The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men’s hockey team opened their Ontario University Athletics season Friday night at Varsity Arena with a hard-fought 4–2 win over the Laurentian Voyageurs.
The first period saw the Blues exhibit excellent pace and control the bulk of the play, but their efforts were repeatedly stymied by Laurentian goaltender Charlie Millen. It wasn’t until nearly 18 minutes into the frame that the Blues finally got on the board.
Veteran defender Lane Werbowski broke up a poor Voyageurs clearing attempt and threw the puck on goal where grinding forward Dean Klomp deflected the puck through Millen’s five-hole for the first Blues goal of the season.
The opening seven minutes of the second period were more even, with the teams trading chances and both goaltenders making great stops. The Blues increased their lead to 2–0 seven minutes into the frame on a lovely goal by veteran sniper Jeff Brown.
After serving a questionable two-minute tripping penalty, Brown exited the box and was sprung on a breakaway by Klomp. Brown deftly faked a shot and then snapped the puck through Millen’s five-hole to put the Blues up by two.
Undeterred, the Voyageurs battled back, forcing Blues goaltender Garrett Sheehan to make several highlight-reel saves at the midway point of the period. The Voyageurs eventually managed to put one past the net-minder with just over seven minutes remaining in the frame. Sheehan made an excellent point-blank glove save on a Sebastien Leroux wrist-shot from the slot but had no chance on the subsequent rebound.
The Blues responded not two minutes later to maintain the lead going in the final frame, with defenceman Dylan Heide beating a screened Millen with a wrister from the point.
Down 3–1, the Voyageurs came out hard in the last period, outshooting the Blues and forcing Sheehan to make several stellar saves. A dubious Blues penalty with under three minutes to play set the stage for an epic finale. With a 6-on-4 advantage to end the game, the Voyageurs peppered Sheehan with shots, but the veteran net-minder stood tall.
After the match, a humble Sheehan was quick to credit his defenders for his performance. While he admitted that the Voyageurs were certainly getting plenty of shots, he praised his teammates for providing him with solid defensive zone coverage and “… keeping Laurentian to the outside [of the Blues’ zone] and clearing rebounds well.”
Laurentian did ultimately manage to cut the lead to one on a rebound goal by rookie Darcy Haines, but it was too little, too late for the Voyageurs. Forward Michael Markovic — who was fantastic all game — scored an empty-net goal in the dying seconds of the match to secure the victory.
