TORONTO — On the cusp of the final playoff spot and with four games remaining in the regular season, the Ryerson Rams are preparing for crucial matchups this weekend against the Laurentian Voyageurs and the No. 8 Nipissing Lakers in their final homestand of the year.
The Rams are coming off a huge two-point shootout win against the Brock Badgers on Saturday, snapping a four-game losing streak that saw the team fall out of the eighth and final OUA playoff spot.
The race towards the OUA postseason is incredibly tight, with Ryerson and the Western Mustangs currently tied for the eighth spot at 32 points apiece. The Queen's Gaels sit just one point back with 31 points on the year and Laurentian is not far behind with 27 on the season. With most teams square at 20 games played, this weekend is of crucial importance to the Rams as the regular season winds down.
Ryerson continues to lead the OUA with 2.80 goals per game but sits third-last in save percentage (.905), speaking to their struggles of late; the Rams will need to find a way to capture as many points as possible while relying on their key goal-scoring forwards —
Erika Crouse (Kirkland Lake, Ont.) and
Lauren Nicholson (Dresden, Ont.), to name a few — to offset their defensive weaknesses.
The Laurentian Voyageurs, trailing the Rams in the standings by just four points, will come to town on Friday in search of a win and three massive points. These two teams first met back in November where Ryerson took a 6-2 win on the road; the Voyageurs would score one of their two power play goals this year in the matchup.
Laurentian has won three of their last four games and will look to close the gap on Ryerson, and the Rams will look to bolster their first semester results with a win over their northern-most opponents. Puck drop is set for 7:15 p.m. on Blue and Gold night on Friday evening at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Saturday brings a more difficult matchup in the nationally-ranked Lakers. Earlier in the year, Ryerson served up Nipissing one of their five regulation losses on the season in a 3-2 contest in North Bay. Since then, the Lakers have improved to a 14-5-1 record on the back of the team's leading goal scorer in Maria Dominico. The Lakers have been on a four-game hot streak of late, and the Rams will need to match their mid-season efforts if they wish to take another three points off the second-place Lakers.
Saturday's game also marks Senior Night, as the team celebrates the careers of their graduating seniors. The pre-game ceremony will begin prior to puck drop at 7:15 pm.
