Team wins despite loss of their captain, matchup against leading scorer
Before the University of Ottawa Men’s Hockey team took to the ice against the Concordia Stingers on Feb. 2, they were already facing a serious problem. After missing four games due to injury, the team announced that captain Eric Locke is expected to miss the rest of the season. This comes at a bad time, as the Gees still have ground to make up in the OUA east division, where they currently sit in sixth place out of 10 teams.
The Gee-Gees also knew that they had to be wary of Concordia’s not-so-secret weapon, Anthony Beauregard, who leads the league in points (56), 17 more than his nearest competition. Beauregard leads the league in assists (39) and is second in the league in goals (17).
Despite a tough challenge, the Garnet and Grey were able to play hard in an important road game at Concordia, coming out on top.
The game started with the Gees looking shaky, and the Stingers taking advantage, scoring less than three minutes in to take the 1-0 lead, with the goal assisted by none other than Beauregard.
The Gees had the chance to equalize on the power play eight minutes in, and again 13 minutes in, but failed to capitalize both times. Soon after the second penalty, Beauregard came in on a breakaway, but was shut down by the Gees’ goalie Graham Hunt.
As the period was set to close, the Gees would regret not capitalizing on their power plays, as Concordia scored their second goal to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, but the Garnet and Grey would start the second period on a power play as a Concordia player went off for high sticking with 30 seconds left in the first.
Despite the early deficit, the Gees didn’t show signs of giving up, though they still couldn’t find their rhythm on the power play. Concordia killed off their penalty to start the period, and most of the period went by without anyone lighting the lamp. Ottawa got more chances on the power play, but things still weren’t coming together.
But finally, after a Concordia was sent off for boarding with under five minutes remaining, the power play clicked. A minute in to the man advantage, Brendan Jacome found the net, off assists from Jacob Sweeney and Michael Poirier, cutting Concordia’s lead in half when the second buzzer sounded.
The Garnet and Grey entered the final period with momentum, with Connor Sills tipping in a pass from Mathieu Newcomb less than three minutes in to tie the game up at two apiece.
It looked like Concordia would regain their lead halfway through the third, but Hunt continued to make key saves.
Gee-Gee Connor Sills ran into penalty trouble, taking back to back penalties for boarding and delay of game, but the Gees killed off the Concordia power plays.
It looked like the tight game was headed for overtime, when Gee-Gee Quinn O’Brien came streaking down the ice on a breakaway, and beat the Concordia netminder to score the game winning goal with under three minutes left in the game.
It was a close game, but the Gee-Gees pulled out a clutch win on the road.
