By Mario Russo
Lakehead goaltender Brock Aiken pitched a 36 save performance to halt the Rams men’s hockey team’s roaring offence Saturday evening at the Mattamy Athletics Centre (MAC), as the home side fell 4-3.
Greg Smith and Joe Mack led the offense for the Thunderwolves in the win, posting a pair of points in the team’s third game in as many nights.
“We needed a little bit of humble pie for our group,” said Rams head coach Johnny Duco following the team’s first loss of the calendar year.
Less than 24 hours ago, both the Rams and Thunderwolves erupted for an absurd 16-goal performance, with the levee breaking within the middle frame.
Following a low-event showing in the first period, both sides rekindled their midway magic by posting five consecutive goals before the second stanza wrapped up.
The blue and gold quickly turned their first period donuts to daggers within the opening minutes of the middle stanza with Aaron Hyman netting his first goal of the campaign to quench his goalless drought.
Duco praised the sophomore for breaking out of his slump, crediting him for stepping up big following the departure of Gregory DiTomasso earlier in the year.
But just as they did last night, the Thunderwolves matched the Rams tally quickly and efficiently, taking back their one-goal lead through Mack’s second tally in as many nights.
Duco labeled the Thunder Bay group as a “feisty team” to play against, equipped with a long list of hungry players.
Just over a minute later however, rookie sensation Kyle Bollers netted his team leading 12th goal of the season, firing the puck through an open cage to knot the game back up at two apiece.
Not only did Bollers goal come shorthanded, but also moved him a point closer to second place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) scoring race.
Despite the group finding yet another way to erase their deficit, the Rams put themselves behind once more, surrendering back-to-back goals just 41 seconds apart to a more hungrier and opportunistic Thunderwolves side.
Kevin Styles and Dylan Massie would deliver the timely offense for Lakehead, the latter roofing one up and over the glove of Garret Forrest to crush the momentum of the home side.
“If you’re not dialed in, you don’t have that urgency. You’re in trouble,” said Duco.
The Rams would come out in the third period the better of the two teams, forcing the Lakehead defense to make some high danger stops from all around the ice.
Ryerson would cut the deficit to one midway through the third courtesy of David Miller’s fifth of the season.
The forward would take a fortuitous bounce off the Lakehead end boards before tucking the puck past the stretching legs of Aiken to bring the Rams within one.
Ryerson continued to hold the Thunderwolves in their own end all the way to the final minute of the frame. The team would pull their goaltender in the last moments to try and keep their winning streak alive but their offense was ultimately not enough to push the Thunderwolves over the edge.
The offence for the Rams was both surprising as it was concerning, peppering the Lakehead goal with 39 shots and only a trio of goals to show for it.
“The margin for error in [Ontario University Athletics] is so small and I think we saw that tonight,” said Duco
UP NEXT: The Rams hit the road for the first of a home and home with the York Lions on March 9. Puck drop is set for 7:15 p.m.
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