TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams ended up on the losing side of things Friday night, in a lopsided 6-1 loss to the now 8-1 No. 4 McGill Redmen.
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The Redmen appeared to be just too much to handle in this one, showing the Rams an excellent example of what it takes to be a CIS contender.
When Rams head coach Graham Wise was asked about what he thought of McGill after the game, he had only one word to describe them, outstanding.
“I'd say that they're the best team we've seen so far this year,” said Wise. “An outstanding hockey team.”
The Rams were able to hold the Redmen to just a single goal in the first period, but the final 40 minutes turned out to be a vastly different story.
Early in the second McGill's Liam Heelis beat Rams starting goaltender Troy Passingham far side, to give the Redmen a 2-0 lead.
Heelis' sixth goal of the year seemed to rally the troops in this one, as Redgie Bois found the back of the night just moments before Jonathan Bonneau would do the same, capping off a series of four unanswered goals for a 4-0 second period lead.
The Rams looked to chip away at that lead after Mitch Gallant sent a blast of a shot past an impressive Jacob Gervais-Chouinard. Gallant's first of the year swung the momentum in favor of the Rams, but Chouinard was just too good in this tilt, stopping everything the Rams threw at him the dying minutes of the second.
McGill then sealed the deal with two third period goals from Daniel Milne and Dominic Talbot-Tassi to stroll to a 6-1 victory over the Rams.
The 6-1 final doesn't necessarily represent how the Rams played throughout this match and Wise insists they can take some positives out of the loss and hopefully improve their game moving forward.
“We said to the guys after the game that their's the benchmark for us,” said Wise. “We didn't think it was a 6-1 game. What I liked about our team is that usually when it gets like that you get off your game, but I think we stuck to it and battled for a full 60 minutes.”
The Rams Passingham headed into Friday night's game with a perfect 4-0 record on the line, while Chouinard bet his incredible 7-0 record also. Chouinard came out on top in this one, stopping 32 of the 33 shots he faced to bring his record to a perfect 8-0 on the year.
“Choiunard's been a pro goalie,” said Wise. “He played in the AHL and I felt we either had to go up stairs or off the pads on him. We put a lot of stuff in his midsection. That being said, the kid played a great game tonight.”
With the loss to Laurier Thursday night and the 6-1 loss on Friday, the Rams move to 5-4 on the season and look to improve their record on the road when they face off against the Nipissing Lakers and the Laurentian Voyageurs next weekend.