TORONTO – The No. 6 ranked Ryerson Rams scored four first period goals in their sixth straight win as they doubled up UOIT 6-3 on Saturday afternoon.
 
UOIT (14-11-1) has dropped three straight games and sits in seventh place in the OUA eastern conference standings. The Ridgebacks trail Ottawa (14-8-3) and UQTR (14-7-3) by two points heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
 
UOIT has two games remaining in the regular season that are both on home ice which will be a welcome sight after playing the last five games on the road. Next Saturday, the Ridgebacks will host the Queen's Gaels for a 3:30 p.m. puck drop. Prior to the game, UOIT will be honouring former captain Nathan Spaling.
 

@locker96 checklist this week Inspire youth ?? Big hits ??

A video posted by UOIT Ridgebacks (@uoitridgebacks) on Jan 28, 2017 at 2:05pm PST

After a scoreless opening 10 minutes at Ryerson, the floodgates would open as the Rams scored four consecutive goals to end the first period up 4-0.
 
With the Rams on a power play early in the second period, UOIT goaltender Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.) made a diving stick save as Mitchell Theoret had a wide-open net after the puck had bounced off the back boards to the freshman.
 
O'Neill's highlight-reel save seemed to fire up the Ridgebacks as Malik Johnson (Montreal, Que.) scored midway through the period, burying a second-chance opportunity by Rams goaltender Taylor Dupuis.
 
UOIT continued to apply a lot of pressure in the offensive zone but Dupuis came up big making 10 saves in the period.
 
The Ridgebacks would end up cutting the Ryerson lead to 5-3 with goals coming from Nate Mitton (Kitchener, Ont.) and Danny Elser (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) but the red-hot Rams would notch their sixth goal of the game at 14:08 to seal the victory.
 
UOIT outshot Ryerson 36-30 including 17-6 in the final frame.

The Rams penalty killing unit would shut down UOIT on all six of their attempts while scoring shorthanded in the first period. Ryerson went 1-for-3 a man up.
 
Ryerson's offence was led by Aaron Armstrong who scored one goal and two assists to cap off a five-point weekend. During Ryerson's six-game win streak, Armstrong has recorded six goals and nine assists. Also recording three points was Aaron Dutra who had three assists.
 
Dupuis ended up making 33 saves in his eighth win of the season while O'Neill allowed all six goals against.
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 17-13-3
Conference Record: 14-11-1
 
Next game: Friday, Feb. 4 vs. Queen's (3:30 PM – Campus Ice Centre)