Stingers Suffer Major Late-Game Collapse

Men’s Hockey Team Gives Up 7 Third-Period Goals in 9-3 Loss to McGill  

SportsDavid S. Landsman — Published November 26, 2013 | Updated November 27, 2013 at 2:20am

Taking part in the third-annual “Score with the School” game on Tuesday morning, meant to encourage elementary and high school students to pick up sports, the Stingers took a 3-2 lead into the final frame.

But that’s when the Redmen showed why they’re the second-ranked team in the Ontario University Athletics East Division, scoring seven goals in the third period alone to defeat the Stingers 9-3—dropping them to 3-7-3 this season.

“We let go of our game plan for a little bit, we became a bit too comfortable,” said second-year centreman Olivier Hinse.

“We stopped working, and we should never do that. It was a team loss that we shouldn’t let happen again.”

The Stingers seemed to own the game’s momentum right from the first face-off. Thirteen seconds into the game, Hinse tipped the puck past Redmen goaltender Andrew Flemming for his Canadian Interuniversity Sport-leading 14th goal of the season.

Concordia would extend their lead to three just 10 minutes into the first period, but McGill would get one back before the end of the frame on a power play goal. The Redmen cut the deficit to one early in the second when Redmen forward Alexandre Comtois capitalized on a turnover by rookie defender Marley Keca.

But momentum shifted entirely McGill’s way in the third, with goals by Redmen centreman Mathieu Pompei and Comtois turning a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead just two minutes into the period.

With the lost momentum came a loss of discipline by the Stingers, with the team taking four straight minors in the final frame, two of which McGill capitalized on as they stretched their lead to 7-3 with just under 10 minutes left on the clock.

By the time the clock expired the scoreboard read 9-3 for the Redmen on a day that saw them out-shoot Concordia 53-29.

“There were a couple of tough calls, and a couple of stupid penalties,” said Stingers defenceman Sean Blunden. “They add up, we just have to regroup and move on.”

The Stingers head to Ontario this weekend, taking on the Varsity Blues Friday night before visiting the Ryerson Rams on Saturday afternoon.