Box Score
OSHAWA, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphon men's hockey team suffered a 6-3 loss tonight (Jan. 31) at the hands of the UOIT Ridgebacks in Oshawa, Ont. The Gryphons record drops to 15-8-2 on the season.
The Ridgebacks scored two goals each period while the Gryphons scored their only goals in the second period. Gryphon goal scorers included Justin Gvora, Andy Bathgate and J.T. MacDonald. Gryphon penalties were costly in the game as the Ridgebacks finished 3-for-6 on the power play while the Gryphons were 0-for-4.
UOIT opened the scoring in front of their hometown crowd as Jordan Ramsey found the back of the net for the second time this season beating Gryphon goaltender Andrew Loverock at 2:16 of the opening period. The first period nearly finished before the Ridgebacks struck again behind a goal from Luke VanMoerkerke to give them a 2-0 lead. UOIT outshot the Gryphons 14-10 in the first.
The second period was highlighted by five goals. Guelph scored in the first 30 seconds of the second period to open their scoring behind a short-handed marker from
Justin Gvora for his ninth of the season.
Andrew Bathgate then secured the tying goal at the nine-minute mark for his 15th goal of the season. The Ridgebacks responded to take a 3-2 lead with a powerplay marker from Cameron Yuill at 12:14 in the period. The Gryphons continued to battle back in the period and tied the game with a goal from
Jon-Thomas MacDonald at 16:38 in the period. Before the end of the period the Ridgebacks once again regained the lead as Brandon Wise notched a powerplay goal to go ahead 4-3. The period would end with the Gryphons outshooting the Ridgebacks 15-12.
In the third period UOIT's Luke VanMoerkerke scored his second and third of the night to earn the hat-trick, and extend the Ridgebacks's lead and hand the home team the 6-3 win. The Gryphons weren't able to continue their momentum they built in the second period, unable to score in the period.
Andrew Loverock managed a total of 28 saves on 33 shots while Ridgebacks goalie Bryce O'Hagen earned the win with 32 saves on 35 shots.
The Gryphons host the Windsor Lancers this Saturday (Feb. 2) at the Gryphon Centre at 7:30 p.m.
