Windsor Lancers

The Lancer men's hockey team headed to the nation's capital and came home with a series split against the Carleton Ravens. The Lancers doubled up on the Ravens 4-2 Friday, before dropping a 5-1 decision on Saturday night. 

With the split, the Lancers remain at .500 on the year with a 6-6-0 record and are in fifth place in the OUA west division, while the Ravens move to 7-5-0 and sit in sixth in the east. 

Game 1 - Friday
Both the Ravens and Lancers found themselves with a surplus of power-play opportunities but only managed a goal apiece on the man advantage. As penalty after penalty was taken, the play swayed with special teams going from one end of the ice to the other.

Nearing the 15-minute mark of the period, the Lancers were able to supplement their power-play troubles with an even-strength goal as team captain Blake Blondeel found himself down low with an open net to shoot at. After receiving a pass from freshman defenceman Todd Ratchford, Blondeel beat a down-and-out Brassard for the first goal of the game.
 
In the early minutes of the second period, the fourth-year forward would strike again as he caught the Ravens' puck-watching. With all eyes on Dylan Seguin behind the net, Blondeel snuck into the slot where he snapped home Seguin's pass and gave his team a 2-0 lead.
 
On their fifth man-advantage, the Lancers were finally rewarded with a power-play goal as third-year forward Kyle Hope set up the team's former leading scorer, Dylan Denomme, for a one-timed blast into the back of the Ravens' net.
 
With three-quarters of the period remaining, the looming Ravens' offence were able to set up shop in the Lancers' end. However, chance after chance, Joyce continuously denied the Ravens their first goal of the game. A combination of stellar saves and puck luck allowed the Prince George-native to remain in contention for his first U Sports shutout.
 
In the third, the Ravens continued their pursuit of a comeback. As the conference-leading offence, the Ravens put the Lancers' on their heels after ringing the post three times and finding four breakaway chances.
 
Windsor struck again in the third, when a bouncing pass from Denomme landed on the stick Sebastian Beauregard whose net-front shot slid past Brassard for his team's fourth goal of the night.
 
While Beauregard's goal sealed the Lancers' victory, a late surge from the host Ravens added an interesting finish. With less than two minutes remaining, a breakaway goal from Michael McNamee and a tic-tac-toe finish from Alexandre Boivin reeled the Ravens to within two.

Game 2 - Saturday
Early in the game a mishandled puck by the Ravens' defense gave Denomme a golden opportunity. With the lonesome puck stalled in the high slot, Denomme easily walked in a netted the first goal of the game.

The goal turned out to be the Lancers lone goal of the game, as the hosts would shoot the Lancers 45-20 and go on to score five unanswered goals. Windsor spent 31 minutes in the penalty box, compared to Carleton's 16, which resulted in three power play goals for the Ravens. 

UP NEXT
Windsor will look to get back in the win column next weekend when they return to South Windsor Arena. The Lancers will host the Laurier Golden Hawks 7:30pm on Friday November 18th, followed by the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday November 19th at 7:30pm. Both games can been seen live on www.oua.tv.