TORONTO - After hanging up their game skates for a month, the Ryerson Rams are back in action this week, taking on the Brock Badgers and Laurier Golden Hawks. 

During the break, the Rams hosted their annual community skate and forward Mathew Santos (Toronto) was selected to play on the U SPORTS All-Star team. Facing the Team Canada Junior Camp Team, the forward netted a power-play marker and represented Ryerson well. With the Rams, Santos is second in team scoring with 21 points in 17 games behind captain Matt Mistele (Whitby, Ont.), who has collected 22 points.

The squad will need to be poised right after New Year's Day as they ship up to St. Catharines to play on January 2nd. The Rams have seen plenty of Brock's red and black so far, splitting two late-November games including a 2-1 win and 5-2 loss.

While boasting an impressive 11-4-2 record so far, the Rams have struggled in the defensive end recently. Head coach Johnny Duco's target of less than three goals against has not been met since mid-November, excluding their 2-1 victory over the Badgers. 

"I definitely don't blame our goaltending. Whether it's been Dupuis early in preseason, Timpano, or Forrest, I think they've all given us a chance to win," said coach Duco in regards to the recent defensive trouble. Veteran netminder Taylor Dupuis (New Liskeard, Ont.) missed the entire first half of the season after being sidelined with a lower-body injury. 

"It'd be nice to get some faces back in the second semester and add to the depth of the club."

Forward Hayden McCool (Whitby, Ont.) has quietly gone on a scoring streak, lighting the lamp the last four games in a row. McCool also opened the scoring in their last match of the year against Western while potting the overtime winner. "I think Coolsy (McCool) is playing fantastic(ly). He's a big part of this hockey team," added Duco. 

The Rams have eleven games left this season and the squad is taking it one challenge at a time. When asked if he or the Rams were thinking of the playoffs after their last game, a smiling McCool said, "No, not right now, (it's) too far away."

Six of the remaining games for the Rams are on the road. At four games, their longest remaining road trip kicks off this week against Brock on January 2, with puck drop at 7:15 p.m. On Saturday, Ryerson heads to Waterloo to take on Laurier at 7:07 p.m. Both games can be streamed on OUA.tv