Nov. 19: Guelph 6 – Queens 3

 

GUELPH- Meeting for the first time in two years, the Guelph Gryphons and Queen's Gaels went head-to-head tonight (Nov. 19) in the Gryphon Centre on the University of Guelph campus.  Coming out strong in the first two periods, Guelph seemed to have the game in the bag, but a late surge by the Gaels, made it look otherwise.  The Gryphons managed to regain their significant lead late in the third period to walk away with the 6-3 win over the Gaels.

 

The Gryphon offense was charged up again tonight with 11 of skaters picking up at least one point, seven of which having multi-point games.  
 

Tim Priamo (Guelph, Ont.) has been a consistent offensive contributor recently for the Gryphons, potting another goal (his 4^th in four games) and chipping in an assist. Geoff Guimond (Mississauga, Ont.), Ed Gale (Keswick, Ont.) and Ken Peroff (North Bay, Ont.) each had two helpers on the night, as well.

 

Other Gryphon scorers included J.T. MacDonald (Niagara Falls, Ont.), Thomas Kiriakou (Richmond Hill, Ont.), Patrick Campbell (Sauble Beach, Ont.), Justin Gvora (Thunder Bay, Ont.) and Alex Magera (Edmonton, Alta.).

 

Cody St. Jacques (Iroquois Falls, Ont.) was between the pipes for the Gryphons making 23 saves on 26 shots and picking up the win.

 

At the other end of the ice, Steele De Fazio (Georgetown, Ont.) started for the Gaels, saving 40 of the 46 shots he faced.
 

Kelly Jackson (Toronto, Ont.) and Jonathon Lawrance (Steinbach, Man.) each had a goal and an assist for the Gaels, while Jordan Mirwalt (Winnipeg, Man.) picked up the Gaels' first goal of the evening. 

 

The Gryphons controlled much of the action in the first period, outshooting the visiting Gaels, 16-2.  Although puck possession was in their favour, the Gryphons couldn't manage to beat Steele De Fazio, that is, until just ten seconds remained in the frame.

 

On the powerplay, with the last minute of the first period withering away, Guelph was putting on a great deal of pressure in the Gaels' end.  Coming so close, shot after shot, the Gryphons finally got the bounce they needed.  On a howitzer from Tim Priamo at the point, the puck hit the pad of De Fazio and fluttered a few inches in the air.  Thomas Kiriakou was in the perfect position to take a swing at it and made clean contact, batting the loose rubber out of the air and into the back of the net.  The Gryphons would head to the dressing room up by a single goal.

 

The Gryphons clearly had momentum coming into the second period, starting hard and putting another score on the board just three minutes in.

 

Standing just above the hash marks, J.T. MacDonald was prepared for a pass in front of the Gaels' net.  The puck moved from Matt Lyall (Richmond Hill, Ont.) to Geoff Guimond, who promptly spotted MacDonald and sent him a pass.
 

 

Steadying the rolling puck just momentarily with the toe of his stick, MacDonald quickly wristed the puck neatly into the top corner above De Fazio's left shoulder, putting the Gryphons up 2-0.  Minutes later, the Gryphons extended the lead to 3-0 on a similar goal by Tim Priamo.

 

On Guelph's third goal, Gale and Kiriakou were battling hard deep in the Gaels' zone and the aggressive play paid off.  Kiriakou, coming away with the puck, spotted Priamo drifted to the front of the net down center-ice and fed him the puck.  Rather than firing the puck immediately, Priamo dragged the puck around a sliding Queen's defender and roofed it on De Fazio, once again over his left shoulder.

 

Patrick Campbell would add a fourth for the Gryphons with less than two minutes remaining in the period, banging home a rebound off a Geoff Guimond shot. 

 

There was obviously an effective, motivational speech in the Queen's dressing room during the second intermission, as the Gaels came out in the third period and potted two goals with just a minute between them, in the first five minutes of the frame.  

