TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams are in for a battle on Thursday night, taking on the OUA-best Toronto Varsity Blues for the third and final time this regular season. The squad also heads back out to Waterloo on Saturday to conclude their four-game road trip, taking on the Golden Hawks a week after their 5-4 shootout victory.   

The Rams are undefeated through two games in 2020 and carry over a three-game winning streak from November 2019. However, this is pale in comparison to the Varsity Blues' 14-game win streak dating back to October. 

While Toronto's run is undoubtedly impressive, the Rams have shaped up to be the Varsity Blues' most formidable foe. Ryerson has gone undefeated in regulation against their downtown rival, boasting a 1-0-1 record from their previous two matchups. 

On October 12th, the Rams blew by Toronto, winning 6-3. Their 6-goal effort still stands as the most goals-against suffered by Toronto all season. A week later on October 19th, the Blues got the better of the Rams, squeaking out a 6-5 overtime win. 

Ryerson is the only squad to have put five or more goals by Toronto on more than one occasion. The Brock Badgers managed to defeat the Blues 5-1 in early October, but were defeated by a whopping 7-0 last Saturday against the same Toronto squad.

Nevertheless, the No. 3 nationally ranked Varsity Blues are still an extremely dangerous squad. Their losses to Ryerson and Brock in October remain as their only defeats all season, as they sit at 16-2-0. Toronto forward David Thomson leads the OUA in points, with 30 in 18 games. Joey Manchurek is directly behind Thomson with 28 points. Ryerson's Mathew Santos (Toronto) matches Thomson and Manchurek's goal total of 12, and Matt Mistele (Whitby, Ont.) lurks at fifth in OUA point totals with 26. 

In net, Toronto's Alex Bishop sports an OUA third-best 2.12 goals-against-average and a fourth-best save percentage at .927. In his lone game against the Rams, when Toronto won 6-5 in overtime, his save percentage dipped to .861 while he allowed all five goals on 36 Ryerson shots. Meanwhile, Garrett Forrest (Ashburn, Va.) boasts a 2.51 goals-against-average and a .907 save percentage while ranking third in the OUA with 11 wins for the Rams. 

Ryerson contends at third place in the OUA West division while Toronto is comfortably at the top. The subway showdown takes place on Thursday at Varsity Arena with puck drop at 7:00 p.m.

On Saturday, the Rams face Laurier once again, coming off an intense 5-4 shootout win last week. The Hawks have now dropped two in a row, but take on the Western Mustangs the night before the Rams visit. On Saturday, puck drop in Waterloo with the Rams is set for 7:07 p.m. 

Both games will be available on OUA.tv