The Waterloo Warriors men's hockey team knows that a season can't be made or broken in the first week.
The Warriors started with three victories in their first four games in 2017-18, only to miss the postseason for just the second time in 14 years. Now they'll hope to flip the script after a pair of tough losses to open their season: the Warriors fell 10-1 on the road against the Ryerson Rams on Wednesday, before being edged 4-3 by the Western Mustangs in their home opener a night later.
In their first contest of the year, the host Rams jumped on the Warriors early with six goals in the first period en route to a lopsided win. Mathew Santos notched a hat trick for Ryerson, while Matt Mistele added a goal and three assists. Five other Rams had multi-point nights in what was a tough game all around for the visiting Warriors.
One of the lone bright spots was when Kenny Turner (Thunder Bay/Thunder Bay North Stars, SIJHL) slammed home his own rebound late in the second period, giving the speedy third-year forward his first career USPORTS goal. Trevor Martin (Ardrossan/Calgary Hitmen, WHL) took the loss, making 24 stops through two periods, before giving way to rookie Julian Sime (Mississauga/North Bay Battalion, OHL) in the Waterloo net.
The Warriors came back a night later with more energy against the Mustangs, and the result was a hotly-contested matchup in one of the OUA West's most intense rivalries. But ultimately, two Western goals in a span of 37 seconds in the second period turned out to be the difference.
Despite the loss, the Warriors got excellent production from a trio of vets – Cam Nicoll (Loretto/Newmarket Hurricanes, OJHL) scored twice, including a highlight-reel tally from his knees, while Nick Halagian (St. Catharines/Powell River Kings, BCHL) notched three assists and Michael Morgan (Scarborough/North York Rangers, OJHL) added a pair of helpers for the hosts. Zac Coulter (Owen Sound/Elmira Sugar Kings, GOJHL) also potted his first goal of the season for Waterloo in defeat, while Sime was more-than-solid between the pipes with 26 saves – many of the highlight-reel variety.
The Mustangs got the game's first goal on a rush from Anthony Stefano, before Nicoll's neat tip of a perfect Halagian feed evened the score at 1-1. But later in the opening frame, on a 5-on-3 man advantage, Stephen Desrocher drifted down from the point and sniped a shot from the high slot to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.
The Warriors knotted things at 2-2 early in the second when Coulter found a bouncing puck and squeaked it under the outstretched arm of Western goaltender Luke Peresinni, just seconds after the Mustangs killed a penalty. However, the Mustangs retook the lead – and then doubled it – just moments later. First, rookie Ethan Szypula ripped a wrister past a screened Sime to give Western back the lead, before a pinballing Rylan Bechtel point shot hit a few bodies before careening past Sime to make it 4-2.
Nicoll once again reignited the crowd with only 14 seconds left in the middle stanza, when he took another Halagian pass in the slot, roofing a shot from his knees after being hauled down on the rush. The timely marker cut the Western lead to 4-3 after two periods, and gave the Warriors life heading into the third.
Both teams had their chances in the third, but Sime was outstanding to keep the deficit at one goal. The Warriors came close to knotting up the game after pulling Sime for the extra attacker, but the Mustangs were able to fend off the barrage to skate away with the win.
The Warriors are now off to do some team-building, and to play their final exhibition contest of the season, as they travel to Ann Arbor to meet the University of Michigan Wolverines on Sunday, October 7. The Warriors will then resume their OUA schedule next week with a pair of home games, as they host the Laurier Golden Hawks on Friday, October 12, and the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, October 13.
