Box Score Michael Markovic’s four-point performance led the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team to a 7-2 victory over the visiting Concordia Stingers on Saturday, December 1 at Varsity Arena.
The Blues (9-4-3) grabbed all four possible points in two games this weekend and sit just one point behind the second-place Carleton Ravens in the OUA’s highly competitive East division.
A Toronto native, Markovic had a stellar weekend for the Blue-and-White, registering a goal in last night’s victory over the Ottawa Gee-Gees and picking up two goals and two assists in tonight’s contest en route to being named the game’s first star.
Kyle Ventura (Scarborough, Ont.) also had two goals. He leads the team with 12 on the year. A pair of second year forwards in Tyler Liukkonen (Sault Ste Marie, Ont.) and Paul Van De Velde (Mariapolis, Man.) also had multiple point efforts. Liukkonen had a goal and an assist, while Van De Velde put up two helpers and was the game’s third star.
Brett Willows (Rivers, Man.) made 31 saves to earn the victory. The second-year goaltender came into tonight’s action ranked second in the OUA with a sparkling 0.935 save percentage.
Markovic started his night off with a brilliant effort midway through the first. After chipping the puck past a Concordia defenceman, he showcased his incredible speed, beating both defenders to the puck and firing it just inside the post to open the scoring. The Blues then took a two goal lead on a nifty powerplay goal by Liukkonen, who came off the half-boards with the puck and made a slick move to his backhand before lifting it into the top corner of the net.
Concordia got back in the game in the final minute of the period though, after an ill-advised pinch that allowed Etienne Archambault to break in on a 2-on-1 and set up Ben Dubois for the goal.
Willows made several saves to preserve the lead at the beginning of the second, including a miraculous glove save on George Lovatsis’ one-time shot from the slot, but Concordia would eventually even the game on a shorthanded goal from Alexandre Monahan.
The tie lasted all of two minutes before Ventura potted his first of the night during a goal mouth scramble on the powerplay. Markovic helped increase that lead later in the frame when he made a beautiful behind-the-back pass from his knees to Tyler von Engelbrechten who beat Stingers goaltender Loic Boivin over the shoulder to make the score 4-2.
For the second straight game the Blues chased the opponent’s starting goaltender from the net in the third period, this time with Blake Boddy (Scarborough, Ont.) corralling a loose puck and snapping a shot over Boivin’s glove just 18 seconds in. But the offence didn’t stop with the change in netminders, as Markovic and Ventura both tallied their second goals of the game to give the Blues a commanding 7-2 victory.
Despite playing only the first and second periods, Boivin made 30 saves in the loss.
The Blues will head east to Nova Scotia, December 29-30, for a set of exhibition games against Acadia, and Saint Mary’s Universities. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
They will then return their sights to first place in the East Division, when they play their next regular season game on Saturday, January 5 in Kingston, Ont., against the Queen’s Gaels. Puck drop for that game is 7:30 p.m.
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