The Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team took on the Toronto Varsity Blues tonight (Jan. 26^th) in Guelph at the Gryphon Centre. The Gryphons struggled in the first two periods against the Varsity Blues but turned the game around in the third for a 3-1 win. Guelph goals came from Victoria Head (Kanata, ON), Kimberley Wong (Mississauga, ON) and Erin Small (Pickering, ON).

The Gryphons now move to a 16-4-1 record to put them at 31 total points, and are second only in the OUA to the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Varsity Blues drop to an 11-9-1 record.

In the first period both teams saw a lot of action around the net but couldn't finalize a goal. Leila Chan Currie (Toronto, ON) nearly gave Toronto their first goal 9 minutes into the game when she shot towards an opening in the Gryphon net, but it stopped just short of the goal line. A minute later forward Callie Bazak (Peterborough, ON) stole a failed pass from the Gryphons and had a one-on-one with Gryphon goalie Stephanie Nehring (Oshawa, ON) but she shot high. The Gryphons gained control in the last few minutes of the first but couldn't break through Toronto defence, and the period ended goalless.
  The Gryphons picked up their game in the second with Tamara Bell (Guelph, ON) taking two consecutive shots on Nicole Kesteris (Aurora, ON) midway through.  Unfortunately for the Gryphons a scrimmage outside of Guelph net led to Toronto's first and only goal of the game, after an initial shot was fired just outside of Nehring's grasp and Currie snuck it in.

The Toronto goal didn't discourage the Gryphons and they came into the third period ready to play. With only 3:23 on the clock Head tied the game for Guelph after a great set up from Talia Paone (Ancaster, ON) and Jody Hodgins (Stayner, ON).  The Gryphons finally took the lead when Wong took an amazing shot from just inside the blue line that caught the Blue's goalie off guard.  This unassisted goal at 14:29 in the second helped pick up Gryphon spirits and they maintained most of the possession for the rest of the game.

In the last minutes the Varsity Blue's pulled their goalie, which gave Small the perfect advantage once she gained possession of the puck with only 30 seconds left on the board. She fired into an empty net before the Blues could catch her, confirming the Gryphon win.

The Gryphons next play January 28^th at home in Guelph at the Gryphon Centre against the Ryerson Rams. The game begins at 2pm.