WEEKEND RECAP: Ottawa splits Southwestern Ontario with win at Western, loss at #9 Windsor

The Gee-Gees men's hockey team split their road weekend in Southwestern Ontario with a 4-3 loss on Friday night at Windsor, and a 5-2 win over Western on Saturday. 

On Friday, a quiet start to the game eventually led to a wild late flurry of goals, ultimately falling in favour of the host Lancers. 

After a scoreless first frame, Evan Boucher capitalized on the power play to give Ottawa the lead early in the second period. The Lancers responded with two Grant Spence goals to take the lead into the final frame.

A four-goal third period was kicked off with the Lancers extending their lead, before Max Grondin sniped home a short-handed goal to breathe life into the Gee-Gees. With Franky Lapenna pulled for an extra attacker, Windsor scored and empty netter with under a minute left to play.

Immediately after, Grondin and the Gee-Gees responded to add further intrigue in the dying seconds, but the comeback effort fell short, and the U SPORTS ninth-ranked Lancers secured the win. 

With a quick turnaround, Ottawa traveled to London, Ontario to take on the winless Western Mustangs. In a strong offensive outing, the Gee-Gees rode four third period goals to a 5-2 win over the Mustangs.

Western got on the board first with a power play goal early in the first frame, Ottawa responded with Justin McRae's third of the season just over 11 minutes into the first. 

After a scoreless second period, the Gee-Gees lit up the scoreboard in the third, scoring four consecutive times to secure the win. Grondin scored his third of the weekend on the power play, before Mathieu Desgagnes added another less than a minute later. McRae then scored again to continue his hot streak of four goals in as many games, before Aaron Brown closed out the win with his first tally of the season.

Up next, the Gee-Gees will gear up for a home-and-home weekend with the Carleton Ravens. The two National Capital squads will kick off the weekend at the Minto Sports Complex on Friday at 7 p.m. The rubber match will go the following night at the Carleton Ice House also at 7 p.m.

Tickets for the home game are available at teams.geegees.ca/tickets. Both games will be streamed live on OUA.tv.