Lancers men's hockey suffers weekend woes
By Tanya Quaglia
Lance Writer
October 29, 2008
 Cold winds and the hint of winter in the air could not help the Windsor Lancers Men’s Hockey team this past weekend. The Lancers were unable to snap a two game losing streak as they fell to the Waterloo Warriors and Lake Superior State.
In front of a small crowd of 130 Windsor fans, the Lancers were unable to hold off the mighty Warriors, and lost their third straight game on Friday Oct. 24, this time by a score of 3-1.
Tyson Cameron put Windsor on the board first about eight minutes into the first period. He scored off passes from Scott Todd and Jonathan Sciacca. The Lancers defence was strong as they kept the Warriors off the board for the duration of the first period.
Despite getting into penalty trouble in the second period, the Lancers continued their dominant play. The Lancers’ penalty killing was strong and they maintained their one goal lead well into the second period.
Towards the end of the second, tensions ran high between the players. Numerous penalties were called. Roughing penalties assigned to Lancer Jonathan Sciacca and Warrior Doug Spooner, set up the four-on-four situation that led to the Warriors’ tying goal. Windsor kept the Warriors scoreless until the 18:37 mark of the second period when David Edgeworth got the puck past Lancer goalie, Jim Watt.
The third period started off the same way the second had ended. Each team found themselves in the box quite a few times. The Lancers’ penalty killing may have been strong earlier, but another four-on-four situation helped the Warriors earn their second goal of the game, putting them ahead of the Lancers.
In a last minute effort, the Lancers pulled Watt, in hopes of netting the tying goal. The Warriors ensured a win, as they made the score 3-1 on the empty net. Regardless of the loss, Jim Watt was spectacular in net, making 34 saves.
The Lancers then had to travel up north on Saturday Oct. 25, to Michigan where they would face the Lake Superior State Lakers. The long road trip proved too much for the Lancers, as they lost their fourth straight game by a score of 7-0.
The Lakers defence played unbelievable hockey and held the Lancers to just nine shots on net the entire game. Windsor was held to just three shots in the first and six in the second. Fatigue and frustration set in for the Lancers, and third found them out-shot by a dismal 12-0.
Despite having great penalty killing the night before, the Lancers allowed a goal on the first power play of the game. Down by just one goal, the Lancers were still in the game heading into the second period, despite having limited shots on net.
Shortly into the second period, the Lakers made it 2-0 on an even strength goal. A two-goal lead is never a safe one and the Lancers still had a chance for a comeback. However, dreams of a comeback were quickly shattered when the Lakers scored two goals in 20 seconds, making the score 4-0 halfway through the second.
With just 25 seconds left in the period, the Lakers scored again off a power play goal, putting the Lancers in a five-goal hole heading into the third and final period.
Goalie Jim Watt made 22 saves and allowed three goals, before being replaced by Frank Dayus who made 16 saves and allowed four goals in the final 29 minutes of the game.
The loss gives the Lancers an 0-3 record against Central Collegiate Hockey Association rivals. The Lancers have now been winless in their past four games and have only won two of their last 10 games.
The Windsor Lancers are off until Thursday Oct. 30, when they will face the Laurier Golden Hawks, a team who narrowly beat them a couple weeks ago. On Friday Oct. 31, the Lancers will again play against Waterloo.
|
