Box Score Waterloo Warriors defenceman Eric Diodati (Niagara Falls/) has a myriad of talents: he's a stalwart 200-foot hockey player, a diligent Arts and Business student, and he's even an accomplished musician. But on Friday night against the Windsor Lancers, Diodati's baseball skills helped end his team's losing skid.
Diodati batted in a waist-high rebound from a Markson Bechtold (Strathmore/) blast in the extra session, lifting the Warriors to a 2-1 overtime win over the Lancers in the annual Think Pink fundraising game at the Columbia Icefield Arena.
The victory snaps a four-game winless skid for the Warriors, who improve to 4-3-2 on the season. Michael Morgan (Scarborough/) also scored for the Warriors, while Diodati added an assist for a two-point night and Mike Morrison (Hamilton/) made 25 stops to earn the win.
Meanwhile, the Lancers saw their record fall to 3-4-2, as Ryan Taylor scored the only goal for Windsor. The defeat also spoiled the homecoming of Cambridge native and former Elmira Sugar Kings goaltender Jonathan Reinhart, who turned aside 29 shots in a losing cause.
The night was also highlighted by the ceremonies during the first intermission, where Warriors Nick Halagian (St. Catharines/), Zac Coulter (Owen Sound/), Mike Moffat (Waterloo/), and Lee Dower (Conception Bay/) – along with arena PA announcer Jay Shaw – had their heads shaved. The quintet has teamed up to form a fundraising team for the Warriors' tenth annual Think Pink campaign to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer research.
Off the opening faceoff, the Warriors controlled the bulk of the action: they outshot Windsor 15-8 in the period, and Morgan's wrister off the rush staked Waterloo to a 1-0 lead. But the extended first intermission seemed to help the visitors regroup, as they were a different club in the middle stanza – the Lancers outshot Waterloo 10-8 in the frame, and Taylor tied things up at 1-1 when he hammered home a rebound off a turnover and wraparound attempt by Chris Scott.
Both teams had chances to claim the difference-making goal in the third, but the goaltenders extended the night to a 3-on-3 overtime session. And just over a minute into the fourth period, the Warriors won it: Diodati led the rush and dropped a pass to a streaking Bechtold, before driving the net himself. Bechtold hammered a rocket slap shot that Reinhart got a piece of, sending it into the air, where Diodati batted it home on the doorstep for the game-winning goal.
Waterloo will now look to make it two in a row when they head down highway 7 to face the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday, November 11. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 pm.
