On Sunday the Gryphon field hockey team faced their toughest competition yet in the Western Mustangs on their home field in London. Nevertheless, the Gryphons prevailed with a solid 4-1 victory.

 

At the 12-minute mark freshman centre mid Alexis Wagner (Guelph, ON) who has been distributing the ball very well found an open Brienne Stairs (Kitchener, ON) for a reverse stick shot which she nailed to the back of the net. But the feisty young Mustang squad put up a good battle. As a result, the Gryphons went into the break with a mere 1-0 lead.

 

In the second frame, Guelph scored on a tic-tack-toe play from Amy Wise (Surrey, BC) to Brienne and then Tegan Stairs (Kitchener, ON) on an attacking penalty corner to go in front 2-0. Six minutes later, the Gryphs moved the ball quickly from the left side of the field over to the right where Brienne Stairs then dumped a long through pass to sister Tegan who gave it back to Brienne in the slot to eliminate the purple netminder for a 3-0 lead and the eventual insurance marker.

 

For Guelph's fourth goal, rookie Liz Lutz (Oliver, BC) took advantage of a quick free hit after being fouled as she cracked the ball over to an unmarked Tegan Stairs for her second goal on the day.

 

Throughout the contest, the Mustangs were relentless but centre defender Courtney Lacey (Guelph, ON) did a fantastic job stealing the ball from the opposition and running it out of the circle. Unfortunately, there was a breakdown in the Gryphon backfield which Western managed to capitalize on and thus a 4-1 result in the Gryphs' favour. Backstopper Kaye McLagan (Mitchell, ON) played very well between the pipes for Guelph.

 

With the win, the Gryphs posted a 3-0 record on the weekend for 9 points and are tied for top spot in the OUA.

 

Up next the Gryphons take on the York Lions and McGill Martlets next weekend on Sunday in Ottawa at 9:00 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. respectively.