U of O tramples Voyageurs in series opener, 8-1
The men’s hockey team opened up their first-round Queen’s Cup playoff series on Wednesday, Feb. 13 against the Laurentian Voyageurs in Sudbury.
The six-plus hour bus ride didn’t seem to have any effects on the Gees who scored three goals within the first 10 minutes of the game.
Kevin Domingue opened up the scoring less than four minutes into the contest, beating Voyageur goaltender Michael Giugovaz short-side on a seemingly innocent shot.
On his next shift, Domingue would score his second of the night, deflecting the puck off a Laurentian defenceman on the power-play to beat Guigovaz and give the Gees an early 2-0 lead.
But the boys from Ottawa weren’t done, as about two minutes later, rookie forward Kyle Ward banked in a rebound off a Mathieu Newcomb shot to give the Gees a 3-0 lead.
In the second, Laurentian would come out swinging, eventually cutting the Gee’s lead to 3-1. However, this was all they could muster for the night.
Minutes later, Brendan Jacome redirected a point shot from Mike Poirier, winning back his team’s three-goal lead.
Five minutes later, Domingue recorded his third goal for a hat-trick on the night, and Poirier chipped in one of his own. The second ended with a whopping 7-1 Gee-Gees lead.
The third would see both teams play at a slower pace in order to not risk any injuries going into Game Two. Nevertheless, the Gees would add on to their lead, thanks to a second effort from Domingue, batting his own rebound into the Voyageurs’ net for his fourth goal of the game.
This made the score 8-1, which stood until the final buzzer, giving the U of O a 1-0 series lead.
After the game, the Fulcrum spoke to Newcomb, who discussed the importance of winning the series’ first game on the road.
“We want to make sure that we can win that first game. In this type of playoff format, it’s not like a best of seven where you have a few games to come back,” Newcomb said. “We can’t afford to put our foot off the gas, so we want to make sure that we can win that first game.’’
In the locker room after the game head coach Patrick Grandmaitre, proud of his team’s effort, gave them a brief but rallying message.
“Game One is done—we’re going for a long run here, let’s keep it going for next game,” Grandmaitre said.
Game Two will take place on Saturday, Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m. at Minto Sports Complex. Grab tickets here.
