OSHAWA, Ont. – The Ontario Tech Ridgebacks men's hockey team dropped their home opener Friday night 4-1 to the Nipissing Lakers.
Opening the 2019-20 season on home ice, the Ridgebacks began the game with high energy. The home team controlled the pace of play for much of the opening frame but were unable to cash in on their scoring chances.
"I thought we were decent in the first," said head coach
Curtis Hodgins. "We chased that game, once we got down a goal, two goals, we started chasing the game and really opened up."
After the two Lakers' goals the tempo of the game increased as the teams traded a pair of goals to conclude the second period. They added their final goal with just over two minutes remaining.
The two teams will meet again tomorrow to conclude the opening weekend back-to-back series.
"We'll want to get a good start tomorrow and try to get a lead on these guys to try and split this weekend."
• Devyn Mayea opened the scoring for the Lakers, with Deverick Ottereyes making it 2-0 just 7:05 into the second period.
•
Jake Bricknell (Port Perry, Ont.) finished off a two-on-one rush with
Austin Eastman (Lindsay, Ont.) to put the Ridgebacks on the board.
• Brett Jefferies restored the Lakers two-goal lead just over a minute after Bricknell's goal.
• Lucas Brown scored the fourth Lakers goal.
•
Michael Bullion (Anchorage, Alaska) made 33 saves in the Ridgebacks' loss.
• Brett Moran allowed one goal on 34 shots.
Overall Record: 2-3-0
Conference Record: 0-1-0
Next Game: Saturday, Oct. 5 vs Nipissing Lakers (3:30 p.m. – Campus Ice Centre)
