Rams hold out for win against Western

By Dylan Freeman-Grist

Despite being riddled with penalty minutes and facing the top power play in the league, the Ryerson men’s hockey team pulled out a 2-1 win against the Western Mustangs on Saturday afternoon at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

The game came just two weeks after the Rams lost 4-3 to the Mustangs in London.

Ryerson’s leadership helped get things started with Domenic Alberga netting a quick goal after receiving a pass from captain Matthew Fine. The goal came only five minutes into the first period.

The Rams, despite some sloppiness on turnovers, dominated offensive pressure early. Western goalie Greg Dodds was on his toes with a 15-6 shot tally at the end of the first.

Ryerson continued the attack well into the second widening the shot margin. But a series of penalties from Kyle Blaney, Alberga and Dean Willmott put the Rams in a long five-on-three scenario against the most potent powerplay in the league.

In those long minutes nearing the close of the second, Western launched an onslaught of shots against Ryerson’s goaltender Troy Passingham.

Finally on their 21st shot of the game, the Mustangs tied the game with three minutes to go in the second.

During the 2nd intermission Ryerson head coach Graham Wise told the team “to stay out of the box for the third,” after taking 12 minutes of penalties in the period.

“You can’t be reaching and hooking and slashing that’s lazy hockey,” Wise said. “Keep the energy going, keep the intensity going, keep your feet moving, so that you’re not in a position when you’re going to hook or slash a guy.”

Heading into the third Ryerson put together a more disciplined game, staying out of the box and resuming a pressure more akin to the first 20.

With ten minutes left in the game, Dodds let go of a rebound which Matthew Andreacchi, despite three Mustangs collapsing into the slot, managed to net for the game winning goal.

Passingham finished the game with 34 saves to get his fifth win of the season. Alberga talked about how important Passingham is to the team.

“To win games like this against big teams you need your goalie and that’s where it starts,” he said. “Troy’s, I think, one of the best goalies in this league and I have no doubt he’ll be going somewhere in the future.”

The men’s hockey team will see action next on Friday Nov. 7 when they host the Windsor Lancers.