The Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team was hoping to go four-straight games without a loss on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 15), but were dealt an upsetting 2-1 loss against the Windsor Lancers at the Gryphon Centre.

Katie Mora (Guelph, Ont.) would get credit for the Gryphons' only goal, with assists going to Jenna Lanzarotta (Mississauga, Ont.) and Dayna Kanis (Georgetown, Ont.).

Danielle Skoufranis (Thornhill, Ont.) started in net for the Gryphons and had an outstanding performance, stopping 19 of 21 shots and keeping the squad right on the heels of the Lancers.

For Windsor, Brooke Ludolph (Chatham, Ont.) ended up with game-winner, while Manon Davis (Sudbury, Ont.) netted the Lancers' first goal.  Assists came from Candice Chevalier (Essex, Ont.), Julie Hamilton (Lucknow, Ont.), and Courtney Spoors (Kingsville, Ont.).

Jamie Tessier (Copper Cliff, Ont.) was given the nod for the Lancers and was solid, making 29 saves and claiming the win.

With the loss the Gryphons move to 12-5-2, while the Lancers improve to 10-8-0 after the win.

The Lancers came out strong to start the first period, catching the Gryphons on their heels and putting a number of good scoring chances on net.  Skoufranis was a brick wall for the Gryphons though, staying cool on the odd man rush and stopping a short-handed breakaway early on in the frame.

Realizing perhaps, that their goaltender was keeping them in the game, the Gryphon offense seemed to ignite in the latter half of the period.  Making a solid effort to get the puck on net, the Gryphons quickly evened the scoring chances, one of which coming in the dying seconds of the period.  Unfortunately for Guelph, Tessier, like Skoufranis, was performing at her best and steered away all the Gryphon opportunities, keeping the score knotted at zero. 

The second period was once again a battle of the goaltenders as both teams got their fair share of scoring opportunities.  Skoufranis looked especially good in the frame turning away back-to-back Lancer chances.  The first came on a spinning shot from a Lancer forward, which Skoufranis kicked away with her toe.  Not much later another Lancer would get a chance on the breakaway, but calm and collected, Skoufranis followed the skater and flashed the leather at the last second to snag the quick snap shot headed for the back of the net.

In the final minutes of the period the Gryphons would get their best chance in the first forty minutes of the game.  Jenna Lanzarotta, skating into the Windsor zone, was hauled down by a Lancer defender, but immediately jumped back to her feet, keeping control of the puck.  Approaching Tessier all alone, Lanzarotta tempted the Windsor netminder by making a move to the front of the net, but quickly moved the puck to her backhand, leaving Tessier out of position.  The gap however, between Tessier's skate and the post, would be just enough of an obstacle to prevent the Gryphon forward from bury the go-ahead goal.  The score remained 0-0 after two periods of play.

Just minutes into the third period the Windsor Lancers would put up the first goal of the game while on the powerplay.  The Lancers wasted no time with advantage of the extra skater, feeding the puck to the open Lancer at the point, Hamilton, who fired a shot on net.  Streaking in from the sideboards, Davis got her stick firmly on the puck and neatly redirected the puck behind Skoufranis, taking the 1-0 lead.

Guelph responded with their own powerplay goal 1:13 later.  Breaking in on a 2-on-1, Mora fed Lanzarotta who couldn't beat Tessier.  Looping around, Lanzarotta spotted Mora open at the other side of the net and threw the puck across from one faceoff circle to the other and without hesitation, Mora one-timed the puck past Tessier and evened the score at one.

With more than half the period expired, the Windsor Lancers would get another great opportunity to take the lead and capitalized on it.  Coming down the ice on a breakaway, Chevalier was met by the patience of Skoufranis and, after making a few moves to try and shake her, was unable to beat the Gryphon netminder.  However, Ludolph was trailing on the play and got her stick on the loose puck sliding it under the leg of Skoufranis on the second attempt, giving the Lancers a one-goal lead once again.

The Gryphons put forth a valiant effort in the dying minutes of the game, but were unable to put away the tying goal and the Lancers walked away with the 2-1 victory.

The Guelph Gryphons are back on home-ice tomorrow afternoon (Jan. 16) where they will take on the Western Mustangs.  The puck will drop at 2:00pm at the Gryphon Centre.

 

Written By: Jacob Cassidy

 

GAME SUMMARY

Windsor 2 at Guelph 1 - Status: End of Game
Saturday, January 15, 2011 - Gryphon Centre Arena

 

Windsor 0 0 2 - 2
Guelph 0 0 1 - 1

 

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Finn Wsr (hooking), 2:26; Ryder Gue (hooking), 6:03; Bortolotti Wsr (hooking), 10:20.

 

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Ryder Gue (hooking), 0:31; Hodgins Gue (hooking), 8:32; Kourounis Wsr (hooking), 16:54.

 

3rd Period-1, Windsor, MacKnight 2 (Hamilton, Spoors), 2:58. 2, Guelph, Mora 11 (Lanzarotta, Kanis), 4:00 (PP). 3, Windsor, Ludolph 2 (Chevalier), 12:47 (SH). Penalties-Sollis Gue (high sticking), 2:21; Finn Wsr (hooking), 2:58; D'Angelo Gue (cross checking), 8:14; D'Angelo Gue (hooking), 10:41; Baronette Wsr (tripping), 12:21; Ludolph Wsr (hooking), 13:38.

 

Shots on Goal-Windsor 8-8-5-21. Guelph 10-7-13-30.

Power Play Opportunities-Windsor 0 / 6; Guelph 1 / 6.

Goalies-Windsor, Tessier 8-4-0 (30 shots-29 saves). Guelph, Skoufranis 7-3-0 (21 shots-19 saves)