WEEKEND RECAP: Ottawa earns big home opening win over UQTR

On Friday night, the Gee-Gees men's hockey team kickstarted their 2023-24 campaign with a statement 5-1 win over the two-time defending OUA champion UQTR Patriotes at the Minto Sports Complex.

It took just under 7 minutes for captain Anthony Poulin to open the scoring, as he buried his own rebound to put Ottawa ahead early. He also reeled in 2 assists throughout the contest to start his third season in Garnet and Grey.

Poulin was humble about his individual play but was enthusiastic about the way the entire group performed.

"I just stuck with the puck, I think anyone could have scored on that. It was a team win and everyone played hard and well," he said.

First-year Ottawa netminder Franky Lapenna impressed with an outstanding effort to lead the Gee-Gees to the win. In all, the Laval, QC product stopped 30 out of 31 shots, earning him the first star of the game honours.

"I just try and keep the puck out of the net, and the guys in front of me did a great job of limiting the scoring chances," said Lapenna. "I'm just playing the game I love and the boys doing their job properly helped me do mine".

Gee-Gees head coach Patrick Grandmaître also had high praise of Lapenna's performance to start the season.

"He's got the pedigree," he said. "You see him make flashy saves and the bench loves it. The guys feed off of it. Tonight, we saw why he was one of the most touted goalie prospects in U SPORTS."

Ottawa executed well on special teams, earning two power play goals on the five times they had the man-advantage. Defensively, Ottawa also successfully killed off all four UQTR penalties.

Charles Antoine-Roy netted his first of the season, followed up by a career-first snipe by Evan Boucher. Fellow freshman Luka Verreault made his first mark of the regular season, before Bradley Chenier finished things off with an empty netter.

On Sunday, the team traveled to Fairfield, Connecticut to take on Sacred Heart in exhibition action.

Falling behind 2-0 in the first frame, the teams were even through the second period. The third period was wild, with Ottawa cutting the lead in half on a Max Grondin goal eight seconds into the period. The Pioneers extended their lead, before Tommy Bouchard scored to pull the Gee-Gees closer at 3-2.

Ultimately, things came undone for Ottawa, with Sacred Heart scoring five unanswered goals in the final 10 minutes to secure an 8-2 win for the hosts.

The Gee-Gees will be back in action on the road in Kingston on Friday night to take on Queen's before rounding out the weekend against RMC on Saturday afternoon. Both games will be streamed live on OUA.tv.