Box Score
Waterloo, ON - The Guelph Gryphons Women's Hockey team suffered a 2-0 loss on Saturday night in Waterloo at the hands of the Laurier Golden Hawks. With the loss, the Gryphons fall to 2-2-0 on the season while Laurier improves to 3-1-0.
 
Something had to give. The Gryphons came into this game as one of the top defensive teams in the league after having recorded two shutouts through their first four games, while Laurier entered the contest as the highest scoring team in the league with nine goals in their first three games. Defence won out early on as both teams were feeling each other out in the opening period with scoring chances few and far between. The Gryphon penalty kill unit dominated, as the Golden Hawks were not even able to register a shot on net on their first power play opportunity of the night. Gryphons goalie Valerie Lamenta made several big stops late in the opening period, including a nice kick save, to keep Laurier off the scoreboard in a scoreless opening 20 minutes of play.
 
The Gryphons applied much more offensive pressure in the second period. The majority of the play was in the Golden Hawk half of the ice, with Guelph firing 14 shots on net. Golden Hawk goalie Lauren Webber was sharp early on as the game remained deadlocked at 0-0. Laurier was able to open the scoring late in the period when Erika Kiviaho set up Danielle Wark for the game's first goal, as Laurier held a 1-0 lead after 40 minutes of play.
 
In the 3rd period, the Gryphons had a great chance to draw even. After Laurier's Haley Baxter was called for a tripping penalty, the Gryphon power play unit went to work. Gryphons second year defenceman Meagan Lee (Markham, ON) fired a shot on net that appeared to be headed for the back of the net, but once again, Laurier goalie Lauren Webber came up with the big save. The Gryphons would pull the goalie for an extra attacker late, but the Golden Hawks would seal the win with an empty net goal from Jessie Hurrell as they would take it by a final score of 2-0. The Gryphons outshot the Hawks 27-24 on the night.
 
Next Saturday, October 24^th, at 2pm, Guelph will head to Waterloo in an attempt get back on track with a win against the Waterloo Warriors.