OTTAWA, Ont. – With their backs against the wall in a do-or-die game on Saturday afternoon, the Ontario Tech men's hockey team answered the call with a 5-3 win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees.
Ontario Tech lost the opening game of the best-of-three series 2-1 in overtime in Oshawa on Wednesday night, meaning they need to win back-to-back road games to advance to the next round. They've given themselves a chance to do so by winning Game 2.
Leif Hertz (Kingston, Ont.) made 34 saves in the win, while Dominic Graham made 25 in the loss for the Gee-Gees.
The Ridgebacks never trailed in the game, with goals by
Alex Yuill (Wellington, Ont.) and
Austin Eastman (Lindsay, Ont.) putting them ahead 2-0 just 6:18 into the game.
Medric Mercier scored the first of his two power play goals on the night with 1:17 to go in the first to cut the lead to one. Connor Sills scored the Gee-Gees second goal of the game, also on the power play, at the 10:22 mark of the second to tie the game 2-2.
Josh Maguire (Cobourg, Ont.) gave the Ridgebacks their lead back tipping a Yuill point shot past Graham just 44 seconds later on the power play. Mercier's second of the game tied it 3-3, where it held until the third period.
Sean Ross (Bracebridge, Ont.) scored the game-winning goal at the 6:48 mark of the third, with
Liam Hurley (Cambridge, Ont.) icing it with an empty-net goal in the final minute.
The victory marks the first postseason win for Ontario Tech since dropping the Concordia Stinger 4-0 on Feb. 15, 2017. The last time the Ridgebacks advanced to the second round was the year before against the Queen's Gaels.
To watch Game 3 from Ottawa, tune into
www.OUA.tv.
Overall Record: 17-15-3
Conference Record: 13-12-3
Next Game: Sunday, Feb. 16 @ Ottawa Gee-Gees (3 p.m. - Ottawa, Ont.)
