TORONTO - The OUA regular season is quickly winding down as the No. 9 ranked Ryerson Rams host their final two home games this weekend at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
The Rams will welcome the Laurier Golden Hawks to the MAC on Friday morning for the annual school day game, before hosting the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday night.
Ryerson enters weekend play with a 17-5-2 record, tied for first in the OUA West division. The Rams are on a mini three-game win streak, which happens to be the longest active streak in the competitive conference, and will be looking for another four points this weekend against some teams with sub-.500 records.
Laurier is holding down the sixth seed in the division with an 11-12-1 record but gave Ryerson a very competitive game in their last meeting. When the Rams visited the Golden Hawks on January 12, Ryerson erased a two-goal deficit and hung on for a 4-3 win.
Christian Mroczkowski leads the Golden Hawks offence with 16 points while Will Cook is the leading goal scorer with eight goals. Expect a loud crowd to cheer on the Rams on Friday as over 1,000 school kids will fill the MAC stands for puck drop.
Following Friday's game the Rams will host the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday night. Ryerson will honour its four graduating seniors, John Carpino, Vince Figliomeni, Dan Poliziani, and Alex Basso in a pre-game ceremony.
Toronto is clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot with their 9-12-4 record but are just one point ahead of the final two teams looking to chase them down before season's end. The Blues will be hungry for a win, and after beating the Rams back in November, Toronto might just have the confidence to repeat their performance.
Ryerson's dynamic offensive duo of Matt Mistele and Mathew Santos seem to be heating up again after a slow start to 2019, and their linemate Hayden McCool has been steady as well. The trio have combined for 48 goals this season, just 12 shy of the entire Toronto team's 60 goals.
Last weekend the Rams held their opponents to just three goals in two games, a stark improvement in their defensive zone compared to their season average. If the offence can continue to produce while the team sharpens their focus in their own zone, the Rams should be poised for a strong finish to the regular season and into the playoffs.