With five minutes remaining in their heated contest on Friday night, it looked like the York Lions and Waterloo Warriors had spent all their fireworks already.
It was headed for a familiar, frustrating script. The Lions, ranked seventh nationally, would ride their stalwart defence and solid goaltending to another one-goal win, adding two more points to their OUA West division-leading total. And it was a shame, too, because the first 55 minutes had it all: beautiful goals. Big saves. Thunderous checks. Multiple lead changes. There were even some verbal explosives, which led to the ejections of two-thirds of Waterloo's top line. However, under the pressures of the Lions' defence, and trailing 4-3 as the clock ticked down, it looked as though the game would end with a whimper.
But every fireworks show has the big finale. This one was ignited by Phillip Fife (Oromocto/).
Fife's goal-of-the-year candidate tied the game late in the third, and Eric Diodati (Niagara Falls/) scored just 2:49 later, as the Warriors clawed form behind for a 6-4 victory over the defending Queen's Cup Champion Lions at the Columbia Icefield Arena.
Daniel Perigo (Truro/) chipped in with a goal and two assists for the hosts, who claimed their most emotional and gutsy win of the season.
Nick Halagian (St. Catharines/) notched a goal and an assist, while
Cam Nicoll (Loretto/) added two helpers for Waterloo, who improved to 5-5-2 on the season.
Michael Morgan (Scarborough/) and
Zac Coulter (Owen Sound/) also scored for the Warriors, while
Mike Morrison (Hamilton/) made 28 saves – many of the highlight-reel variety – to earn the victory.
Colton Vanucci led the way for York with a goal and an assist. Josh Lafrance, Reid Jackman, and Stefano Pezzetta also scored for the Lions, who saw their record fall to 9-3-0. Despite allowing five goals, Alex Fotinos was excellent in the York crease, turning aside 31 shots.
The Lions used their special teams to jump to a lead in the first period, when Lafrance converted on a two-man advantage after his team had killed an early penalty of their own. But with another York power play the period's final minute, the Warriors pushed back - off a Nicoll defensive zone faceoff win, a clearing attempt off the glass by
Ryan Hanes (Kanata/) ended up springing Morgan on a short-handed breakaway. The second-year forward made no mistake, and the Warriors drew even at 1-1 with 27 ticks left in the frame.
But the momentum shift was short-lived, because the Lions power play generated one more chance as time dwindled in the first. It resulted in a loose puck off a rebound in front, and Jackman pounded it home at 19:59 to make the score 2-1 after the opening stanza.
The Warriors rebounded in the second, stealing back the momentum and the lead. First, Morrison made a pair of tremendous saves on another York 5-on-3 advantage, and then, the patience of Perigo was rewarded on an odd-man rush when his partially blocked shot bounced right to Halagian with a wide-open cage, making it 2-2. Just 1:15 later, the Waterloo power play struck when Micheal Siddall found Coulter with a beautiful pass from behind the goal line, giving Waterloo their first lead of the game at 3-2.
The Warriors had a golden opportunity to extend their advantage when they went on a 5-on-3 power play for 1:31 later in the second. But Fotinos and the league's best penalty kill held the fort, then immediately struck for the equalizer. Just five seconds after the last York penalty expired, Vanucci caught a shoulder-high pass in stride, dropped it on his stick, and beat Morrison with a bar-down wrister to make it 3-3.
And before the period was over, the Lions would reclaim the lead when Pezzetta settled in a weak spot of the Warriors defensive zone coverage, and converted a Morgan Messenger feed to give York a 4-3 lead after 40 minutes.
Both teams had colorfully protested several calls – or, in some cases, non-calls – to the officials throughout the second period, and those frustrations finally boiled over in the third. Just under two minutes in, Warriors leading scorer
Keigan Goetz (New Hamburg/) was assessed a 10-minute misconduct and then a game misconduct for his exchange with an official after no arm went up when he was driven hard into the end boards.
Then, just 44 seconds into a Vanucci double-minor for spearing, Waterloo's
Markson Bechtold (Strathmore/) unloaded on the officials when he was whistled for a roughing penalty. Bechtold was also assessed a 10-minute misconduct, followed by a game misconduct and a gross misconduct penalty, leaving the hosts without two of their top three point-getters for the rest of the night.
Down to 10 forwards and trailing one of the country's best defensive clubs, things looked bleak for the Warriors. But Fife reignited the crowd with a tremendous solo effort: he gathered the puck at the York blue line, made a quick move, and then split two Lions defenders to get in alone on Fotinos. Fife made no mistake on the high blocker side finish, and suddenly, then Warriors had found their equalizer with under 5 minutes to play.
Immediately after the tying marker, Diodati encouraged his bench to calm down and stay composed. Then, with two minutes left in regulation, the veteran rearguard rewarded his teammates for heeding his message.
The play was catalyzed by captain
Mike Moffat (Waterloo/), who had moved up from the blue line to play forward after the two ejections. The tenacious forecheck and nifty stickwork of Moffat kept it in the York zone, and some quick puck movement from Nicoll and Perigo created room for Diodati to jump in and slide home a shot on a down-low odd-man play, giving Waterloo an improbable 5-4 advantage.
The Lions yanked Fotinos for the extra attacker, but Waterloo's defenders threw themselves in front of the York shooting barrage to maintain the lead. Perigo was able to salt the game away with an empty-netter, ensuring the 6-4 victory for Waterloo.
The Warriors will now wrap up their home portion of the 2017 calendar year with a pair of games against OUA East powerhouses next weekend. Waterloo will welcome in the McGill Redmen on Friday, November 24, before hosting the Concordia Stingers on Saturday, November 25.
