TORONTO - A well-rested Ryerson Rams squad will host the OUA quarter-finals this week, taking on the Western Mustangs.
The Rams have earned themselves a slight break after sweeping the Lakehead Thunderwolves in dramatic fashion last weekend. Ryerson will look to use their extra practice time to overcome their past second-round woes.
"Fortunately, (this) week's reading week so guys don't have to juggle school and hockey and we can really have some good practices Monday and Tuesday," said head coach
Johnny Duco last Saturday.
Last year the Rams were eliminated in the second round by their divisional foe Guelph Gryphons.
"We don't have any first-year players in the lineup right now and we've got a lot of guys that've been here before and had disappointing moments in this time of year. This time of year you need some of your depth players to score big goals for you and step up in big moments and so far that's exactly what's happened," added the coach.
Four of the six total goals the Rams put up against Lakehead came from skaters who had less than five markers all regular season. Among these fresh scorers were
Adam Craievich (Sarnia, Ont.), who deflected the game-winner in game one, as well as
Steven Harland (Toronto) and
Jacob Kamps (Toronto).
Starter
Garrett Forrest (Ashburn, Va.) has served as the Rams' backbone in net. Sitting atop the OUA in playoff goals-against-average (0.92) and save percentage (0.967), the netminder has kept Ryerson afloat countless times.
This week's challenger for Ryerson's squad is the eighth-seeded Western Mustangs. Despite their rank, the Mustangs' series against the top-seeded Toronto went to three games with Western edging the Blues in games two and three.
Like Ryerson, the Mustangs have plenty of depth skaters who can contribute. In the regular season, four Western defencemen alone put up ten points or more, while rookie centreman Franco Sproviero went on a tear, collecting 33 points in just 24 games.
Despite sacrificing a 6-2 loss in their first game against Toronto, Western forced a pair of tight-checking games for the rest of the series, earning two 3-1 victories. Averaging an even 30 shots per game these playoffs, Western will likely not overload the Rams with pucks on net. Instead, the Mustangs may look to crash the crease and trap the breakout as they did against Toronto in the decisive game three.
On the other hand, the Rams have averaged 42.5 shots per game while holding on to a perfect penalty kill. The special teams matchup should be an intense one as Western's penalty kill has only allowed one goal so far. However, the Mustang's 25 percent power play percentage trumps the Rams' 12.5 percent efficiency on the man-advantage.
Playing twice back in the first semester of regular season play, the Rams went 2-0-0 against Western. In October,
Hayden McCool (Whitby, Ont.) and
Cavin Leth's (Taber, Alta.) three-point performances propelled the Rams to a 6-2 victory. McCool also picked up three points and the game-winner in Ryerson's 6-5 comeback overtime win in late November. Unfortunately, both McCool and Leth have been battling injuries lately.
"McCool's day to day right now," said Duco on Saturday. "We're crossing our fingers that he'll be ready for Wednesday." Meanwhile, Duco referred to Leth as "week to week".
Devon Paliani (LaSalle, Ont.) spoke to the importance of resting after his overtime heroics last weekend. "A lot of us got bumps and bruises. It's playoff hockey, that stuff's going to happen. For us, it's just taking the next day or two and just resting, getting ready for the next round."
Puck drop in game one is set for 7:15 p.m. on Mattamy Home Ice on Wednesday. Ryerson visits London for game two on Saturday afternoon, kicking off at 3:00 p.m. If necessary, game three will take place back at the MAC on Sunday at 7:15 p.m. Ryerson students can attend for free with their OneCards.
