Tanya Quaglia
LANCE WRITER


The Windsor Lancers Men’s Hockey team started off their pre-season on a high note this past weekend with a pair of wins on the road.

Coming out strong Friday, the Lancers ended up with a 4-2 victory over the Golden Hawks. Parker Van Buskirk earned the win in net for the Lancers.

Saturday, the Lancers dominated from start to finish en route to a 6-1 win against the UOIT Ridgebacks.

Lancer Christian Steingraber netted a pair of goals. Other goal scorers for Windsor were Evan Stibbard, D.J. Turner, Isak Quakenbush and Derek Lanoue. Goaltender Matt Murphy, making his Lancer debut, earned his first win for Windsor.

“We had excellent goaltending this weekend from Parker Van Buskirk and Matt Murphy both,” said head coach Kevin Hamlin. “I think we have a lot of talent. I certainly don’t want to fall in love with the team right now. We have a lot of work to do.”

The Lancers 2-0 pre-season return follows one of their best seasons on record. Last year, they reached the OUA West finals where they lost to the Western Mustangs. On the heels of that, in an OUA bronze medal game, they lost 5-3 to the UQTR Patriots.

With some of their top players graduating last season, most notably team captain and all-star defenseman Matt McCready, the Lancers looked to build their team up and return to the ice with vigor.

“We certainly have a lot of work to do,” Hamlin said. “But, being so early in the season, we’re doing everything we thought we could do and more. The guys that have come in have done a tremendous job and veterans have come back in tremendous shape. There’s a sense of urgency with this program, that this is the time to make some noise around the province.”

The Lancers return home Thursday night to host Laurier. The game is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. at Windsor Arena.