GUELPH - Thursday night at the Gryphon Centre, the Gryphons men's hockey team found themselves in a roller coaster of a ride against the No. 8-ranked team in the country in the Ryerson Rams. Unfortunately for the Gryphs, that ride ultimately came to an end with a heartbreaking overtime loss. After the Gryphons jumped out to a 4-0 lead midway through the 2nd period, Ryerson stormed back with four unanswered to force overtime. In the extra frame, Ryerson's senior forward and reigning OUA scoring leader, Aaron Armstrong, would pot the game-winner to complete the comeback. With the result, the Gryphons fall to 1-0-1 on the season while the Rams improve to 1-0-0.
One night after defeating the Brock Badgers 3-2 to begin the regular season, the Gryphons were right back on the ice with a home date against the perennial power Rams. The Gryphons got off to a dream start with a trio of goals in the opening period of play with
Scott Simmonds,
Manny Gialedakis and
Michael Stevens all finding the back of the net. Midway through the 2nd period, the Guelph lead would grow to 4-0 when Simmonds notched his second of the night. But the high-powered Rams would storm back, scoring twice before the end of the 2nd period, including a short-handed tally from Armstrong with just :07 seconds remaining before the end of the 2nd period.
After trimming the deficit to 4-3, Ryerson would once again strike late in the frame. This time, with their goalie pulled and the extra skater on the ice, the Rams were able to tie the game at 4-4 when John Carpino scored from in close with :30 seconds remaining in regulation. The 4-on-4 overtime featured end-to-end action, with Simmonds keeping and shooting on a 2-on-1 to nearly complete the hat trick in dramatic fashion. Instead, the Rams would immediately head the other way, where Armstrong would eventually shovel home his second of the night to seal the win for the visitors.
Despite allowing five goals on the night, Gryphons rookie goalie
Andrew Masters was solid, making 41 saves on the night. The Gryphons were outshot 46-36 on the evening, with 20 of the Rams' 46 shots coming in the 3rd period.
The Gryphons will now hit the road for an exhibition in Ithaca, New York on Saturday night where they will face the Cornell Big Red of the NCAA. Following that, the Gryphons will resume OUA regular season play on October 20 and 21 when they head to Montreal for the weekend to face Concordia and McGill.
