The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men’s hockey team fell 4-3 to the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Sunday, February 8th at Sports Complex Arena.

Fourth-year Gee-Gees forward and hero, Dan McDonald (New Liskeard, Ont.), recorded a hat trick in a come-from-behind victory for Ottawa.

The Blues got off to a great start and held a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period with goals from first-year forward Kyle Ventura (Scarborough, Ont.) and a powerplay marker from assistant captain Ed Snetsinger (Ajax, Ont.).

The Gee-Gees got into some penalty trouble early in the second period and the Blues responded as Joe Rand (Hamilton, Ont.) netted his 13th goal of the season to give Toronto a three-goal lead.

However, McDonald got Ottawa on the board on a 5-on-3 man advantage midway through the second period and would add his second goal just over a minute later to close the gap to one.

Ottawa forward Charron Yanick (Hull, Que.) tied the game at 3-3 in the opening minutes of the third period and McDonald added his second powerplay goal, and third of the night, with less than seven minutes remaining in the game.

Despite a late powerplay opportunity, the Blues were unable to tie things up and fell 4-3.

Toronto goaltender Andrew Martin (Mississauga, Ont.) made 30 saves in the loss.

With one goal and one assist, Snetsinger extends his point streak to six games (three goals, eight assists).

Toronto sits atop the OUA mid-East division with a 12-11-0-3 record and needs one more win to clinch first place and secure a bye to the OUA quarterfinals.

The Varsity Blues return to action this Wednesday, February 11th as they take on the Waterloo Warriors at Varsity Arena. This is a rescheduled game date/time for the one that was postponed on January 9, 2009. Game time is 7:30 p.m.