By Ben Waldman
- Charlie Graham makes 43 in first CIS game
- Six different Rams find the back of the net
- Johnny Duco wins first game as Ryerson’s head coach
Ryerson’s men’s hockey team opened its regular season with a 6-3 victory over the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on Thursday night.
The Rams never trailed throughout the game, but Laurier continually pressed, firing 46 shots at Rams goalie Charlie Graham.
Graham, who played in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for five years, was stellar in his Canadian Interuniversity sport (CIS) debut. He made several lightning-quick glove saves and appeared comfortable in net.
“Anytime you win, you know you’re doing something right,” he said with a smile.
In his first game in a Rams uniform, Landon Schiller opened the scoring in the first period, storming the net hard and knocking the puck in. But Schiller lost control and slid past the goal line, too.
“I just wanted to make sure the puck went in,” said Schiller, who also had an assist. “And if I happened to go in too, then so be it.”
Rams forwards Chris Marchese, Vince Figliomeni, Josh Sterk and Mitchell Theoret all scored for Ryerson before Jamie Lewis sealed the win with an empty net goal in the final minute of the third. Lewis finished with one goal and a pair of assists while Theoret ended the game with two points.
Schiller, Sterk and Graham were three of eight Rams playing their first game for Ryerson. It was also the first regular-season game as interim head coach for Johnny Duco.
Duco took over the team this season after long-time coach Graham Wise retired, and he opened the season and his Ryerson head coaching tenure in victory.
But while the team came away with the win, Duco said Ryerson has a lot more work to do if they want to improve on last season’s second-round playoff exit.
“Our amount of turnovers was unacceptable,” Duco said. He added that the team needs to be more “workman-like”, and that the Hawks had far too many scoring opportunities, outshooting Ryerson 46-35.
“It’s something we’ll address and learn from, but it’s a teachable thing that we can improve on, “ said Duco.
UPNEXT: The Rams travel to Windsor to take on the Lancers on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7:30 pm.
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