The Ryerson Rams scored four third-period goals as they blanked the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team 6-0 in Game 1 of the OUA East quarter-finals on Wednesday, February 17 at Varsity Arena.

The Blues will look for redemption tomorrow night (Feb. 18) as the Rams host Game 2 at George Bell Arena. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.

Toronto opened the game well and put the pressure on early. Second-year forward Robert Kay (Orono, Ont.) sent a pass to Byron Elliott (Burlington, Ont.) at the back post, however, Ryerson netminder Paul Gibson (St. Thomas, Ont.) was there to make the save.

The Rams picked up the pace and went on to dominate the last 15 minutes of the first frame. After a near goal by Stewart D’Eall (Toronto), second-year Rams forward Greg Payne of Thornhill, Ont. opened the scoring as he jammed in an Andrew Buck rebound (Newmarket, Ont.) at the side of the Blues net.

Just four minutes later, Elliott attempted to rally the troops with an end-to-end rush, however, the Blues leading scorer came too close to Gibson and was called for goaltender interference before he could find the back of the net. Ryerson held a 1-0 lead at the first intermission.

The Rams carried that momentum over and flooded Blues goaltender Andrew Martin (Mississauga, Ont.) with shots in the opening minutes of the second. Martin came up with a huge save five minutes into the period as he stopped Buck’s point-blank shot from the high slot.

Despite Martin’s continuing efforts, the Blues ran into penalty trouble and Ryerson took full advantage. Second-year defenceman Michael Paolo picked up the puck in the neutral zone and came flying over the blue line. The Mississauga, Ont. native sent a long wrist shot through traffic to beat Martin and put the Rams up by two.

Things went from bad to worse for U of T in the third period. Just over a minute in, veteran forward Cory Konecny (Stoney Point, Ont.) picked up the puck deep in Toronto’s end and skated across the crease before backhanding it into the open net.

Under four minutes later, Konecny came skating down on a two-on-one and sent a beautiful pass to Alexei Dostoinov (Moscow, Russia) who one-timed it past Martin to put the Rams up by four.

Ryerson’s leading scorer Matt Schmermund (Calahoo, Alta.) scored a shorthanded marker on another two-on-one opportunity with less than six minutes remaining, while Marcus Booth (Orillia, Ont.) rounded out Ryerson’s scoring as he skated between two Toronto defenceman and sent a booming shot past Martin with 3:55 to go in the game.

Gibson made 29 saves in the victory.

For more information, scores and highlights on your favourite Toronto teams, please visit the home of the Varsity Blues at http://www.varsityblues.ca.