By Mario Russo
Garrett Forrest’s clutch performance between the pipes paved the way to Ryerson’s 2-1 win over the visiting McGill Redbirds Saturday evening at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
Forrest would record a postseason-best of 33 saves in the victory, leading the Rams men’s hockey team to its first ever appearance in the U Sports University Cup.
“He was our MVP. Hands down.” said Rams head coach of Johnny Duco.
The fourth and potentially final game of the postseason saw both the Rams and Redbirds pick up the pace throughout the middle stanza.
While the visiting Redbirds chased down the Rams 1-0 lead throughout the second period of play, the blue and gold turned to their goaltender to weather the storm and protect the Rams first lead of the postseason.
With a little help from Jerimiah Addison’s timely first goal of the playoffs, giving the team a one goal cushion, Forrest turned aside all 20 of McGill’s shot attempts in the second. This included a series of post-to-post saves to keep the score at 1-0.
Duco praised the composure of his man in goal, adding “when [Forrest] is hot he can steal a game.”
Late in the frame, the Rams inched themselves closer to their first ever nationals appearance following Kevin Gursoy’s incredible solo effort to double his side’s lead.
The rookie’s second tally of the postseason deflated just about all the momentum of the visitors, a team that—despite their dominant second period of play—would head into the intermission down a pair and with nothing to show for themselves on the scoreboard.
Desperation from the Redbirds turned to amplified frustration throughout the third frame and goaltending continued to come up big for the Rams.
“This was one of my best games of the season,” said the Rams netminder, who continued to steer the ship for the home side.
The group’s decision to close in on the Redbirds forward core would see the team park the bus and string together a defensive performance unlike any other in this postseason.
From desperation saves to big-time blocks, the Rams defence stayed in tact to keep McGill from finding the back of the net.
Ryerson’s most defining moment of the contest came in the dwindling minutes of the third with just three players on the ice. The Rams would keep their formation in front of their own goal and come up with a crucial penalty kill that got the home crowd on their feet.
With less than two minutes to play, the visitors overcame the resistance of the Rams and cut the deficit in half following Brandon Frattaroli’s second marker of the postseason.
With the net empty and the clock ticking down, the Rams began to understand the definition of crunch time while on the cusp of going to nationals.
The side would kill off the clock and come away with the bronze medal, punching their ticket to the U Cup.
“We wanted it more than them,” said Forrest following the performance that’s sending his team to the national stage.
UP NEXT: The Rams head to Nova Scotia for the U Cup. The Eyeopener will have you covered as the team goes for gold.
Leave a Reply