OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT men's hockey team is heading into the postseason with momentum on their side as they picked up a 2-0 win over the UQTR Patriotes in front of a packed house at the Campus Ice Centre for the team's second annual school day game.
 
The 2-0 victory marked the Ridgebacks first win over UQTR in the ten-year history of the program. UOIT had gone winless in 13 previous meetings including four playoff games.
 
UOIT finishes the regular season with a 16-11-1 record having won their final two games of the regular season. The Ridgebacks sit in sixth place in the eastern conference, tied with the Ottawa Gee-Gees who play Nipissing on Saturday night.
 
The Ridgebacks playoff opponent will be determined after the conclusion of the OUA regular season on Saturday. Possible opponents include the Concordia Stingers (Montreal) and Queen's Gaels (Kingston).
 

What did you do at school today??? Watch the Ridgebacks beat UQTR!!!

A video posted by UOIT Ridgebacks (@uoitridgebacks) on Feb 10, 2017 at 12:47pm PST

Brendan O'Neill (Ilderton, Ont.) earned his third-career shutout, stopping 26 UQTR shots on goal. The third-year netminder finished the year with a career-best 2.58 goals against average and .919 save percentage.
 
The Ridgebacks penalty kill unit was impressive as the Patriotes went 0-for-5 with the man advantage. Coach Hodgins has relied on the strong play of the unit all year as they sit fourth in the league with an 86.8 PK percentage.
 
Mike Robinson's (Stouffville, Ont.) power play goal midway through the second period turned out to be the game winner as he drove hard to the net and buried a rebound off a Ryan Doucette (Waterloo, Ont.) shot. Tyler Mayea (Burlington, Ont.) added the second assist. The goal was Robinson's 11th of the season.
 
Shortly after, it looked as if Connor Jarvis (Port Union, Ont.) put the Ridgebacks up 2-0 off a one-timer but Nicolas Lachance, who was making his first-career OUA start, came up with a beautiful glove save. Lachance finished the game with 32 saves.
 
Anthony Latina (Scarborough, Ont.) would add an insurance marker at 12:22 in the third period, capitalizing off another UQTR rebound. Jarvis and Cameron Yuill (Wellington, Ont.) picked up assists.
 
The Ridgebacks are now 2-0 on school day games after beating RMC 4-2 in 2016.
 
Check oua.ca and uoitridgebacks.com for playoff updates.
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 19-13-3
Conference Record: 16-11-1
 
Next game: Playoffs – TBD