RECAP: Men’s hockey winless on weekend despite relentless attack

The Gee-Gees men's hockey team was winless on the weekend following a 4-2 loss to McGill on home ice, and a 5-2 loss to Ontario Tech in Oshawa. Ottawa heavily outshot the opposition by a combined margin of 88 to 48 through the two games, but could convert enough on offence to secure a victory.

OCTOBER 25 vs. McGILL

After losing their home opener to Ottawa earlier this month, McGill was aggressive to open the contest. They jumped out to an early lead with a pair of goals in the opening eight minutes of the contest. 

Marc Beckstead responded late in the period to cut the lead in half. Back in the line-up for his first regular season game of the year following an injury, Beckstead deflected a Dominic Cormier point shot for his first goal of the season.

Cormier tied the contest early in the second period with a slap shot on the power play finding a way into the net through a crowd of bodies.

McGill replied with a goal just two minutes later to restore the lead.

Despite outshooting McGill by a margin of 43 to 7 and firmly controlling the pace of play, the Gee-Gees were ultimately unable to notch a game tying goal.

An empty netter by McGill in the final minute clinched the win for the visiting team.  

OCTOBER 26 at ONTARIO TECH

The following day, the Gee-Gees hit the highway toward Oshawa to take on the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks for the first time this season.

Mathieu Newcomb opened the scoring for the Garnet and Grey with a long range shot late in the first period. Ottawa capitalized on a power play opportunity a few moments later, with Michael Poirier hammering home his second goal of the season.

A point shot from Ontario Tech found the back of the net midway through the second period. Then the Ridgebacks were able to convert on the rush just 90 seconds later to tie the game.

Ontario Tech capitalized on a loose puck three minutes into the third period to take the lead for the first time in the contest.

Ottawa was aggressive throughout the period as they battled for an equalizing goal. A pair of empty net goals in the final minutes of regulation snuffed out hopes of completing a comeback.

STATS AT A GLANCE

• Goaltender Nick Hodgins started between the pipes for the first time this season. He stopped 22 of 25 shots he faced against Ontario Tech.
• Rookie Dominic Cormier tallied a goal and an assist against McGill. His six points in seven games is tied for third most among defencemen in the OUA.
• The Gee-Gees are now averaging 43 shots on goal per game, the most in the OUA.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"This weekend is a good example that a hockey game is 60 minutes. On Friday we did not start the game well, but we picked up the pace and fought all the way to the end. Outshooting a team like McGill 58-21 is positive, but at the end of 60 minutes we came up short. … Saturday's game was the opposite. We came out flying and grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period. We took our foot off the gas in the second period and let them back into the game. In the third we made one mistake and paid for it. … We are still looking to find a complete game from this group. We will work hard all week and look to bounce back next Saturday." — Patrick Grandmaître, Head Coach

UP NEXT

The Gee-Gees will play a single game next weekend, travelling to Trois-Rivières to take on the UQTR Patriotes at 7:00 p.m. on November 2. The Patriotes are currently 6-1-1 on the season, second-best in the entire OUA. This will be the first of three meetings between the two teams this season.