The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team were shutout for the first time this season as they lost 3-0 to the York Lions last Saturday afternoon at Ed Meagher arena.
The Lions fell into some penalty trouble in the first period but the Stingers failed to score in the opening frame despite being on the man advantage for six full minutes. The first Lions penalty came 1:10 into the period, but the Stingers failed to get momentum early in the game on the power play.
York opened the scoring at 6:48 of the first period when winger Evan Gravenor’s slap shot from one knee beat Concordia goalie, Antonio Mastropietro, giving York a 1-0 lead.
The Stingers were handed their second powerplay of the game when Lions centre Jordan Merante was sent to the box at the eight minute mark of the first period. Four minutes later, Lions centre Tyler McGee’s hooking penalty was York’s third of the period, but Concordia was unable to tie the game up on both power plays. The Lions led 1-0 after one period.
At 4:39 in the middle frame, winger Jesse Messier’s weak shot trickled through Mastropietro to give York the 2-0 lead.
Almost midway through the second period, Concordia centre Hugo Vincent was sent to the penalty box for roughing. Just as the penalty expired, York winger Mike Lombardi gave his team a 3-0 lead when he was left alone on the side of the Stingers net, and potted an easy empty net goal as Mastropietro wasn’t able to get the pad out on time.
The second period was a physical one for both teams, especially after the Lions took the 3-0 lead. With just under five minutes to go in the second period, five players, including three Stingers, received roughing penalties after a fight broke out between Concordia defenceman Gabriel Bourret and York winger Michael Santini.
“I was trying to provoke [playing a more physical game] a little bit because they were skating a lot faster then we were tonight and we needed to do something to slow their speed down,” head coach Kevin Figsby said. “The only way to slow a fast skating team is to try to play them a little more physical along the boards. We weren’t hitting in the first period and that allowed them to execute their game plan, which was getting pucks in deep and skating.”
The third period featured no goals, but Concordia had some chances to get on the board. Early in the third period, Stingers centre Kyle Armstrong had an opportunity to score on an empty net, but Lions goaltender Andrew Perugini was able to move post-to-post quickly to rob Armstrong.
The Stingers once again failed to capitalize on the power play in the third period despite being up two men after York forwards Corey Scott and Troy Barss were penalized a littler more than 12 minutes into the period.
Despite the loss, Figsby said that his young team fared well this weekend overall, after a 9-2 win against Brock University on Friday.
“We played a solid, strong, veteran team today,” Figsby said. “Take a look at that roster, they’re fourth and fifth year vets. They lost 4-1 last night, they came all the way to Montreal and wanted a split on the weekend. A tough loss, yes, deflating, absolutely not.”