Box Score There are many ways that a hockey team can lose a game undeservedly – maybe they ran into a hot goaltender, or they could be snakebitten by bounces, or the power play just didn't click.
Or, if you're the Waterloo Warriors on Friday night, it could be all of the above.
The Warriors hit three goal posts, fired 48 shots on goal, and were a disappointing 0-8 on the man-advantage on Friday night, as they fell 4-1 to the Toronto Varsity Blues.
The loss drops Waterloo to 4-2-0 to start the season, and it overshadowed a solid debut in the Warriors goal by
Chris Hurry (Summerland). Hurry was solid all night, and was victimized by a couple of unfortunate bounces around the net that led too Blues goals. He made 34 stops in the win, while Brett Willows and Michael Nishi combined on a 44-save night for the Varsity Blues.
Patrick Marsh and Christian Finch each had two points for the Varsity Blues, who snapped a three-game skid and move to 2-3 on the season.
Brett Mackie (Whitby) scored the only goal for the visiting Warriors.
The Varsity Blues came out of the dressing room the stronger team, and they dominated in possession and shots on goal early on. But Hurry was equal to the task, and helped tilt the ice to a flatter plane by the end of the period – although neither team was able to break through.
With the score still 0-0 and the game more than 30 minutes old, the Blues finally broke through when Corey Jackson's point shot found its way through multiple screens and past Hurry to make it 1-0. Less than two minutes later, Marsh took advantage of a funny bounce off the end boards and hopped on a loose puck in front, giving the Blues a 2-0 lead.
A strange sequence in the closing seconds of the third gave the Warriors their only goal, but also provided a scare for Willows and the Blues. Mackie hopped on the rebound of a
Stephen Silas (Georgetown) shot and shoveled home a rebound in a goal mouth scramble to make it 2-1, but Willows was injured on the play and immediately left the ice, to the surprise of the Toronto bench.
Thrown in to a tough position, Nishi shone in the third period. Jeff Brown made it 3-1 for the Blues on the man advantage, and
Riley Sonnenburg (Cambridge) and
Mitch Elliot (Prince George)t both hit iron behind Nishi in the final frame. While the Warriors had a number of chances later in the period, they couldn't find the net, and Michael Markovic salted the Toronto win away with an empty netter.
The Warriors will now focus on yet another game against a Toronto-based school, as they'll welcome the Ryerson Rams to the Columbia Icefield Arena on Saturday night. Puck drop is slated for 6:30 pm.
Notes: Waterloo went 0-for-8 on the power play, while Toronto went 1-for-4...This was the fifth time in 6 games that the Warriors have outshot their opponent…Mackie's goal was his first of the season.
