Box Score
GUELPH, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team dropped a 4-3 overtime final tonight (Feb. 14) against the Laurier Golden Hawks in their first game of the OUA playoff series. The Gryphons' season is on the line as they travel to Waterloo this Saturday (Feb. 16) in the hopes of pushing the series to three.

JT MacDonald scored a pair of Gryphon goals and Nick Huard chipped in with a single and two assists. Goalie Andrew Loverockstopped 31 of 35 shots on net. The Gryphons were 1-of-4 on the powerplay while the Golden Hawks were 0-for-4.  

After swapping possession of the puck in the neutral zone, the Gryphons settled into a cohesive groove to create strong opportunities in the Golden Hawk slot early on. And, with just under eight minutes into the first period of play, Michael Hasson (Ariss, ON) jumped on a quick Laurier cough-up at the point to strike at Laurier goalie Ryan Daniels' glovehand for the Gryphons' seventh shot unanswered on net. Less than a minute later, Nicklas Huard (North Bay, ON) carried the puck out from behind the Laurier net to pop the rebound to JT MacDonald's (Niagara Falls, ON) to bury the go-ahead goal for the Gryphons at 8:18.

With the Gryphon defence successfully keeping the Golden Hawks out of shooting range, the level of physical play escalated as both teams dropped players to the sin-bin in the first of many scuffles. The Golden Hawks began to settle down with the return of James Marsden (Exeter, ON) to the ice to begin cycling the puck into the Gryphon end. However they were unable to mount the tying goal as the period wound down with the Gryphons leading with 13-6 shots on net.

The Golden Hawks came into the second period in stride by notching five shots in quick succession but were unable to cross the goal-line.  As the period progressed, the tempo began to pick up with both teams creating opportunities but it wasn't until Nick Huard buried the insurance goal off the rebound to go ahead 2-0. James Merrett (Vernon, ON) and Daniel Broussard (Fayetteville, NC) were credited with the assists.

Less than 20 seconds into the third, Mitchell Good (Wellesley, ON) was called on a double-minor to send the Golden Hawks to the 4-minute penalty kill. Guelph jumped on the chance to cycle the puck through the slot to JT MacDonald for the one-time opportunity to put the Gryphons up 3-0. Nick Huard and Kenneth Peroff (Chisholm, ON) tallied the assists on the powerplay marker. The Golden Hawks were able to hang on for the rest of the penalty kill to keep the game in reach.

Less than three minutes later, Mitchell Good found retribution by sneaking in the spoiling goal to steal Loverock's shutout. Mitch Lebar (Aurora, ON) and Miles MacLean (Port Elgin, ON) contributed on the play to bring the game within two. After allowing Laurier to mount the scoreboard, the Gryphons picked up their previous offensive play to keep the puck in the Laurier zone. However, at 15:31 in the third, the Golden Hawks were able to creep past the Gryphon defence to put away their second of the night after a brief scramble in front of the net. Frank Riddle (St. Catharines, ON) was given the goal with line-mate Ryan Lopes (Brampton, ON) on the assist.

On the ensuing play, MacDonald was put away for his only penalty of the night to throw the Gryphons into a precarious penalty kill situation. After keeping the Golden Hawks at bay, Laurier called a timeout with a minute left to bring out the man-advantage.  To cap off the third-period drive, Greg Cerilli (Barrie, ON) hammered home the tying goal to send the game to overtime.

Opening the first overtime period, the Gryphons set a fierce tempo from the point with consecutive shots on net. Laurier immediately responded by splitting the defence for a break- away opportunity only to be shut down by Loverock's stoic play between the pipes. Laurier maintained a tenacious presence in the Gryphon end until Guelph was forced to call a timeout to stem the Golden Hawk momentum. Despite the break in play, neither team was able to capitalize in the first period of overtime to push the game to five.

After five minutes of play with a strong presence in the Guelph end, Laurier's Trent Hawke (Wiarton, ON) chipped in the game-winning goal over Loverock's glove-hand to seal the Golden Hawk comeback. Greg Cerilli and Ryan Lopes were given the assist on the play.

The Gryphons travel to Waterloo for game 2 of the playoff series this Saturday (Feb. 16).  The puck drops at 8:00 pm.