No Shots, No Victory

Stingers Fail to Capitalize on Key Opportunities

SportsDavid Kaufmann — Published November 4, 2012

A consistent effort was missing from Friday’s matchup over the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks. As a result, the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team lost their fifth straight game, a game they could have easily won.

“We’re still not getting big games out of some of our big players right now, and that part is going to have to change if we want success,” said Stingers head coach Kevin Figsby.

“They’ve got to come more mentally prepared to play and they’ve got to play more consistent.”

Despite the final score, the Stingers came out of the gate flying when centre Alex Zafaris found the back of the net three minutes into the game. But for some reason, they decided to take a break midway through the period. The Ridgebacks took this to its full advantage scoring three times in the span of two minutes and seven seconds.

This didn’t sit well with Figsby.

“I wasn’t satisfied with our performance because we’re still not playing for 60 minutes,” he said.

Fortunately, the Stingers woke up in the second, outshooting the Ridgebacks 9-6. This eventually paid dividends for them when Alexandre Monahan scored a shorthanded goal midway through the period, and when Jessyco Bernard connected off a pass from defenseman Youssef Kabbaj to start off the third, tying the game.

The puck went over the net, hit the glass, then hit Stingers goaltender Antonio Mastropietro in the back of the head before going in the net.

As no one else was able to find the back of the net for the rest of regular play, the game had to be settled in overtime. With only 11 seconds remaining left in O.T., Ridgebacks centre Brendan Wise scored a fluke goal.

The puck went over the net, hit the glass, then hit Stingers goaltender Antonio Mastropietro in the back of the head before going in the net.

The goal baffled everyone, including UOIT head coach Marlin Muylaert. “We needed luck to win tonight with that flukey goal.”

Meanwhile, Figsby was disappointed with his team’s effort. “You can’t walk away with the number of shots we had,” he said, referring to the 24 shots on net the Stingers had—including the lone shot they made in overtime.

His sentiment was shared throughout the locker room.

“We need to be consistent and play for 60 minutes, not 50 or 59 minutes, we’ve got to play the whole game,” said Monahan. “If we play more as a team, that will help us get more wins,” said Mastropietro who stopped 31 of the 35 shots he faced.

The Stingers will try to salvage some victories next weekend when they travel to Toronto and Waterloo, ON to take on the York Lions and the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. The games take place Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.