The Guelph Gryphons lost a tight battle in Oshawa Friday when they were edged by the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks 2-1.  Special teams have continued to influence the result of Gryphon games lately as their powerplay went dry and they gave up a powerplay goal against.

 

The first period was back and forth with the Ridgebacks holding the edge in shots 11-10 but neither team could finish.

 

A brief lapse in the second period was all UOIT needed to make the difference in the game when Josh Vatri scored on the powerplay and a minute later Ridgeback leading scorer Scott Baker got the eventual winner on a hard drive to the net.  That seemed to wake the Gryphons as their play picked up significantly from then on but were frustrated by near misses and shots off the goalpost.

 

Guelph controlled the play in the third period and were rewarded with a goal by Thomas Kiriakou (Richmond Hill, Ont.) set up by Nathan Martine (Port Colborne, Ont.) and Tim Priamo (Guelph, Ont.).  The Gryphons pulled their goalie late in the game and were foiled by Ridgeback goalie Jason Guy.

 

Guelph outshot UOIT 33-30 on the evening and were 0/6 on the powerplay and killed off 2-of-3 powerplays against.  Scott Van Bommel (Norwich, Ont.) was solid in net for the Gryphons.

 

Guelph concludes a five game road swing with an all important matchup at the arch rival Waterloo Warriors on Saturday (Jan. 8). Puck drops at 7:30 p.m.