Men’s hockey (1-3) has had a less-than-stellar opening season. After dropping their first three games to Guelph, Brock, and York, the Blues hoped to get on the right track against University of Ontario Institute of Technology this past Friday at Varsity Arena. Led by Mark Heatley with two goals and an assist, the Blues downed UOIT 3-1.
While the sluggish opening games may be worrisome after an OUA semifinal berth last year, coach Darren Lowe said that the slow start is caused more by team inconsistency than a lack of chemistry or experience.
“We have a lot of young players and two first-year goalies. We’ve blown a 2-0 lead and we completely outplayed York on Wednesday but just couldn’t score. Tonight we played well, which was something we haven’t been able to do for a full sixty minutes. “These guys have a lot of pride. We lost our first three but they are a resilient group and they didn’t fold in the tent. I hope this gets us rolling,” said Lowe.
The Blues played well from the start on Friday, as Heatley scored shorthanded 2:29 into the first period, setting the tempo for a strong Blues performance that put up a season-high 41 shots on net.
Heatley netted his second goal of the night on a Blues power play, going five-hole on a two-on-one after a neutral zone feed from defenseman Brendan Sherrard.
Though the Blues only got one power play goal, they moved the puck well to the points and behind the net, keeping possession mostly in the UOIT zone.
“Our first unit is all players from last year so they are familiar with each other. The only new guy, you can say, is [Eddie] Snetzinger who is replacing Robichaud,” said coach Lowe. “We would like our second unit to get up to speed though. In the end you just got to get the puck in the net.”
Anthony Pallotta scored with 35 seconds left in the second on a onetimer pass from Heatley, who made a backhand pass from the right corner. Pallotta received the pass in the slot and went high glove side, giving the Blues a 3-0 lead going into the second intermission.
The Blues showed signs of a dominant offensive team with good puck control and pressure, but their supremacy didn’t last for the full sixty minutes. The team showed lapses, mainly on the breakout, which was sloppy at times and caused poor giveaways in the neutral zone .
Regardless, goaltender Andrew Martin picked up the victory with a strong outing, stopping 29 of 30 UOIT shots. The only way to score on Martin, it seemed, was to run him over—which Ridgebacks’ Brent Connolly did, halfway through the third on a loose puck in the Blues crease.
“Martin played sharp tonight. He’s really starting to get used to the style and level of play,” Lowe said. “We know that UOIT is a physical team and I didn’t have a problem with the crashing of the net,” Lowe added. “That’s something coaches want to see. That’s what I want our guys to do.”
The Blues look to gain some ground at their next two home games, against Queen’s on Oct. 26 and Royal Military College on Oct. 27.
