“Frankie Lapenna’s been outstanding all year”
After losing an overtime heartbreaker Jan.19 on a trip to McGill, the Gee-Gees men’s hockey team was back in action the following afternoon. The quick turnaround meant the team had no time to think about or even lick their wounds.
The matinee game, played back at home in the Minto Sports Complex, would be against the lowly York Lions — who were sporting an ugly 3-19 record entering the game. But although the Gees would throw 40 shots on Lions goaltender Carter Serhyenko, their two goals in regulation equaled the two the Lions put into their net past Frankie Lapenna.
Assistant coach Justin Stevens spoke after the game of the decision to play Lapenna on such a quick turnaround, a practice that has seemed to fall out of favour in the hockey world lately. “Frankie Lapenna’s been outstanding all year,” Stevens said.
“He wants the net, he wants to play every game, and for us, with the way he takes care of his body off the ice, he is the ultimate pro. There was no doubt in our minds to go back with [Lapenna] tonight.”
The decision paid off for the Gees, as Lapenna was outstanding once again for the Gee-Gees. He continued an incredible season which has him solidly in first place in the OUA in both goals-against-average (G.A.A.) and save percentage, with 1.75 and .940 respectively.
But the Gees would experience a feeling of déjà vu as they played their second overtime in less than 24 hours. The first ended just 42 seconds into the period as McGill extended their home win streak to 10, but Jan. 20’s overtime dragged along as the Gees ragged the puck and maintained possession for almost the entirety of the period.
Shortly after the Lions killed off a roughing penalty late in the frame, Gees winger Max Grondin would blaze into the Lions end, circle the net, and find his defenceman Liam Markhouser. The Lions over-committed towards Markhouser, and he would find an open Tommy Bouchard in the slot, who slid the puck to his backhand and found room over Serhyenko’s blocker, sealing the game, 3-2.
Bouchard touched on how important it is to bury those high-danger scoring chances postgame. “We had trouble all game [burying chances], said the second-year Gee. “I thought we had a pretty decent game, and we put ourselves in a tough position because we didn’t really capitalize on our opportunities.”
The other goals in the game came courtesy of Luka Verreault, the team’s scoring leader, and Johnny Howie, who picked up his first of the season. The Gee-Gees return to action next weekend when they welcome Lakehead to Minto on Friday night, and then travel to Toronto to take on the U of T the following evening.
