The Waterloo Warriors men's hockey team used a minor miracle to earn one point in the standings, but Toronto's David Thomson used some soft hands in extra time to earn his team two of them.
Thomson's OT winner spoiled the last-second game-tying heroics from Zac Coulter (Owen Sound/Elmira Sugar Kings, GOJHL), as the Varsity Blues skated away with a 4-3 overtime decision over the Warriors on Saturday night at the Columbia Icefield Arena.
It looked as though Toronto was going to grab a 3-2 victory in regulation, but Coulter slammed home a Nick Chyzowski (Kamloops/Kamloops Blazers, WHL) rebound as the final buzzer sounded. The on-ice officials originally signaled a goal, and after a lengthy meeting at center ice, Coulter's goal counted, sending the game to overtime.
The Blues were none too happy with the decision, and it nearly cost them a victory in the extra session when Michael Siddall (St. Mary's/Toronto Jr. Canadiens, OJHL) hit the goal post. But with just 17.8 seconds to go in the three-on-three overtime, Thomson marched out from the corner, stepped past Martin's pokecheck, and roofed the puck for his first career OUA goal.
It was a dramatic end to a strange game that featured a bit of everything. Early in the first period, Waterloo goaltender Julian Sime (Mississauga/North Bay Battalion, OHL) ended up at the bottom of an in-crease pile-up, forcing him to leave the game with an upper body injury. Trevor Martin (Ardrossan/Calgary Hitmen, WHL) came on in relief and made 30 saves – many with a high degree of difficulty – to put in his best performance of the young season.
The Warriors opened the scoring shortly after the Sime injury, when Chyzowski took a centering feed from Keigan Goetz (New Hamburg/Halfiax Mooseheads, QMJHL) and beat Toronto keeper Frederic Foulem through the five-hole to make it 1-0. Max Lindsay of the Blues responded by finishing a pretty passing play on a Toronto power play, and the score sat knotted at 1-1 through 20 minutes.
The Blues claimed their first lead of the game with the only goal of the second period, when Willy Paul slammed home a one-timer on another Toronto man-advantage to make it 2-1. The Blues extended their lead early in the third off a face-off win, when Joey Manchurek's wrister took a deflection and beat Martin high to the glove side to double the Toronto advantage.
But the Warriors would push back to cut the lead to 3-2 when Markson Bechtold (Strathmore/Saskatoon Blades, WHL) exhibited tremendous patience on the half-wall – the second-year forward circled along the boards twice to gain more time and space, before picking his way to the slot and zipping home a power play marker to draw Waterloo back within one.
That set the stage for Coulter's last-second marker, but not without some heroics from rookie defenceman Connor Lovie (London/Cochrane Crunch, NOJHL) first – with a Toronto clearing attempt bearing down on the empty Waterloo net, Lovie sprinted the length of the ice and reached the puck just inches from the goal line to keep the Warriors alive with 30 seconds to play. Shortly thereafter, Waterloo had their most dramatic goal in recent memory, and the game headed to overtime.
Both teams had their chances in the extra session, none better than Siddall's two-on-one shot that caught iron. But it was ultimately the Blues who found the extra point in the standings with Thomson's pretty game-winner in the waning seconds.
The Warriors will now head out on their first extended road trip of the season, when they travel to the nation's capital to start interdivision play next weekend. Waterloo will visit the Carleton Ravens on Friday, October 19, before facing off with the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday, October 20. Both games are available on oua.tv.
