TORONTO - With just three games left in the regular season, the Ryerson Rams are only two points out of being the best in the West division in the OUA. Standing in their way are the streaking Laurier Golden Hawks, who visit Mattamy Home Ice this Thursday for the Rams only game this week and Senior Night.
While the Hawks are fighting for their playoff lives at 10-11-3, their purple and gold have given the Rams some headaches this season. Ryerson is 1-1-0 facing Laurier, with their lone win narrowly coming out of a 5-4 shootout effort on the road. More recently, the Rams were handed a 3-1 loss to Laurier, once again on the road in Waterloo. The Hawks will be especially poised to beat Ryerson after an astonishing 4-0 shutout win over the OUA-West top seed Toronto Varsity Blues last Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Rams are riding a four game win streak after clinching a playoff spot over a week ago. Ryerson has also not lost on Mattamy Home Ice since late November 2019, putting them in a playoff mindset.
"I'm trying to treat these last few games like they are playoffs to get in the right mindset here. Every game going forward we've got to start getting in that mentality," said Rams starter
Garrett Forrest (Ashburn, Va.) last Thursday.
With some nagging injuries to forwards like
Cavin Leth (Taber, Alta.) and
Hayden McCool (Whitby, Ont.) still keeping the Rams from full strength, depth scoring has become a recurring theme.
Adam Craievich (Sarnia, Ont.) did his best
Brandon Glover (London, Ont.) impression on Saturday as the forward netted the game winner over Waterloo on Saturday with his first career OUA-goal. Glover lifted the Rams over Windsor a week prior with a first career goal of his own.
Among these fresh faces finding the score sheet is
Jesse Barwell (Oakville, Ont.), who has amassed four goals in his last four games while finding himself on head coach
Johnny Duco's top line.
Duco had high praise for Barwell on Thursday. "Since we've gotten back, he's been arguably the most dynamic player on the ice every single night. Now in his second year he's really evolving into a first-line centre and somebody we can really rely on."
"I'm pretty happy," said Barwell last week in regards to his recent performance. "Guys are stepping up and playing more important roles right now."
To ease the Rams' matchup on Thursday, the Hawks will take on the Warriors in the Battle of Waterloo the night before they visit Ryerson. The Rams had little trouble cruising to a 5-1 win over the Warriors on Saturday while both Waterloo squads are playing for their playoff lives.
In order for the Rams to reach the top spot in the OUA-West, Toronto will have to drop at least two games. After their shutout loss to Laurier, the Blues still maintain a game in hand and two points over the Rams. However, matchups against the heavy-hitting Guelph Gryphons and contending Windsor Lancers are among their four remaining games. Two of those games are happening this week as Toronto takes on Western and Windsor.
Puck drop in the Rams' lone matchup against Laurier this week is set for Thursday at 7:15 p.m. on Mattamy Home Ice. As Senior Night, the Rams will be honouring their graduating student-athletes in a ceremony before the game. Ryerson students can attend for free with their OneCard.
