GUELPH, ON – For most of the third period on Saturday it seemed like the next goal would be the winner.
It wasn't. But the next goal after that did the trick.
Josh McFadden wristed home the winning tally two minutes into overtime as the Guelph Gryphons edged the Laurentian Voyageurs 4-3 in OUA men's hockey action at the Gryphon Centre.
The Gryphs thought they had the win wrapped up when
Peter Soligo tucked in a rebound with 3:25 left in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie, sliding it through the pads of Laurentian netminder Charlie Millen.
But the Voyageurs answered almost immediately after pulling their goalie for an extra skater, and cashed in on a rebound of their own with 85 seconds left in regulation.
"We really did," Gryphs head coach
Shawn Camp said when asked if the Gryphs thought they had the game won on Soligo's marker. They were also disappointed not to have sealed the deal by scoring into Laurentian's empty net.
"We were surprised that we didn't have somebody find the empty net and get it done. But this team battles through adversity. We have a way of making it difficult at times, but we found our way again."
"We would have liked to have (Soligo's) goal stand up for us," McFadden added, smiling, "but we just kind of wanted to make it interesting for the alumni."
The win allowed Guelph to claim victory before a large group of alumni who came back to campus for the ninth annual Hockey Day in Gryphonville celebration. The day-long event paid special tribute to the 1996-97 Gryphs in commemoration of the 20
th anniversary of their CIAU championship.
"Before the game, Camper made it clear to us that this was a huge game, because we have a month break now, so we wanted to end on a high note," said McFadden, a Guelph native and a first-year Gryphon defenceman.
"Being able to win in OT really set the tone, especially with the alumni here. It was just a great day."
But it wasn't looking so great early on. After a scoreless first period, the Voyageurs came out flying in the second and went up 2-0 on goals by Bradley Macdonald and Andrew Tessier.
Rob Lepine brought the Gryphs even with two goals of his own, his team-leading ninth and 10
th of the season, before the period ended. The third-year centre from Killaloe, ON first scored on a rebound off a point shot by
Trevor Morbeck, and then tipped in a centering pass from
Mac Nichol eight minutes later.
"Robbie's had a great first half," Camp said. "When he finds momentum, he's so dangerous. He gave us such a lift, and put us right back in the game."
Both teams enjoyed excellent scoring chances in the third period, but goalies
Keith Hamilton of the Gryphs and the Voyageurs' Millen both came up big several times.
"He made some great saves, some very timely saves," Camp said of Hamilton, a fourth-year netminder from Kelowna, BC. "He's played very well for us in the first half. We've come to expect him to play well for us, and he didn't let us down at all today."
As for Millen, he stood out for a quick glove, which the Gryphs tested numerous times before changing their strategy.
"What we did after that to adjust was get traffic in front, and just get the puck on net and bang in rebounds. It seemed to work," said McFadden, who nevertheless couldn't resist trying Millen's glove side one more time after cruising into the slot and taking a pass from
Seth Swenson. He made no mistake, snapping it over Millen's shoulder for the winning goal.
"Swenny made an amazing pass to me, and all I really had to do was shoot it," he said.
Saturday's win was Guelph's fourth in a row entering the holiday break. The Gryphs improve to 9-7-0 in the OUA West Division, a division so tight that their two weekend wins propelled them from sixth to third place in the standings, pending the outcome of Windsor's game on Saturday night against York.
"The conference is so close, and anyone can beat anybody on any given afternoon or evening," Camp said.
"Typically, we have a very strong second half as a team; that seems to be our culture here. We're going to bank on our guys getting some rest during the holidays and coming back really excited for the second half."
The Gryphs' next game will be at home on Jan. 3 against Windsor.
