Following a sterling 7–4 victory Friday night at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre, the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team hosted the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) powerhouse Western Mustangs Saturday evening at Varsity Arena, losing 4–3 in front of a spirited UTSU Frost Week crowd.
The Mustangs were excellent in the first period, controlling the majority of the play and forcing veteran U of T goaltender Brett Willows to make numerous high-calibre saves in his first game back from injury.
EVAN LUKE/THE VARSITY
The Blues entered the first intermission down 1–0 thanks to a flukey Mustangs goal in the opening minutes, but had it not been for Willows, the game may well have been out of reach.
Sophomore defender Charlie Connell echoes this sentiment: “He’s saving games for us right now and it’s easy to play in front of that kind of goaltending… All the boys are really confident in front of him.”
The Blues responded with a much better second period, wearing down Western with a relentless forecheck and scoring two goals. The Blues tied the game just over a minute into the frame as star forward Michael Markovic fired a great shot top-shelf through a screen on a 4-on-2 rush.
U of T took the lead two minutes later thanks to a brutal defensive zone turnover by the Mustangs. Sniper Jeff Brown found himself all alone in the slot with plenty of time. Though Western goaltender Greg Dodds made the initial save, he had no chance on the rebound attempt by veteran two-way forward Paul Van De Velde.
EVAN LUKE/THE VARSITY
The Mustangs responded with two goals in the first three minutes of the third period — the first a beautiful shot on a 1-on-1, the second on what seemed like the fifth rebound in a flurry of Western attempts — but U of T kept their composure and tied the match a minute later.
Finding himself on a 3-on-2 rush, Connell, playing just his sixth game of the season thanks to a nagging injury, threw a beautiful pass to heart-and-soul forward Dean Klomp.
Klomp made no mistake, firing a one-timer against the grain and past Dodds’ right pad for the equalizer.
The strong play against Western and the win over Ryerson demonstrated the Blues’ progress this season, indicating that they have the potential to finish strong this season. The team will face off against Lakehead University on January 23 at Varsity Arena.
