ST. CATHARINES, ON – Carlos Amestoy scored a pair of third period goals to erase a 4-2 deficit before Stephen Hiff put an end to a high-octane, back-and-forth affair by re-directing home a point shot in overtime as the Gryphons men's hockey team beat the Brock Badgers 5-4 Wednesday night in St. Catharines. With the win, the Gryphons improve to 13-10-0 on the season and move into third place in the OUA West standings. With the loss, the Badgers fall to 6-12-6.
 
"This was a big, character win for us in our push for the playoffs" says Gryphons head coach Shawn Camp. "The guys showed a lot of grit tonight to be able to dig themselves out of multiple holes." The first of those holes came midway through the opening period of play as the Badgers held an early 2-0 lead. A power play goal from Gryphons second year winger Tryg Strand (Invermere, BC) cut the deficit in half, as Guelph trailed 2-1 after the opening 20 minutes of play.
 
A flurry of action early in the 2^nd period saw Brock score 31 seconds into the period to go up 3-1. Guelph answered back just 27 seconds later when Rob De Fulviis recorded his team-leading 19^th point of the season by scoring his sixth goal of the campaign to make it a 3-2 game. It wouldn't stay that way for long. Brock found the back of the net for what was the third goal in the opening 2:09 of the second period. The Badgers led 4-2 after two periods of play. And the fun was just getting started.
 
Despite the fact that the game saw the two team's combine for nine goals and 85 shots, the biggest play of the game may have actually come from the defensive end of the ice. The Brock lead would have been extended to 5-2 in the third period if not for an incredible save from Gryphons second year goalie Andrew D'Agostini. With the Badgers on the power play, D'Agostini was able to slide across his crease and rob a Brock player of a sure goal with an outstanding pad save. That stop kept the Gryphons in the game and kept the deficit at just two goals. Carlos Amestoy would take it from there.
 
Amestoy would show why he is one of the most highly-skilled players in the OUA by scoring a pair of goals just 1:22 apart in the third period to tie the game 4-4. On both goals, Amestoy showed off some great hands by dancing around some defenders down low before deking Badgers goalie Clint Windsor and finding the back of the net for his seventh and eighth goals of the season. It was also Amestoy's third multi-goal game of the campaign and he has already tallied eight goals on the year in just 13 games played after he was forced to miss most of the first half of the season with an injury. The Gryphons and Badgers were off to overtime tied 4-4. The roller coaster ride in St. Catharines was almost over.
 
3:45 into the extra frame, the Gryphons were able to do some good work down low and work the puck back to the point. Reilly O'Connor's point shot would be tipped home by rookie Stephen Hiff (Cambridge, ON) to give the Gryphons the 5-4 win in OT. For Hiff, who now has four goals on the season, it marked the second time this season he had found the back of the net against the Badgers after having also scored in Guelph's 6-1 win over Brock back on November 14. The Gryphons outshot Brock 46-39 on the night in what was a fast-paced, wide open contest.
 
The Gryphons will be right back at it once again on Thursday night (January 28) when they travel to Toronto for a matchup with the Ryerson Rams (11-12-0). Puck drop for that game is set for 7:30pm.