The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men’s hockey team came away with a 4-2 victory over the Ryerson Rams on Saturday, January 24 at Varsity Arena.

Ryerson opened up the scoring when Stewart D’Eall (Toronto) picked up a loose rebound in front of the net and put it past Blues goaltender Andrew Martin (Mississauga, Ont.).

Minutes later, Bryden Teich (Toronto) sent a centering pass to Joel Lenius (Markham, Ont.) who fired a shot over the glove of Ryerson goaltender Paul Gibson (St. Thomas, Ont.) into the top corner of the net.

The Blues tallied again as Ed Snetsinger (Ajax, Ont.) sent a pass to Claudio Cowdrey in front of the net who slid the puck through Gibson’s legs to put the Blues up by one.

Fifth-year veteran Steve Devine (Scarborough, Ont.) walked over the blue line and sent a slap shot through traffic that trickled into the net. The Blues held a 3-1 lead after the first period.

The play turned physical in the second period, with both teams throwing their weight around to gain an advantage. The Rams got lucky when first-year defenceman Michael Paolo’s (Mississauga, Ont.) point shot was deflected by a Blues player and floated over Martin’s head into the net.

Ryerson got into some penalty trouble and the Blues powerplay unit took full advantage when Joe Rand (Hamilton, Ont.) redirected a Snetsinger point shot to give the Blues a two goal lead.

Despite some good scoring chances, neither team would score again and the Blues skated away with the 4-2 victory.

Snetsinger recorded three assists and was named Blues player of the game for his efforts. Martin made 29 saves in the victory.

The Varsity Blues return to action next weekend when they travel to take on the RMC Paladins on Friday, January 30 and the Queen’s Gaels on Saturday, January 31 in Kingston, Ont. Game time on Friday is 7:30 p.m., with Saturday’s puck drop scheduled for 2:30 p.m.