RECAP: #5 Men’s hockey comes away 2-0 in season opening weekend

The Gee-Gees men's hockey team hit the ice to start the 2024-25 season with a Friday night clash with Ontario Tech Ridgebacks. The high scoring affair was followed by an afternoon meeting with the TMU Bold the next day.

An exciting season opener on home ice, the Gee-Gees came away with a 5-4.

The Ridgebacks struck first, but a powerplay opportunity gave the Gee-Gees a chance to respond quickly. Brad Chenier capitalized on the man advantage for the first Ottawa score.

The opening 20 minutes welcomed three more goals, ending 3-2 in favour of the Gee-Gees. Zach Giroux (11:35, 1^st) and Andrew Belchamber (14:04, 1^st) each logged their first goals in the Garnet and Grey.

A goal a piece was scored in the second. Vincent Labelle snagged the Gee-Gees goal, and the squad had a 4-3 lead heading into the final period.

A quiet opening ten minutes of the final period was broken by another Belchamber goal. A perfect pass from Mathieu Desgagnés gave Belchamber a wide-open lane in front of the net. Ontario Tech fought until the last moments, scoring with only seven seconds left to play, but that it wasn't enough stop the 5-4 win from Ottawa.

"Offensively, the team did really good," Ottawa head coach Patrick Grandmaitre said. "We need to clean some stuff up defensively, we gave them more chances than we would have liked to, but a win is a win, there is good stuff to build on."

On Saturday, Labelle got things started against the TMU Bold. A powerplay opportunity gave the Gee-Gees their next chance, Charles-Antoine Roy tapped in a rebound to make it a 2-0 lead.

The Bold came out of the intermission firing, scoring in the first 39 seconds. Luka Verreault was next, scoring a shorthanded goal. Only a minute later, the Bold responded to make it 3-2.

Gee-Gees captain, Anthony Poulin snagged a powerplay goal to give Ottawa another two-goal lead.

Again, the Bold came out of the intermission with energy and logged a goal in the first 46 seconds of the third period and like their last game, the Gee-Gees held a 4-3 lead with the majority of the third left to play.

Labelle picked up a powerplay goal (10:05, 3^rd) to make it 5-3. The final goal came as the clock winded down, Jacob Leguerrier put in an empty netter to secure the 6-3 win.

Picking up two wins to start the season, the Gee-Gees had a great beginning to an exciting season. The team goes on the road next weekend for a rematch with Ontario Tech before visiting the York Lions.