By James Mirtle
Put a fork in them.
The Rams men’s hockey team lost their final game of the season 5-1 to the Royal Military College Paladins on Sunday. As a result, the Rams failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second straight year.
“It’s a very disheartening loss,” said Rams’ head coach Ed Kirsten after the game. “I really thought we would pull it out. (We) had lots of chances to score in the third period but couldn’t.”
The Rams played an undisciplined game, racking up 35 minutes in penalties and allowing four goals with the man advantage. Paladins’ veteran sniper Matthew Maurice had a hat trick for the home squad. Former Peterborough Pete Justin Norwood notched the lone tally for Ryerson.
“I was very unhappy with some of our players losing their composure in this game,” said Kirsten. “They were frustrated.”
The loss caps a dismal season for Ryerson. The Rams finished with a league-worst record of three wins and 21 losses. Kirsten attributed the poor showing to a lack of finish.
“Scoring goals has been a problem all year,” he said glumly. “This has to be addressed with recruiting. It’s tough getting good players into our school because of the stringent academic standards.”
Academic reasons hindered the team in more ways than one this year.
Leading goal scorer Chris Pethick missed the final handful of games due to academic suspension. Third-year Ram Graeme Henderson left the team altogether for similar reasons in December.
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