Ridgebacks 4, Stingers 3: Ontario Tech spoils Concordia home opener

Stingers men’s hockey team sees 3-1 lead vanish following second-half collapse

SportsMax Sinclair-Carter — Published October 23, 2025 0 minutes

The Stingers had been on a bit of a skid, sporting a 1-3-0 record from their season-opening road trip, with losses in their last three games. They looked to their first home game of the season to turn things around. 

The crowd was buzzing with excitement seeing their reigning champions take the ice, and Concordia channelled that energy into a strong showing out of the gate. 

Strong forechecking and offensive zone possession defined the Stingers’ identity early on. Defenceman Xavier Laurent opened the scoring just over five minutes in, slipping one low glove past Ridgebacks goalie Edouard Gauthier, with assists going to forward Blake Richardson and defenceman Zachary Lessard.

Concordia then capitalized on the momentum and doubled down the following shift, with first-year forward Keanu Krenn recording his first U Sports goal off a high-slot feed from linemate Alexandre Nadeau. 

“Great feeling to get the first one,” Krenn said, adding that he didn’t believe the Stingers got the outcome they deserved. 

“The game should’ve been ours; we were dominating,” Krenn said.

The Stingers were certainly in control off the bat, but the Ridgebacks managed to cut the lead in half shortly after Concordia’s second goal. They then came close to tying the game off a giveaway behind the net by Stingers goaltender Nikolas Hurtubise, but the puck bobbled and got away from the Ridgebacks.

The second period opened with a huge hit from Stingers captain Simon Lavigne on Ontario Tech’s Matt Wisener, which sent him to the locker room. Things then settled down until Concordia first-year forward Nathan Baril put home his own rebound following a 2-on-1 to reinstate the two-goal lead.

Unfortunately, that would be the last good moment for the Stingers. Ridgebacks forward Braiden Koran scored on the power play in the dying seconds of the period to make it a 3-2 game.

Then, halfway through the third, Stingers defenceman Christopher Inniss’ stick broke when trying to clear the zone, leading to a scramble in the Concordia crease before forward Zachary Marquis scored the equalizer. 

Shortly after, Ontario Tech forward Alexander Papaspyropoulos buried the Ridgebacks’ third consecutive goal on an odd-man rush, which would end up being the game-winner as the Stingers had no answer, despite good looks on a late power play. 

Stingers head coach Marc-André Élément felt like that broken stick was the perfect way to describe both the game and their season so far. 

“Can’t catch a bounce, broken stick, they score. Then an offensive faceoff, puck bounce, creating a 2-on-1 [back the other way]” Elément said. “It is what it is. So far this season, it’s been like that.” 

Stingers outshot the Ridgebacks 36-18, and the sentiment is that with a bit better puck luck, the wins will start coming in for them.

Concordia will have an opportunity to bounce back as they hit the road again to take on the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees on Oct. 24, at 7 p.m.