OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT men's hockey team is coming home on a three-game win streak after defeating Queen's 5-3 in Kingston Friday night.
 
Win-streaks on the road are always impressive but what made this one so special for UOIT was that it came in a time of transition with Curtis Hodgins taking over as head coach in the middle of it. It also came against some of the top teams in the OUA as the opponents have a combined record of 16-7-1.
 
The Ridgebacks would take a commanding 4-0 lead in the second period but would end up needing every single goal as Queen's cut the lead to just one with five minutes remaining in the third. With the Gaels pressing for the equalizer, Connor Jarvis (Port Union, Ont.) put an end to the comeback as he scored an empty netter to seal the Ridgeback win.
 
UOIT captain Luke VanMoerkerke (Tillsonburg, Ont.) scored his first goal of the season to put the Ridgebacks in front 1-0 after 20 minutes. Jesse Stoughton (Bobcaygeon, Ont.) and Alex Yuill (Wellington, Ont.) recorded assists on the power play goal.
 
The Ridgebacks went on an offensive surge in the second period that began with Nate Mitton's (Kitchener, Ont.) first goal of the year. Two minutes later, Cameron Yuill (Wellington, Ont.) found Jarvis in the slot, as the sophomore notched his first shorthanded goal of his career.
 
Loren Ulett (Port Perry, Ont.) would cap off the three-goal period with a beautiful one-timer, with Ben Blasko (Kingston, Ont.) picking up the assist. With the assist, Blasko extends his point-streak to eight games (2 G, 8 A) to start off his OUA career.
 
Jarvis finished the night with two goals and one assist for his first multi-point game in his career. Alex Yuill and Cameron Yuill each had two assists in the win.
 
Peter Angelopolous, Slater Doggett and Andrew Wiebe were the goal scorers for Queen's in the loss.
 
Brendan O'Neill earned the win in goal for UOIT making 26 saves. O'Neill has a goals against average of 1.25 over the Ridgebacks current win-streak. For the first time this season, Queen's goaltender Kevin Ballie allowed more than two goals in a game. He stopped 29 Ridgeback shots in the loss.
 
Queen's (5-2-0) and UOIT (5-3-0) are now tied for third place in the OUA eastern conference standings with 10 points apiece. Carleton (5-3-0) also has 10 points after picking up an overtime win over Brock.
 
The two teams will be back on the ice on Saturday night when the Ridgebacks host Queen's at the Campus Ice Centre. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 7-7-0
Conference Record: 5-3-0
 
Next Game: Sat. Nov. 7 vs. Queen's (7:30 p.m.)