Eric Begin had a goal and an assist in the third period to lead Concordia over the visiting Laurier Golden Hawks, after falling behind 4-1.
However, sloppy defensive play and the strong presence of Golden Hawks forwards led them to a 4-1 lead heading into the second intermission. A valiant effort lead by the Stingers veteran players made way for an exciting comeback. With just over a minute of play left, Samuel Morneau scored the winning goal.
Stingers head coach Kevin Figsby praised his senior leaders on their third period presence. “When things got down, those were the guys that jumped up and took charge, and that’s your veteran leadership,” he said. “When guys like that step up, your captains step up, your leaders step up and your rookies contribute and buy in, you’re going to have success.”
Midway through the third period, captain Eric Begin provided a much needed spark on the power play, when his point shot found the back of the net.
Less than a minute later, Begin would feed a beautiful cross-ice pass to Alexandre Monahan, who found himself unaccounted for in front of the net. Monahan buried a shot upstairs cutting the deficit to 4-3.
Monahan would strike again, tying the game with seven minutes, when he finished a nice passing play on the rush, scoring in a Bobby Orr fashion, going airborne after the puck left his stick. Francois Lanctot-Marcotte was Monahan’s partner in crime on the play, providing Monahan with a quick pass before the puck sailed past Golden Hawks netminder David Clement.
Though they came away with the win, Concordia will have to learn to play a full 60 minutes this season as the team was sloppy most of the game.
The Stingers couldn’t capitalize on four first-period powerplays and a lacking defence forced goalie Nicholas Champion to stop two clearcut breakaways in a two minute span.
A shorthanded goal by Laurier forward Mitch Lebar gave his team the one goal lead after 20 minutes, capping off the lackluster period for Concordia. Champion stopped the initial shot with the puck sitting under his left pad but Lebar was there to take it all the way.
The Golden Hawks continued to dominate in the second period, adding a goal to their lead when Thomas Middup took a clean pass in the slot from Tyler Stothers, capitalizing on the one-timer.
Evidently Figsby must have provided his young men with a convincing speech as they were heading into the third period. The complete momentum swing as well as the four goals scored spoke volumes about his team’s character and their willingness to battle back from such a deficit.
After losing their first two games on the road, Concordia is now back at .500, having also defeated the Brock Badgers 5-1 at home on Friday night.
Concordia will play host to UQTR on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 8:30 p.m.
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