Stingers Edged Out By Rams

Special teams slip up in a 3-2 loss

SportsDavid S. Landsman — Published January 12, 2015 | Updated January 12, 2015 at 7:49pm

“It was a very tight game, both teams played well,” said alternate captain Youssef Kabbaj, who assisted on both Concordia goals. “In the end it just came down to special teams.”

This weekend’s games carried a lot of momentum for the guys, who sit in eighth place after collecting two of a possible four points. On Saturday, they ran into special teams problems, unable to capitalize on a woeful 11 powerplays, while the visitors were able to score three power play goals.

“Our powerplay was cold, while they scored each goal on the advantage,” said Kabbaj. “St. Arnaud had a huge game in nets and kept us in it until the very end.”

After both teams killed off two penalties-apiece they headed to the locker room at a stalemate. Alexandre St-Arnaud was stellar for Concordia, making 27 saves despite the loss.

The second period saw Ryerson getting on the board first with a power play goal just under four minutes in when Domenic Albrega broke the tie.

Midway through the period, Stingers captain Olivier Hinse tied the game back up at one with his team-leading 15th goal of the season. Last season he tallied 18 through 28 games. This year, in 20 games, he’s already at 15th and currently sits second in the entire CIS for goals, and ninth for points.

“The game Saturday was a difficult one, but the guys really worked hard,” said Hinse. “It was a tough opponent, and we just had a difficult time adjusting.”

Late in the second, Ram defender Keevin Cutting got his first of two on the night beating St-Arnaud to give the visitors the 2-1 edge after two periods.

Seven minutes into the third, Cutting got his second, which was the eventual game winner.

With the game in it’s final minute, the Stingers were able to salvage one back when Antoine Houde Caron got one with just 27 seconds left in regulation.

Pulling the goalie solved nothing and the Stingers failed to gain ground in the standings as they sit three behind both UOIT and Queen’s.

“Every game we obviously aim to win knowing we want to go deep in the playoffs,” said Kabbaj. “There’s a fresher attitude in the room geared towards working hard every shift in order to cause some surprises. To be honest, I think the guys believe that we are better than what our record shows.”

Next weekend the Stingers travel to face off against Windsor in back-to-back evening matchups both Friday and Saturday.