Tag: Nipissing Lakers

Categories
Sports

The Concordia Stingers defeat the Nipissing Lakers 1-0 in overtime

Concordia Stingers' men's hockey vs. Nipissing Lakers on Oct. 29, 2022. Credit: KYRAN THICKE/ Concordia Athletics

44 shots in regulation weren’t enough for the Stingers to end the game

The Concordia Stingers pocketed a second straight victory last week in front of a large audience at the Ed Meagher Arena on Oct. 29 and won 1-0 against the Nipissing Lakers. It was their fourth win of the season.

The Stingers outshot their opponents 11 to eight in the first period. At the end of the first period, Stingers’ forward Tyler Hylland was hooked on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot.

Hylland attempted to fake a shot and backhand the puck in between the Lakers’ goaltender Zach Roy’s legs, but Roy got the best of him.

“I just tried to open him up a bit,” said Hylland, the Stingers’ alternate captain. “I have to give him credit. He kept his team in it until the very end.”

The second period was similar, as the Stingers outshot the Lakers 14 to nine. The Stingers had their best chance at winning the game midway through the second period, as Roy gave two rebounds in the slot. But he stopped them anyway.

“The goalie on the other side played very well,” said Stingers’ head coach Marc-André Elément. “Sometimes there’s nights like that where we’re doing the right things but the puck doesn’t go in.”

The Stingers added more pressure in the third period by taking another 18 shots. The Lakers also took two late penalties that allowed the Stingers two power plays in exchange. However, with Roy stopping every shot at that point, they were ultimately unsuccessful.

It was not until the first few minutes of overtime that Stingers’ forward Isiah Campbell received a pass from his teammate Samuel Desgroseillers in the neutral zone to form a two-on-one against Roy. Campbell skated past the defender and barely slid the puck past Roy’s blocker side to win the game in overtime.

“It definitely felt nice,” said Campbell, referring to the only goal of the game. “[Roy] played a hell of a game, but we found a way, and that’s all that matters.”

This game was also Stingers’ goaltender Jordan Naylor’s first of the season. He earned his first victory and shutout by stopping all of the Lakers’ 24 shots.

“We were a bit snake-bitten there,” said Naylor in regard to the struggle to get a goal past Roy. “But it feels really good to get my first win as a shutout and get a win with the boys,” he continued with a smile.

“He played an unbelievable game,” said the game-winning goal scorer about Naylor. “He’s been working hard in practice, and he definitely deserved it.”

The Stingers improved to a 4-2 record this season and stopped the Lakers from getting their first win of the season. The Stingers will head to the nation’s capital as they will face the Ottawa Gee-Gee’s on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m.

Categories
Sports

Weekend Recap: Men’s hockey team dominates Lakers, women’s bounce back against Carabins

Women’s hockey:

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team went into this weekend having to face two of the top five teams in the country. I don’t care what the U Sports rankings say,  Concordia, UDEM and McGill are all giants in Canadian university sports.

“It’s a long season and we’re in a tremendous league,” said head coach Julie Chu. “We know that we’re going to be in tight, hard-fought games and we gotta make sure that we continue doing the little things right and staying positive is the number one thing. We have an opportunity tomorrow to go and have a great game too.”

The Stingers first game came against McGill. The Martlets came out flying and worked well to pressure the Stingers into making costly mistakes. After two periods of play, the Martlets were up 3-1. The Stingers then managed to come back to tie the game thanks to the efforts of captain Claudia Dubois, Audrey Belzile and Rosalie Bégin-Cyr who combined to force Concordia’s next two goals. Despite the comeback, the Stingers couldn’t get any momentum through the first overtime, and in the second overtime period, the Martlets capitalized and took the dub. This was the first time all season that the Stingers dropped back-to-back games.

The next day against the UDEM Carabins, the Stingers made sure to not make that mistake again. In what would be a tight, hard-fought and physical battle against Montreal, Concordia managed to outlast their opponent to take the shootout win. Back-up goalie Madison Oakes got the start against the Carabins to play in her third ever U Sports match, and she did not disappoint. Oakes was calm in the crease, only allowing one goal, including blanking all three Carabins shootout attempts.

“It’s kind of like your first shift back after not playing for a while,” said Chu. “But I think she settled in really well as the game went on. She’s a gamer. I think anytime our goaltenders are able to make big saves, that gives us a boost of energy.”

Bégin-Cyr continued her torrid scoring pace with a three-goal weekend, moving into a tie for sixth place in U Sports scoring.

– Matthew Coyte, Managing Editor

 

Men’s hockey:

The Stingers men’s hockey team put on a show for their fans on Saturday night. Going into their game with Nipissing, Stingers were on a four-game losing streak with their most recent loss coming on Jan. 15 against UQTR, losing by a score of 3-1. The Stingers had their chances in that game but again, it was their lack of ability to put the puck in the back of the net that got the best of them. Special teams were also an issue against the Patriotes as they were 0/5 with the man advantage.

Then came Saturday.

Only two points separated the Stingers and the Nipissing Lakers heading into the game. Having lost four in a row and facing a team trailing them in the standings, this game was critical for the Stingers. Head coach Marc-André Élement said the message going into the game was “leaders lead the way,” and boy, did they ever.

Fourth year player and team captain Philippe Sanche netted a hat-trick while assistant captain Carl Neill added three assists to his point total on the season. The team has shown flashes of brilliance in the past this season but haven’t been able to string together consecutive wins since Nov. 1. Things only get harder for the Stingers as they only have one more home game left on their schedule between now and the end of the regular season.

