Ridgebacks suffer a loss in the nation's capital

OUA Men's Hockey: Ottawa defeated UOIT 8-2

OTTAWA – The UOIT men's hockey team could not overcome a slow start as the Ottawa Gee-Gees skated to an 8-2 victory over the Ridgebacks on Friday night.

The Gee-Gees have been one of the hottest teams in the OUA as Friday's victory marked their ninth straight. All facets of their game have been outstanding as they have gone on to outscore their opponents 41-16 over that stretch.

UOIT starting goaltender Colin Dzijacky (Thunder Bay, Ont.), who allowed only one goal in two games against the nationally ranked Lakehead Thunderwolves last weekend, did not have a stellar outing as he let in four goals on 12 shots in the first 12 minutes of the game. Jake Rattie (Niagara Falls, Ont.) came into the game in relief and allowed four more goals on 31 shots.

Six Gee-Gees had multi-point nights including Stephen Blunden who recorded a natural hat-trick in the third period. Teammates Matieau Leduc and Alexandre Touchette also had three-point nights. Leduc recorded one goal and two assists while Touchette had three helpers. Mathieu Guertin, Nicolas Laroque-Marcoux, Jean-Sebastien Fournier and Taylor Collins were the other goal scorers for Ottawa.

Matt Salituro (Toronto, Ont.) and James Woodcroft (Milton, Ont.) would record UOIT's goals in the loss. Nate Mitton (Kitchener, Ont.) extended his point-scoring streak to three-games with an assist for UOIT.

UOIT fired 29 shots on net but Ottawa goaltender Warren Skymko had a strong night stopping 27 of them. Skymko has not allowed more than two goals in six of his last seven starts.

The Ridgebacks racked up 40 penalty minutes in which Ottawa took advantage of as they converted on 4 of 10 power play opportunities.

Ottawa moves into a tie for third place in the OUA eastern conference with a 10-5-0 record. UOIT (5-8-1) slips into a tie with Concordia (4-7-3) for sixth place as both teams have 11 points on the year.

The Ridgebacks will look to get back in the win column on Saturday night at home when they host the Nipissing Lakers (3-11-0). Game time for the Ridgebacks final game of 2013 is 7:30 p.m.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 5-14-1
Conference Record: 5-8-1

Next Game: Sat. Nov. 30 vs. Nipissing (7:30 p.m.)