Men’s Hockey: Concordia Send Ryerson Home With 6-1 Thrashing

Stingers Record Fifth Straight Win Against Western Conference Leaders

SportsTristan D’Amours — Published January 8, 2017

Instead, the Maroon and Gold sealed a 6-1 win, making it their fifth straight. All this comes 24 hours after stealing a win from the University of Toronto Varsity Blues where Concordia went down 3-0 in the first period.

“We didn’t want to start the same way we started last night and we had that in mind the whole game,” said Stingers captain Olivier Hinse. “The guys were ready tonight because of the win last night. The momentum was on our side and we just kept going.”

With that come-from-behind win against Toronto, this makes a perfect six points out of a possible six in the first week back from the winter break.

“We sent a message through the whole OUA,” said Hinse. “The big win tonight shows that we’re right there with every other team and that we can go all the way this year. That’s our goal.”

Head coach Marc-Andre Element had his team participate in a friendly game against the Denmark World Junior team and scheduled two practice during the winter break to keep them on their toes.

“I wanted the guys to go on the ice because those games that we had this week were very important and we had success,” he said.

“I wish we can get any rank within the top 10 because we deserve it with all the work we did this week and the six points out of six.” — Olivier Hinse.

The two teams were feisty in the first period. Ryerson’s Mitchell Theoret and Concordia’s Scott Oke dropped the gloves in front of the teams’ benches. Stingers forward Philippe Sanche was also given a penalty for rushing the goaltender later in the period, which caused another brawl.

Then came the second period.

With 12:40 to go in the second period, Concordia broke the ice. Mickael Beauregard passed to Scott Oke who scored the first goal of the game. Seconds later, Anthony Beauregard took a shot from his left side that zinged on the opposite post and in for the second goal. Shaken up, the Rams took their time-out.

Concordia added a third goal in the second, winger Charles-Eric Legare got on a breakaway. His shot was saved by the Ryerson netminder Brodie Barrick but the rebound got straight to Oke’s stick and he scored his second of the game. Minutes later, OUA goal-scoring leader Anthony De Luca added to his goal tally and put the Stingers up 4-0.

“It’s always fun to score, especially against a good team like this,” said Oke. “We were thinking playoff game tonight and I think the guys came out for the whole 60 minutes and it paid off for us.”

Only a goal by Ryerson tarnished the Stingers’ impressive second period. Defenceman Alex Basso’s shot from the point and passed everyone to break Philippe Cadorette’s shutout.

An unlucky play by Ryerson’s Matt Mistele created Concordia’s fifth goal. Mistele broke his stick trying to take a shot from the point and this created a two-on-one opportunity for the Stingers. Legare took a low shot to beat Barrick. A sixth and final goal came from the stick of captain Hinse.

The importance of playing the full 60 minutes was a mantra on the bench for Element and his team. Following a game where Concordia trailed by three after 20 minutes of play, the team didn’t want to see that two games in a row.

“Tonight we played 60 minutes, last night we didn’t compete for 60 minutes and that’s why had a couple of issues,” said Element. “If you want to win, you need to compete.”

“We were there every period and every line was doing their jobs and that’s a big change with [Friday night’s] win,” said Hinse.

With the perfect weekend and the big win against third ranked Ryerson, the Stingers are starting to think about a possible inclusion in the USports top 10 ranking. The rankings are issued every Tuesday and the players will probably keep an eye on their phones that morning to see if a number from one to ten appears next to their team name.

“That’d be amazing. We did everything we could to get the number,” said Hinse. “I wish we can get any rank within the top 10 because we deserve it with all the work we did this week and the six points out of six.”

The Stingers, whether they are ranked or not, will takes their bags on the road where they will play the Waterloo Warriors and the Laurier Golden Hawks on Jan. 13 and 14 respectively.