The Varsity Blues men’s hockey team defeated the Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins 4–1 Saturday night at Varsity Arena, capping off a great day of University of Toronto hockey.
The Blues jumped out to an early lead just 37 seconds into the contest, when Paladins goaltender Paul Dorsey dropped the puck on a seemingly routine glove save and Blues forward Tyler von Engelbrechten tapped it in for an easy score. The Blues never looked back, holding the lead for the remainder of the match and, at times, completely dominating the Paladins. The Paladins nevertheless deserve a lot of credit for the way they played. It would be easy for a team that is winless this season to give up when trailing, but RMC battled all game, even when the result was never in doubt. In fact, Blues goaltender Brett Willows praised the Paladins work ethic after the game, saying that: “They’re the kind of team that works hard regardless of what the score is.”
The Blues continued to control the pace of play in the second frame; adding two more goals and goaltender Brett Willows was sharp when called upon. Just over three minutes into the period, the Blues took advantage of an RMC line change and burst into the offensive zone on a four-on-two rush. Veteran Paul Van de Velde threw a great pass to an open Corey Jackson, who made no mistake blasting a shot by Dorsey’s glove. The Blues took a commanding 3–0 lead just over ten minutes later, when rookie defender Charlie Connell scored his first goal in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). Connell jumped on the rebound from a shot by forward Jeff Brown, and put the puck past a sprawling Dorsey.
The third period was more equally contested, as RMC sought to prevent a Brett Willows shutout and the Varsity Blues’ intensity fell off a tad. Willows was stellar in the final frame, with an early 2-on-1 opportunity for the Paladins. The goaltender slid across the crease to deny what seemed like a sure goal for RMC forward Brett Pinder, bringing Blues fans to their feet. The Paladins were finally able to put one past the Willows with under four minutes remaining, spoiling what was otherwise a perfect outing.
The game ended with an empty-net goal by Blues sophomore forward Andrew Doyle, who benefitted from an extremely selfless play by Blues star Michael Markovic. Markovic found himself on a 2-on-1 rush with Doyle in the dying seconds of the match, and elected to forgo what was a reasonably good opportunity to score, passing to Doyle for a guaranteed goal instead. It was a great end to a dominant performance.
