Hugo Roy’s two-goal effort helps in come-from-behind victory
The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team won in an overtime thriller Friday night against the York Lions at home, 5-4.
The Stingers took on the hard-charging York Lions at the Ed Meagher arena for the first time since the the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) bronze-medal game in March. Concordia took that game 3-2 on that occasion.
“It’s a huge win,” head coach Marc-André Élement said about Friday’s game. “I think we showed a lot of character. It’s a huge comeback for us. There’s a lot of relief among the guys that we can score some goals.”
The first period was a straight slugfest and included a rash of Stingers penalties. The first resulted in a Lions goal by Scott Feser. By the end of the period, despite the four penalties, the Stingers had a 15-10 advantage in shots.
The second period played much of the same as the first. But this time, the Stingers’s defence came up strong, allowing four shots against. Stingers defenceman Bradley Lalonde opened up the scoring with a top-shelf shot and tied the game five minutes into the period. Another slew of penalties fell onto the Stingers, which the Lions fully capitalized on. Josh Lafrance scored to put the Lions back up 2-1.
The third period opened quick on the scoring chart for both teams. Concordia’s Hugo Roy scored on the power play just over a minute in, which was quickly followed by a Lions goal by Morgan Messenger. Midway through the period, the pace settled down a bit. The Stingers struck again, as Roy scored his second of the night to tie the game at three.
“I think I played good hockey.” Roy said. “I had a good third and I think it’ll help me tomorrow and into the season.”
The craziness of the third period didn’t end there. Lions Alex Mowbray added a goal on a four-on-four situation to take the lead with less than five minutes left. A roughing penalty by the Stingers shortly after looked to end their chances at a win. But it was forward Charles-Éric Légaré who scored a short-handed goal to tie the game with under two minutes left. The Lions received an interference penalty with 10 seconds in the game, to send the Stingers to overtime with a power play.
The overtime started and finished within 15 seconds thanks to the Stingers’s power play. Forward Philippe Sanche took his shot and buried the rebound to win the game for the Stingers 5-4.
“[Hugo Roy] is a fast skater and he creates offence,” Élement said. “This is a huge two points for us. We’ve still got to work on some stuff though.”
The Stingers improve to 2-2-0 heading into the second game of the weekend against the Ryerson Rams on Saturday night.
Main photo by Hannah Ewen.