North Bay, ON - The Gryphons Men's Lacrosse team suffered their second loss of the season Sunday in North Bay, falling 15-11 to the Nipissing Lakers.
 
From the opening first face off the team struggled.  They were unable to gain and keep possession of the ball.  Defensively, Guelph was a half-step behind, allowing the Nipissing offense to get free and open looks. Frustrated, the Gryphons took several penalties in the first quarter that stalled any chances for the team to get anything going.  As a result, the Lakers took advantage 4 times in the first quarter, opening up a 4-1 lead. 
Despite outscoring Nipissing 5-3 in the second quarter, the Gryphons were never able to gain and sustain any momentum.  After tying the game at 6 it looked like Guelph would turn things around on the power play.  But the offense turned the ball over and even with a man advantage, the defense allowed Nipissing to score and take a 7-6 lead into half time.

The Gryphons came out somewhat more settled in the second half.  Ben Heidecker stepped into the face off job and won the opening draw.  The Gryphons tied the game up shortly thereafter with a goal by Attackman Liam Corbett on a feed from Brendan Vogan.  Again, Heidecker weaved some face off magic and the ball was back in Guelph's possession and Blaze McCullough subsequently put it into the back of Nipissing's net.  But Guelph's rally and one goal lead would be short-lived.

Nipissing went on a 4 goal run before Todd Gryphon would stop the bleeding for the Gryphons.  Nipissing responded yet again and set themselves up with a 12-9 lead going into the final quarter.
While a 3 goal lead is a tough deficit to claw back from in field lacrosse the Gryphons certainly have the capability to do it.  However, today was not their day.  The defense was forced to press out against the Lakers who began slowing the tempo down to a crawl.  When the Gryphons pushed out, they were vulnerable inside and Nipissing took advantage, scoring 2 quick goals to start the 4^th to take a 5 goal lead.

Guelph got the two goals back and their pressure defense began to force turnovers.  But the team continued to struggle with possession and subsequently gave the ball back to Nipissing.  The Gryphons continued to push hard but time was not on their side.  The Lakers would score on an empty net to finish the game.

"We were not a good team today.  We were tired, banged up and we lacked the drive that we need to play at this level", said Coach Kosakowski after the game. "We have a lot of work to do if we want to compete again for the national title".

The Gryphons will get a chance to get back on track next Friday, October 9 at home when they host Toronto.  On Saturday, the 10^th, they will head to Brock for what should be a tough match up with their longtime rivals.  The last time the two teams met was in the 2014 semifinals when the Gryphons, on their way to their second Baggataway Cup title in a row, defeated the Badgers 13-12.