Men’s team sits in top seat of OUA East division
On Friday, Nov. 30,, the Gee-Gees men’s hockey team, currently first place in the OUA East division, took on the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks in the opposition’s home arena, in front of a full and passionate crowd.
The first period began with both teams battling to set the tempo, but an early penalty put the Gees on the defensive.
Despite some chances for the Ridgebacks, goaltender Anthony Brodeur held the line to kill the penalty. Only 14 seconds after the successful penalty kill, the Ridgebacks managed to sneak the puck into the top right corner of the net, giving them an early lead.
Despite the setback, the Gee-Gees battled back, earning chances of their own. At the end of the period, UOIT was leading slightly in shots on goal at 11-9.
Only three minutes into the second, the U of O got their turn on the power-play, looking to tie it at one goal apiece. This was impeded with their own penalty a minute later.
With both teams at four players on the ice, a mere 40 seconds afterwards a brawl broke out on the boards, sending three players to the penalty box. This gave the Gee-Gees a four-on-three, to a four-on-four, to a five-on-four staggered power-play.
This was the break the Gee-Gees needed, with Brendan Jacome scoring on the five-on-four to tie the game at 1-1.
The pace of the match did not slow down from there, with the Ridgebacks regaining the lead a little over two minutes later, only to have the game tied again three minutes later off a goal from Mark Beckstead.
Two and a half minutes after that, the Ridgebacks scored their final goal in what turned out to be a whirlwind of a period, taking the lead for the third time in the game.
In the third, each team battled desperately—the Gee-Gees to tie it, the Ridgebacks to secure the lead. Despite successfully killing an early power-play, the Ridgebacks were not able to hold back the boys from Ottawa. All-star Kevin Domingue tied the game with a snapshot off the faceoff.
Neither team was able to break the tie by the end of the period and the game once again proceeded into overtime.
The Gee-Gees kept up the pace from here, monopolizing the puck through OT, and trapping the Ridgebacks in their zone to set up Domingue for his second, and game-deciding goal, to win it it 4-3.
“We just played our style, skated and worked hard. We were confident … that we would find a way to get back into the game,” Gee-Gees head coach Patrick Grandmaitre said in a post-game email.
“For us, we see the season as a preparation for the playoffs. This season with a veteran team, we are confident that we will make the playoffs. It is more a question of finishing as high as we can and playing our style of hockey.”
The Gee-Gees will. return home Jan. 11 to face off against Carleton once again. Grab tickets here.
