Stingers capture coveted Corey Cup

Over the course of the last week, the Concordia men’s hockey team has gone from odds on favourite to finish last in their division to within five points of the McGill Redmen for the final playoff spot in the OUA standings.
The Stingers put together a weekend to remember as they defeated the Redmen in the Corey Cup 3-1 this past Saturday at McGill’s McConnell Winter Arena , only 24 hours after beating the Ottawa Gee-Gees 5-2 on Friday.
Not only was the win against McGill important for Concordia’s playoff hopes but it came six days after the Redmen hammered them 8-5, racking up 6 power-play goals in the process.
Concordia got an early victory as they killed off two penalties in the first 10 minutes
Several minutes later the Maroon and Gold would have their own opportunity with the extra man. They wasted little time as Luc Messier tipped a Philippe Parent slap shot past McGill goalie Murray Cobb 21 seconds into the power play to put Concordia up 1-0.
Not long after, McGill would get a golden opportunity to tie the game with two Concordia players serving penalties.
The Stinger defence pulled it together, though, giving the Redmen little to look at and goalie Philippe Ozga shut them down on the few open looks they did get at the net.
Scoring chances would come in swarms at the beginning of the second period as McGill’s Jocelyn Perrault narrowly missed a great chance on a 2-on-1 break.
Concordia would respond with several flurries of their own where the puck flew everywhere but into the net.
The Redmen nearly squared things as a shot from the side of the net appeared to beat Ozga but was quickly waved off by the officials.
The Stingers would increase their lead late in the period when Edin Burazerovic snapped home a shot from several feet inside the blue line to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
The Redmen changed their goalie going into the final period, replacing Cobb with Luc Vaillancourt. But the switch would do little to solve their offensive problems as they failed to convert on a power play in the early minutes of the period.
The Stingers would make McGill pay for not taking advantage as Chris Page pounded his way through the defence and scored in close to make it 3-0.
The home team would not go quietly into the night, however, as McGill forward Bruno Lemire knocked in a loose puck with 18 seconds left in the game, ending Ozga’s shutout bid.
Concordia Head Coach Kevin Figsby said after the game that despite early troubles with a young group, he felt confident that his team could pull things together with some hard work.
“We put together a formula for the guys to follow and it was selfless hockey, not selfish hockey and it wasn’t a hard thing to do,” Figsby said.
“All we wanted to do was stay in the game plan and when, [we] did we had success,” the coach added.
Ozga was equally pleased with his team’s efforts.
“It was a big game,” he said. “There was a lot of energy in the building, and it really pumped the guys up.”
The Stingers will look for their third straight win when they play at Ottawa on Sunday.

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