On top of all that, the special teams units really stepped up in a big way. The Stingers went 2/8 on the powerplay—which included goals from Jeff de Wit and Alexander Katerinakis. Meanwhile their penalty killing unit did a great job for the most part of neutralizing the Lakers’ powerplay, only holding them to a singular goal on eight attempts. On top of that, one of Philippe Sanche’s goals was a short handed marker.

A game like the one against Nipissing can turn into a critical one for the Stingers down the final stretch of the season. Beating a team that is jockeying for playoff position with the Stingers is no small feat. It can boost the confidence of the team which at this point is much needed. It is one thing to say that they can compete with any team in the country, as many of the players have said before. It’s another thing to do it.

That theory will be put to the test this weekend when the team heads to Ottawa to face off against the Ravens and the Gee Gees.

– Matthew Ohayon, Sports Editor

 

Photos by Britanny Clarke and Cecilia Piga

Categories
Sports

Stingers dominate in 9-2 win over Nipissing

Despite the four-game winning streak, the Stingers head into the break in seventh place. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

Concordia heads into break with four-game winning streak

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team beat the Nipissing Lakers 9-2 at the Ed Meagher Arena on Dec. 1.  

The Stingers dominated all aspects of the game: they outshot the Lakers 60-20, they got more hits, and they had puck possession for most of the game. Concordia also went 6/12 on the powerplay, and forward Hugo Roy scored their first goal of the game on a five-on-three advantage. Roy led the Stingers with four goals in the game.

Hugo Roy (left) scored four goals in the win. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

After defenceman Carl Neill scored late in the first period, the Stingers opened the second with three consecutive goals, forcing the Lakers to change their goaltender.

Concordia took advantage of its opportunities on the power plays and was able to build a solid lead early in the game. Concordia spent most of the time in the offensive zone forcing the Lakers to take penalties. It seems like the Lakers spent too much energy defending and didn’t have enough to attack at the other end of the ice.

It was a physical game and the Stingers won most of the battles along the boards. They were also faster than the Lakers with a quick transition game to leave their zone and go on the attack. The Stingers’s defencemen also contributed offensively, transitioning the play from zone to zone.

Even though the Stingers dominated most of the game in the offensive zone, they still played well defensively, blocking numerous shots.

The Stingers have now won four-straight games, a streak that started with a win in Nipissing. Concordia is now on break, with a 9-6-1 record, and will return on Jan. 11 to face the McGill Redmen on the road.

Categories
Sports

Stingers survive scare with 6-4 win

Defenceman Carl Neill will be an assistant captain in his second season with the Stingers. Archive photo by Alex Hutchins.

Beauregard, Neill with four assists each against Nipissing

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team improved to a 11-2-2 record on the season with a 6-4 win against the Nipissing University Lakers on Dec. 1 at the Ed Meagher Arena. Despite the Lakers scoring four power-play goals, Stingers forwards Philippe Sanche and Massimo Carozza each scored twice to help propel Concordia to the win.

Stingers forward Anthony Beauregard continued producing points on the top line with Carozza and Sanche. He had four assists in the win, extending his U Sports-leading point total on the season to 34 points. Head coach Marc-André Élement had high praise for the trio of Sanche, Beauregard and Carozza.

“They’re really good,” Élement said with a laugh. “They’re performing, they’re battling and they’re working hard. This is how we’re going to have success, when they’re doing all the little details to have success.”

Carozza opened the scoring just 36 seconds into the game, scoring in the slot off a pass from Beauregard. Sanche doubled the Stingers lead on the power play seven minutes later, when his attempted pass from the corner took a bounce off a Lakers defenceman and went past goalie Domenic Graham. Sanche, who started the season injured, was playing in his 10th game this season, and scored his sixth and seventh goals of the year.

Stingers defenceman Alexandre Gosselin skates by a Lakers forward during their game on Dec. 1. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

“It’s huge,” Élement said about having Sanche back in the lineup. “He’s one of the top players in the country […] He’s the smallest player in the league, but he plays the hardest. He blocks shots, and he’s just a great leader.”

The Lakers scored a power-play goal late in the first period to cut the Stingers’ lead down to 2-1 after the opening frame. Sanche added his second of the game early in the second period to restore the two-goal lead. The Lakers capitalized on some undisciplined Concordia play in the second period to score two power-play goals and tie the game at 3-3 heading into the third period.

In total, the Stingers had 12 penalties resulting in 40 minutes, including 10-minute misconduct penalties on defenceman Philippe Charbonneau in the first period, and forward Alexis Pépin in the second period. The Stingers had to kill off 10 penalties, and all four of the Lakers goals were scored on the power play.

“Sometimes we put ourselves in situations where we’re prone to getting penalties, so we have to learn to kind of avoid those situations so we don’t put ourselves in a tough spot,” said captain Philippe Hudon. “It sucks, but we have to learn from it.”

In a two-minute span in the middle of the third period, the Stingers scored three goals to put the game out of reach for Nipissing. Carozza scored off a pass from Beauregard, before forward Antoine Masson took advantage of a bad line change by the Lakers to score on a breakaway. Forward Charles-Eric Legare capped off the sequence by capitalizing on a rebound off a shot from forward Jean-Philippe Beaulieu.

“It was a big sequence for us,” said defenceman Carl Neill, who also finished the game with four assists, two of which came from the first two of the three quick goals. “After the second, it was 3-3 and they were still in the game. We wanted to turn things our way, and we were lucky we got a few lucky bounces so things turned out the right way.”

The Stingers’ next game is on Dec. 2 against the Laurentian Voyageurs. It will be their last game before the winter break.

Exit mobile version