RECAP: Jacome, Graham lead the way to weekend sweep in Waterloo

The Gee-Gees men's hockey team's hot start to the season continued with a pair of wins in Waterloo over the weekend. The nationally-ranked Garnet and Grey improved to 3-0-0 on the season with a 3-1 win over the Laurier Golden Hawks and a 4-2 win over the Waterloo Warriors.

"I'm happy that we've started the season with three road wins. But I am also cognizant that we have yet to play a full 60-minute game," said head coach Patrick Grandmaître. "Really looking forward to this short Thanksgiving break to spend time with family and then getting back to work for our home opening weekend."

Brendan Jacome paced the offence against the Golden Hawks. He notched his first two goals of the season in the opening period. Connor Sills rounded out the scoring with a goal midway through the third period. A Laurier power play goal in the final minute of regulation came too little, too late as the Gee-Gees skated to the victory.

"I liked our offensive game," Grandmaître said after the game. "I feel like our defencemen did a good job in supporting the attack and help create offense. 

"Our defensive game was not our strongest tonight, but Domenic Graham did a great job in net protecting our lead," he said.

The following night Jacome showcased his playmaking abilities. He drove hard to the net and creating a scoring chance, enabling Yvan Mongo to bury a rebound to tie the game late in the second period. In the first shift of the third period, Jacome then set-up Kevin Domingue for his first goal of the season.

"I thought we kept our poise tonight even though we fell behind 1-0. In my view we were the better team for 40 minutes while they had the better of the play the other 20," Grandmaître reflected. "It was a team effort but the Mongo, Domingue and Jacome line led our team."

Waterloo tied the game at two goals apiece with seven minutes remaining in regulation, but newcomer Dominic Cormier broke through with a blast from the point just two minutes later to restore the lead.

The Warriors went to the power play with three minutes to go, in search of another game-tying goal. Following a successful Gee-Gees kill, Nicolas Mattinen hopped out of the box, collected a stretch pass, and promptly buried a shot into the empty net to clinch the victory.

The goals by Cormier and Mattinen marked the first of their career in Garnet and Grey.

"Happy to see both of them rewarded offensively for their solid play," added associate coach Brent Sullivan. "They are starting to adjust to the speed and pace of our play and fit in well with our style. Both are solid additions to our strong back end."

Graham earned both wins in net, stopping 64 of 67 shots he faced along the way. He currently leads the OUA in wins (three), save percentage (0.948) and goals against average (1.67).

Jacome is currently tied for the league lead with six points on the young season. Of the four players, he has played one game fewer.

The undefeated Gee-Gees will now look ahead to their home opener against the Western Mustangs on Friday, October 18. Tickets are available now at tickets.geegees.ca.