Photo by Christian Bender

Box Score

Western WES

Ryerson RYE

Western WES

Final

Feb. 23, 2020

Ryerson RYE

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	OT 1	F
Western WES	0	1	1	1	3
Ryerson RYE	1	0	1	0	2

Game Recap: Hockey (M) | 2/23/2020 10:50:00 PM | Joe Mastromatteo

Rams season ends in overtime heartbreak

TORONTO - In what was some student-athletes' final game in a Rams uniform, the Ryerson Rams fell 3-2 in overtime to the Western Mustangs in game three of the OUA quarter-final on Sunday night.

Sunday marked the first time the Rams lost two consecutive games all season. As was the case in game two, the Rams failed to convert on four power plays and a 39-23 shot advantage,

Mathew Santos (Toronto) opened the scoring while Zachary Shankar (Prescott, Ont.) picked up a second marker.

Steven Harland (Toronto) hit the crossbar just four minutes in, and Santos' huge hit behind the Mustang net ignited the Rams bench.

With six minutes to go in the opening period, a puck-hungry Santos gave the Rams a lead. After Mark Shoemaker (Mississauga, Ont.) put the puck on net, Santos slid the bouncing rebound under Luke Peressini's pad.

Peressini held off the remaining onslaught for the rest of the first, but the Rams held up a 15-4 shot advantage.

The Rams continued their pressure to open the second, tripling Western's shot totals at 18-6 at the fifteen-minute mark.

Over halfway into the frame, the Rams' bench erupted with disdain after Patrick Fellows (Mississauga, Ont.) was called for a hand pass. About a minute later, a loose puck in the neutral zone sprung Western's Kyle Pettit. The forward made the most of his short breakaway, dodging Forrest's poke check with his long reach to slide it in past his pad.

The 1-1 deadlock held up after forty, while the Rams held on to a 30-13 lead in shots.

Both squads played gingerly in the third, leaving few pucks loose. Seven minutes in, Shankar delivered a clutch goal as he did all season. A 3-on-2 rush allowed Santos and Hayden McCool (Whitby, Ont.) to set up Shankar alone in front. The defenceman relied on his patented forehand-backhand tuck to give the Rams a 2-1 lead.

On a Rams power play a few minutes later, a puck bounced off the post back to the crease, but missed McCool's stick before being swallowed up by Peressini.

With just over two minutes left, the puck was centred to Mustang Franco Sproviero, whose quick shot beat Garrett Forrest (Ashburn, Va.) to tie it.

In overtime, a tight checking opening seven minutes of play led to a defensive collapse in the Rams' end. Western's Kolten Olynek sealed the game from the crease.

"(I'm) just proud of the way we played all season. We've had an outstanding year. Really proud of the senior group that (are) graduating and the legacy they've left behind," said head coach Johnny Duco.

Rams seniors Marcus Hinds (Toronto), Matt Mistele (Whitby, Ont.), Devon Paliani (LaSalle, Ont.), Steven Harland, Taylor Dupuis (New Liskeard, Ont.), and Holden Cook (Whitby, Ont.) are all moving on this year.

Despite suiting up sparsely this season, the longest tenured Ram, Taylor Dupuis, was smiling with his teammates post-game.

"I just think how far the program's come in the last five years that I've been here. I've seen that transition. It's at a point now where we (Ryerson) have a reputation of creating a good product. Not just hockey, but basketball, volleyball, soccer. I think the next step is just going that extra mile and getting a trip to Nationals.

"Any of the graduating guys, you can never replace. Just the character of a lot of those guys, you don't realize the effort, the work and all the extracurricular work that guys deal with. Knowing what they battle through, and they're still able to come to the rink with a smile on their face speaks a lot to the program that we've built here in the last handful of years."

The Rams now head into the offseason. Stay tuned to ryersonrams.ca and @ryersonrams for news on recruits and updates.

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