Box Score It might have been his 300
th career CIS game, but Waterloo Warriors head coach
Brian Bourque ended up sharing his milestone evening with one of his star forwards.
Colin Behenna (Waterloo) reached 100 career CIS points, and Waterloo's winning streak reached nine games as the Warriors topped the UOIT Ridgebacks 7-2 on Friday night in Oshawa.
Behenna's one-goal, two-assist effort was just one of a handful of huge nights for the Warriors' potent offensive attack. Team scoring leader
Chris Chappell (Pickering) scored a gorgeous goal and added three assists, while
Brett Mackie (Whitby) counted three helpers of his own.
Matt Kennedy (Oro Medonte) and
Sam Caldwell (Cape Breton) also contributed with multi-point games.
The win pushes Waterloo's record to 13-6-1, tightening their grasp on third place in the OUA West division. In a rare start,
Chris Hurry (Summerland) earned the victory, making 38 stops in the process – including 14 in a scoreless first period. Brendan O'Neill took the loss for UOIT (8-11-1), stopping 27 shots.
For a game with such a crooked final score, the first period certainly didn't provide any indicators that a blowout was impending. The Ridgebacks carried the bulk of the play, and they outshot the Warriors 14-5. But Hurry's solid play and a pair of big penalty kills kept the game scoreless through 20 minutes.
Whatever Bourque said in his 300
th first intermission speech, it seemed to work. Behenna opened the scoring when he converted on a pretty feed from Mackie, and then
Kain Allicock (Markham) scored a power play marker to make it 2-0 Waterloo.
Mike Moffat (Waterloo) showed off his hands and patience when he jumped up into the rush and scored, and
Matt Kennedy (Oro Medonte) rounded out the middle frame dominance with a laser to the top corner. After the dust had settled, Waterloo led 4-0 after two periods.
Behenna found the net again early in the third, reaching the century mark in career points in only his 75
th career game.
Riley Sonnenburg (Cambridge) made it 6-0 for the Warriors before the Ridgebacks got goals from Brendan Wise and Alex Derlis to ruin the Hurry shutout bid. Chappell rounded out the scoring with the prettiest goal of the night (
video of goal seen above, click play button on image), as he executed a perfect toe drag around a defenceman before going up and over O'Neill's shoulder to make it 7-2.
The game might have been out of reach, but the physicality picked up in the closing minutes. A number of post-whistle scrums broke out, culminating in a near-brawl between Allicock and O'Neill. In total, 56 penalty minutes were assessed in the game's final 55 seconds.
The Warriors will now shift their focus to their second road game in as many nights, when they visit the Queen's Gaels tomorrow night in Kingston. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 pm.
Notes: The Warriors went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Ridgebacks went 1-for-6…Chappell moved into a tie for 2
nd in the OUA in scoring with 30 points…After two consecutive out-of-province co-op terms, Caldwell's two assists were his first points since March 2, 2013.
