OUA Quarter-final

Mustangs vs. UOIT Ridgebacks

With the regular season behind them, the men’s hockey team is now focused on making a national championship run, starting Thursday against the UOIT Ridgebacks. The Mustangs and Ridgebacks are no strangers, as the two teams have met three times this past season with the Mustangs sweeping the series 3-0.

The Mustangs had a strong regular season, finishing first in the OUA West with 44 points, which was also good for the top spot in the entire OUA. The team has one of the country’s most dangerous offences, as they lead in goals with 117, and rank fourth in goals per game with 4.18. With a winning offence, the Mustangs’ combine that with a tough defence and special teams, as the team has the country’s top ranked penalty kill of 90.6% and has only given up 10 power play goals all season.

Leading the way for the Stangs offence is the trio of Matt Clarke, Steve Reese and Zach Harnden, as all three finished in the top 15 in the CIS scoring race. Led by Clarke who finished third with 42 points on the season (18 goals, 24 assists), Reese tied for fourth with 39 points (8 goals, 31 assists) and Harnden tied 12th with 35 points (21 goals, 14 assists). Harnden leads the country with 21 goals at the end of the regular season.  Mustangs forward Daniel Erlich also had a strong season, finishing just outside the top 20 in the CIS scoring race with 30 points (4 goals, 26 assists).

Goaltender Josh Unice led the Stangs between the pipes all season, starting the majority of the team’s games. Unice also led the CIS in regular season wins with 19, and finished the season with a .916 save percentage and goals against of 2.47. Unice has lead the Mustangs in all three victories against the Ridgebacks this season allowing only six goals in three games.

The Ridgebacks come into the playoffs riding a three game win streak, which allowed them to grab the eighth and final spot in the playoffs. The team finished the regular season with 23 points and an 11-16- 1 regular season record.

UOIT will rely on a balanced offensive attack and strong physical defence. The Ridgebacks are led offensively by junior forward Luke VanMoerkerke, who has 29 points on the season (10 goals, 19 assists). Along with VanMoerkerke, the play of freshman netminder Byrce O’Hagan will be vital if the Ridgebacks hope to get past the Mustangs. O’Hegan has been between the pipes for almost all of the Ridgebacks regular games and they will be relying on strong play from their netminder to help pull off the win. O’Hagan closed out the regular season with a .889 save percentage, goals against of 3.72, and a 10-12 regular season record.

Game one of the best of three series takes place Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. at Thompson Arena. Fans can also watch live on Mustangs TV: http://www.ssncanada.ca/game/5116/