The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team fell 3-2 in overtime to the Ryerson Rams in Game 1 of their best-of-three Round 1 playoff series on Thursday night (Feb. 14) at Mattamy Athletic Centre.

SERIES SCHEDULE: Game 2 of the best-of-three series is slated for Saturday night (Feb. 16) at Varsity Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m. Game 3 is back at Mattamy Centre on Sunday night at 7:15 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Third-year forward Kevin Lavoie opened the scoring late in the first period. Just after the St. Catharines, Ont., native came out of the penalty box, he finished off a third rebound from Aidan Wallace and Ryan Kirkup. The Blues were up 1-0 after 20 minutes of action.

The home team evened the score midway through the second period as 2018-19 OUA point-leader Matt Mistele wired a shot into the top corner of the net. The two teams were deadlocked at 1-1 at the second intermission.

Fourth-year forward Max Lindsay put the Blues up with nine minutes to go in the third period, beating Rams netminder Taylor Dupuis short side; however, the Rams tied things back up 33 seconds later as Hayden McCool found the back of the net to eventually force overtime.

Mistele proved to be the game's hero, scoring his second of the game 5:39 into overtime.

Rookie goalie Alex Bishop made 35 saves, including eight in overtime, in the loss.

For more information, scores and highlights on your favourite U of T athletes and teams, please visit www.varsityblues.ca. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, SnaptChat and Facebook for the latest and greatest in Varsity Blues intercollegiate athletics