Guelph 2, Windsor 1
 
Guelph, Ont. – (September 14, 2014) - The Guelph Gryphon women's hockey defeated the Windsor Lancers 2-1 at the Gryphon Centre on Sunday in their second exhibition game of the season.
 
Head Coach Rachel Flanagan commented on the team's success, "For a second night in a row it was nice to see our first years players step up in key situations. I think we had a good calming influence from our veteran players and they were able to step up in the third period," Flanagan continued, "Stephanie Nehring played a solid game in net. Although Windsor is a highly skilled team, we were able to keep them to the outside and limit their scoring chances."
 
Both teams started the game aggressively, looking to set up scoring opportunities. The Lancer offence was putting pressure on the Gryphon goalie Stephanie Nehring (Oshawa, Ont.), but wasn't able to move the puck past her pads. Gryphon player Christine Grant (Mississauga, Ont.) had a close call early on the game, gaining plenty of speed moving through the neutral zone. She would not be able to get the puck off her stick quick enough before Lancer defenders surrounded her.
 
Guelph would get the first power play of the game late in the first period after a holding call on Lancer player Taylar Shepherd. The Gryphons would put plenty of pressure on Lancer goaltender Marissa Kozovski (Pickering, Ont.) but wouldn't be able to get it past the Windsor defence. The first period would end scoreless with the Gryphons leading Windsor 15-8 with shots on goal.
 
The Lancers came out strong in the second period, immediately taking a hard shot on Nehring. The Gryphons would come back with a quick break away and Kaitlin Lowy (Toronto, Ont.) would end up taking a shot at Kozovski that would go just off her pads. The game would be back and forth for most of the period with both teams forcing turnovers.
 
The Lancers had their first power play of the game after a body-checking penalty was called on Rebecca Daniel (Vaughan, Ont.) at 3:21. The Lancers started the power play putting ample pressure on Nehring, taking shot after shot. Guelph would react quickly, clearing the puck and halting the Lancer momentum for the remainder of the penalty. Guelph would get another penalty late in the period after Gina Murray (Lucknow, Ont.) was called for interference at 16:28. The Lancers would have a two-man advantage briefly after Jessica Pellegrino (Cambridge, Ont.) was called for body-checking just under two minutes later. The Lancers would finish the period in a power play, but the game would remain scoreless heading into the third period.
 
The Lancers opened up scoring in the third period after a scrum by the net had Shailyn Waites (Leamington, Ont.) pushing the puck just past Nehring, with Erinn Noseworthy (Appin, Ont.) on the assist, making it 1-0 in the first three minutes of the third period. The Gryphons would gain momentum after the goal, putting more pressure on the Lancer defense and goaltender. The Lancers would struggle to get the puck out of their territory and finally the Gryphons would respond, tying it up after a goal from Lowy, making it 1-1 with Christine Grant on the assist.
 
Guelph would get on the board one more time before the end of the game after a goal from Mackenzie Wong (Surrey, B.C.), to make it 2-1 half way through the period with Alana Sims (Whitby, Ont.) on the assist.
 
Although the game was close, the Gryphons would outshoot the Lancers with a total of 34-27. Gryphon goalie Stephanie Nehring would have save an impressive total of 33 shots, with Kozovski saving a total of 25 shots.
 
The Gryphons will hit the ice again for more preseason action traveling to Calgary from September 19-21st where they will play Alberta, Calgary and UBC.