Several varsity teams had positive weeks, each of them pushing to clinch playoff positions.
Women’s hockey
The women’s hockey team continued its drive for a playoff berth when they took on the Waterloo Warriors in an important game Wednesday night. The Rams came into this game one point behind the eighth place Warriors.
It was a tight game, with no goals scored through the first two periods. The Warriors opened the scoring in the third, but the Rams quickly responded with Emma Rutherford’s eighth goal of the season.
The teams were tied at 1-1 through the overtime, and the game would need a shootout to determine the winner.
Kayla Karbonik scored the only goal of the shootout, giving the Rams an extra point, a third win in a row, and pushing them into a three-way tie for seventh, along with Waterloo and York Lions.
The Rams were unable to carry the momentum through to Friday night when they took on the Laurier Golden Hawks at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. They fell 2-1, but remain tied for seventh in the standings.
With five games left in the regular season, the Rams’ two games Saturday and Sunday are crucial in their race for the post-season.
Men’s pucks
The men’s team also took on the Waterloo Warriors this week. The Thursday night game took place at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, and also happened to be 90s Night.
But the fun, fresh, flashback vibe in the arena was, unfortunately, not enough to propel the Rams to victory.
The Rams went down 1-0 just 29 seconds into the game. Although they did come back strong, answering with three goals in the first period, the Warriors ultimately proved to be too much on this night. The Rams fell 5-4.
They recovered for their game on Saturday against the Lakehead Thunderwolves, and pulled out a win 5-4. The team now looks ahead to a busy week, with games against University of Toronto on Tuesday, Carleton on Friday and Royal Military College on Saturday.
Basketball
In basketball, the men and women had a winning week as they both faced York Lions and Queen’s Gaels on Friday and Saturday respectively.
The women produced a dominant performance against the Lions. The Rams’ defence was so strong that the Lions only scored one point in the entire fourth quarter. The Final score was 71-26.
The Rams kept up their winning ways beating Queens 79-71 on Saturday. They improved to 11-3 on the season, and extended their win streak to five games. The Rams will travel to St. Catharines to take on the Brock Badgers on Wednesday.
The men beat York and Queen’s convincingly, 99-74 and 90-65. The wins bumped the team’s record to 12-2 this season, and extended its win streak to six games.
The Rams aim for seven in a row when they too take on Brock on Jan 28 in St. Catharine’s.
Volleyball
Finally, in volleyball, the Rams headed to Kingston for the weekend to take on Royal Military College on Saturday and Queen’s on Sunday.
The women improved to 11-3 on the season with a 3-1 (25-15, 21-25, 25-21, 25-15), win over RMC. Third-year outside hitter, Veronica Livingston had an impressive 18 kills in the game.
But the Rams fell 3-0 (8-25, 19-25, 16-25), to Queen’s on Sunday afternoon. Queen’s now stands in a tie with the Rams for third place in the OUA east standings.
The men also split their weekend in Kingston, beating RMC in straight sets on Saturday, 25-13, 25-15, 25-10, and falling to Queen’s on Sunday in straight sets, 23-25, 23-25, 18-25. The loss snapped a six-game win streak but the Rams are still tied for second in the standings with Waterloo.
Both the men and women’s volleyball teams take on Nipissing on Friday and York on Saturday, at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Kalia was the lineup editor at the Ryersonian. She is pursuing a career in sports broadcasting.
Kalia graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 2015.