Ridgebacks lose a nail-biter to Concordia


OUA Men's Hockey: Concordia defeated UOIT 4-2

MONTREAL – The playoff bound UOIT men's hockey team dropped a 4-2 decision to the Concordia Stingers on Saturday afternoon.

Looking for the game-tying goal with their goaltender pulled in the final minutes of the game, the Ridgebacks were unable to light the lamp and Concordia would put the game on ice with George Lovatsis scoring an empty net goal.

The Ridgebacks would have a number of scoring opportunities over the final 20 minutes of the game, but they were unable to beat Concordia goaltender Antonio Mastropietro one final time as he earned his ninth win of the season.

Ryan Zupancic (Whitby, Ont.) scored his first goal of the season for UOIT, with Cameron Yuill (Wellington, Ont.) and Luke VanMoerkerke (Tillsonburg, Ont.) picking up assists on the play. Matt Paul (Penetang, Ont.) recorded the Ridgebacks other goal, which was the fifth of his freshman campaign.

After allowing four goals on 16 shots against the No. 6 ranked McGill Redmen on Friday night, Colin Dzijacky (Thunder Bay, Ont.) had a solid outing in net against Concordia as he made 39 saves, bringing his save percentage to an even 900. Dzijacky has made 690 saves this season which is the second highest total in the country.

The Ridgebacks (7-16-4) are now one point ahead of Nipissing (7-16-3) for seventh place in the OUA eastern conference standings. The Lakers have one game in hand heading into the final weekend of conference play.

UOIT will close out the regular season on the road as they head to Waterloo to take on the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday, February 15. Laurier has struggled this season as they sit in last place and out of the playoffs in the OUA western conference with a 9-14-2 record.

A QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 7-22-4
Conference Record: 7-16-4

Next Game: Sat. Feb. 15 @ Laurier