Five different Varsity Blues scored as the University of Toronto men’s hockey team snapped their losing streak and defeated the Ryerson Rams 5-2 on Thursday, January 22 at George Bell Arena.

Although the Blues dominated the play throughout the first period, outshooting the Rams 12-4, they were unable to put one past Ryerson goaltender Louis George (Waterloo, Ont.).

After the scoreless first period, in which the Blues outshot the Ram 12-4, it was Ryerson’s Cory Konecny (Stoney Point, Ont.) who broke the deadlock, scoring his fourth goal of the season 2:06 into the second period. The Blues fought back, scoring four unanswered goals, including two powerplay markers in less than six minutes, to take a comfortable three-goal lead.

Steve Devine (Scarborough, Ont.) got Toronto on the board, finishing off a nice passing play with linemate Dan Brewer (Cambridge, Ont.). Within the next five minutes, first-year forward Kyle Ventura (Scarborough, Ont.) and veteran defenceman Ed Snetsinger (Ajax, Ont.) each scored on the powerplay, while Robert Kay (Orono, Ont.) was able to beat Rams goalie Louis George (Waterloo, Ont.) for the fourth time this period with a long wrist shot.

Ryerson forward Brent Small (Pickering, Ont.) would add a powerplay marker before the second period ran out and the Blues held a 4-2 lead going into the final frame.

The Rams came out hungry in the third period but the Blues stellar defensive play shut them down. Assistant captain Joe Rand (Hamilton, Ont.) added some insurance with eight minutes to go scoring his ninth goal of the season, and the Blues skated away with the 5-2 victory.

Rand picked up one goal and two assists, while Blues goaltender Russ Brownell (Oakville, Ont.) made 19 saves in the victory.

The Blues and Rams square off again this Saturday, January 23 at Varsity Arena. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.