Concordia 3, Carleton 2: Stingers’ 3rd Period Heroics Fuel Fifth Straight Win

Men’s Hockey Team Has Won Seven of Its Last Eight Games

SportsJared Lackman-Mincoff — Published February 9, 2023 3 minutes

“They played well,” Stingers Head Coach Marc-André Element said about the Ravens post-game. “They were collapsing the slot area. We made some little adjustments and it paid off at the end. But they played a really good game on the other side.”

McLaren robbed several Stingers forwards throughout the game, particularly his friend, Stingers forward Maxim Trépanier. They already know each other and have played together in the past.

“He’s a very good goalie,” said Trépanier, who registered a goal and an assist in the game. “We knew we had to try to put a lot of pucks on net. We beat him because of fatigue at the end and we’re happy with the result.”

McLaren was the reason the Ravens escaped the first period with a 0-0 tie. Concordia doubled up the Ravens in shots in the first period, 14-7. 

It was not until the 7:06 mark of the second period that Trépanier beat McLaren with his 12th goal of the season, finally opening the scoring. The second-year winger centered the puck in the slot and it deflected off a Ravens player and into the net. After all the great scoring chances for the Stingers, it was a bad bounce that beat McLaren.

“It gives a little boost to the entire team,” Trépanier said about finally beating the Ravens netminder after several quality scoring chances. “After that, we also came back strong in the third period.”

The Stingers continued to have trouble finishing their scoring chances, but Carleton proved to be the more opportunistic team. The Ravens’ received their first grade-A scoring opportunity in the game, and they were not going to be denied. With under a minute to play in the second period, Ravens winger Kieran Craig beat Stingers goalie Jordan Naylor to send the game into the third period tied 1-1.

The Stingers got into some penalty trouble in the third period. Costly calls against Trépanier and forward Édouard Charron gave the Ravens a 5-on-3 power play. Ravens forward Parker Aucoin beat Naylor to give the Ravens a 2-1 lead mid-way through the period. Coach Element was not happy with his group’s indiscipline that could have cost them the game.

“It’s something that I addressed to the team. We have to be careful with [undisciplined play],” he said. 

The Stingers dug deep in the back half of the third period. They played with more urgency, desperately trying to tie the game. Concordia winger Isiah Campbell made that a reality when he wired home a rebound in the slot for his 10th goal of the season, tying the game 2-2 with under four minutes to play.

With under two minutes left, Trépanier made a cross-ice pass to third-year defenseman Marcus Tesink, who wired a shot past McLaren for the eventual game-winning goal, and his first goal of the season. The mark gave the Stingers a 3-2 lead.

“It took long enough to get [my first goal], but eventually one will go in,” Tesink said. “I got lucky, beat the goalie, and it felt good.”

Coach Element was impressed with his team’s ability to fight back and score two goals to get the win.

“That’s the group that we have right now. The guys believe in each other,” he explained. “They don’t give up. That’s great.”

The Stingers improve to 18-7-0 on the season. They currently sit in second place in the east division of the Ontario University Athletics standings, three points behind l’Université de Québec à Trois-Rivières. Concordia will close out the regular season at home against Queen’s University on Friday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m.