
Guelph (5) defeated Wilfrid Laurier (4) 2-1

Eastern Conference
UQTR (1) defeated Carleton (8) 2-1
McGill (2) defeated Nipissing (7) 2-0
Carleton (4) defeated Queen’s (5) 2-1
Ryerson (6) defeated Toronto (3) 2-0

CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS

Western Conference
Western vs. Windsor
Waterloo vs. Lakehead

Eastern Conference
UQTR vs. Ryerson
McGill vs. Carleton

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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)
scott.dennis@dc-uoit.ca