Another Game, Another Loss, Another Injury

Stingers roughed up in 6-4 loss to Wilfrid Laurier

SportsDavid S. Landsman — Published November 11, 2013 | Updated November 12, 2013 at 4:31am

That’s not all the pain the Stingers have been enduring lately, as they dropped their two weekend matchups against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks and Waterloo Warriors.

The Golden Hawks scored two quick goals 25 seconds apart when Derek Schoenmakers and Mackenzie Braid nudged their team up by a pair.

Schoenmakers had a game of his own, tallying four goals in the contest.

One of the season’s bright spots, Concordia sophomore Olivier Hinse scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season, also his fifth straight game with at least a goal.

Hinse has recorded a point in each of the Stingers games so far this season.

Already missing top-Canadian defenseman Youssef Kabbaj until at least the New Year, as well as top scoring forward Jessyco Bernard, who is out for another week due to a concussion, the team lost defenseman Adam Strumas after he collided with a Golden Hawk forward 13 minutes into Friday night’s game.

“It takes your pairings out of the game, when you lose two of your left-handed shots out and play right-handed guys on the left side,” said head coach Kevin Figsby. “There’s just no chemistry.”

Following the injury there was a delay of nearly 20 minutes because a pane of glass was dislodged following a collision earlier in the game.

At the beginning of the second, the Stingers seemed to have regained hope, as Kieran O’Neil and Dany Potvin put them ahead 3-2 just under four minutes into the second.

The goal was a first for Calgary native O’Neil since joining the Canadian Interuniversity Sport.

“It’s seven games in, so it’s been a long time coming,” said O’Neil. “I’ve had many chances lately, it’s nice to finally see one go in.”

The Stingers’ excitement was short lived however, and two quick goals in under four minutes by Schoenmakers made it 4-3 heading into the third period.

The final period started off on the wrong skate for Kevin Figsby’s team as Stingers defenseman Alex MacDonald was assessed a two-minute minor for a hit to the head, which comes with an automatic 10-minute penalty for misconduct.

That hole left the Stingers with only four defensemen on the bench.

“The two and the 10 didn’t really help,” said Figsby. “It was unfortunate, but it’s part of the game.”

“It’s never easy to lose guys due to injury or a misconduct,” said rookie defenseman Adam Nugent-Hopkins. “But it also allows you to get into a rhythm and not have time to worry about the last shift. There are some positives to it.”

Schoenmakers added his final goal of the night, which was also his third on the man advantage in just under three minutes into the last period.

The Stingers gained a point back following a timeout, when Taylor Lambke brought things back to one-goal game, but it was all for not as the Golden Hawks got one into the empty net.