Box Score
Waterloo Warriors blueliner
Eric Diodati (Niagara Falls) picked a fine time to become an offensive defenceman.
The former St. Thomas University veteran scored his first two OUA goals, including the game winner in double overtime, as the Warriors topped the ninth-ranked Concordia Stingers 4-3 in a wild affair at the Columbia Icefield Arena Friday night.
Diodati also registered an assist for a three-point night, as the Warriors won for the fourth time in their last six games.
Zac Coulter (Owen Sound) and
Phillip Fife (Oromocto) pitched in with a goal and an assist each for the Warriors, who improved to 7-9-3 on the season.
The Stingers (14-5-1) got goals from Dominic Beauchemin, Julien Avon, and Anthony Beauregard in the loss, which snapped Concordia's five-game winning streak.
Mike Morrison (Hamilton) earned the win with 28 saves for the Warriors, while Marc-Antoine Turcotte turned aside 34 shots for Concordia.
The contest didn't lack intensity out of the gate, as the physicality ramped up soon after puck drop. The frenetic pace also created some man-advantage opportunities, and the Warriors were first to take advantage – on a two minute five-on-three power play, Diodati one-timed a
Mike Moffat (Waterloo) feed past Turcotte for a 1-0 Waterloo lead.
Just when it looked like the Warriors would escape the first period with a lead, the Stingers responded with under two minutes to play in the period. After a broken play behind the Warriors net, a pretty goalmouth passing play was finished by Beauchemin to make the score 1-1 after 20 minutes.
After Avon striped
Sam Caldwell (Cape Breton) and fired one through Morrison's legs to put the Stingers ahead in the second, it was the Warriors' turn to answer back in the period's late stages. This time, it was Fife who slammed home a rebound on the power play with only 10 seconds left in the middle stanza, drawing the Warriors even after two periods.
Waterloo took the lead midway through the third when Coulter took a
Riley Sonnenburg (Cambridge) feed on a 3-on-2, beating Turcotte with a wicked wrister to make it 3-2 for the Warriors. But the Stingers weren't about to roll over, and with just over three minutes left in regulation, Beauregard potted one past Morrison to knot things at 3-3.
It looked as though the Warriors would be able to end it, as the Stingers were assessed a pair of minors in the game's final two minutes. However, Concordia weathered the storm in regulation, and then again in the first overtime, sending the game to a 3-on-3 extra session.
Diodati wasted no time in the 3-on-3 period, curling to shake a check on a 2-on-2, and then zipping it off the post and in for an emotional game winner.
The Warriors will now look to extend their winning streak to three, when they host the UQTR Patriotes. Puck drop at the Columbia Icefield Arena is slated for 6:30 pm on Saturday, January 14.