 

Jordan Mirwalt netted the first Queen's goal on a 2-on-1 that caught the Gryphons on their heels.  Coming in fast on St. Jacques, Joey Derochie (Sudbury, Ont.) sent a hard pass across the front of the net to Mirwalt who, streaking in, redirected the puck behind St. Jacques.  

 

The Gaels narrowed the gap to 4-2, just 0:51 later, when Ben Munroe (Kingston, Ont.) threw the puck on net from the sideboards.  The shot looked harmless and St.Jacques was in position for the stop, but Jonathon Lawrance, working his way to the front of the net, managed to get a piece of the puck and deflect it past the Gryphon netminder.

 

There was a slight sense of panic in the Gryphon fans, as the Gaels would bring the game even closer at 8:47, banging their third of the game past St. Jacques.  Lawrance gained possession of the puck along the end-boards and worked his way behind the net, before flipping a one-handed pass in front to Kelly Jackson, who buried the puck.

 

Guelph was not unaware of the closeness of the game and regained insurance mid way through the period on a redirected shot point-shot from Ken Peroff.  Justin Gvora was credited with the goal, as he managed to get just enough of the puck to slip it between the legs of De Fazio.

 

Seemingly not comfortable enough with a two-goal lead the Gryphons managed to stick a dagger in the heart of the Gaels with five minutes left in the game.  Picking up the puck at the blue line, Alex Magera made his way to the net and, after being taken to his knees, chipped a little shot through the five-hole of De Fazio.

 

The Gryphons celebrated a 6-3 victory over the Queen's Gaels, their sixth-straight win on home ice.

Tomorrow night the Gryphons host the RMC Paladins at the Gryphon Centre at 7:30pm.

 

By: Jacob Cassidy

 

GAME SUMMARY

Queen's 3 at Guelph 6 - Status: Final

Friday, November 19, 2010 - Gryphon Centre Arena

 

Queen's 0 0 3 - 3

Guelph 1 3 2 - 6

 

1st Period-1, Guelph, Kiriakou 5 (Priamo, Gale), 19:49 (PP). Penalties-Perry Que (checking to the head, 10-minute misconduct), 2:06; Munroe Que (holding), 10:35; Kusy Gue (roughing after the whistle), 10:35; Chubb Que (cross checking), 13:40; Soquila Que (hooking), 18:37.

 

2nd Period-2, Guelph, Macdonald 4 (Gvora, Lyall), 3:01. 3, Guelph, Priamo 7 (Kiriakou, Gale), 7:26. 4, Guelph, Campbell 1 (Guimond, Kusy), 18:27. Penalties-Magera Gue (interference), 5:12; Campbell Gue (hooking), 14:15; Ouellet Que (roughing after the whistle, 10-minute misconduct), 18:51.

 

3rd Period-5, Queen's, Mirwaldt 4 (Derochie, Jackson), 4:44. 6, Queen's, Lawrance 4 (Munroe), 5:35. 7, Queen's, Jackson 5 (Lawrance, Fitzpatrick), 8:47. 8, Guelph, Gvora 2 (Macdonald, Peroff), 12:19 (PP). 9, Guelph, Magera 2 (Guimond, Peroff), 15:50. Penalties-Gale Gue (roughing), 1:28; Lawrance Que (charging), 6:15; Perry Que (boarding), 12:12; Chubb Que (major-checking to the head, game misconduct), 12:45; Mirwaldt Que (10-minute misconduct), 12:45; Gale Gue (holding opp. stick), 14:16; Lyall Gue (high sticking, high sticking), 17:21; Ouellet Que (too many men), 18:44.

 

Shots on Goal-Queen's 2-13-11-26. Guelph 16-19-11-46.

Power Play Opportunities-Queen's 0 / 5; Guelph 2 / 8.

Goalies-Queen's, De Fazio 4-5-0 (46 shots-40 saves). Guelph, St. Jacques 5-4-0 (26 shots-23 saves).