GUELPH, ON - Saturday afternoon at the Gryphon Centre, the Gryphons women's hockey team won 7-2 over the Windsor Lancers. Gryphons fourth year forward
Kelly Gribbons (Port Elgin, ON) recorded a hat trick while twelve different Gryphon players put their name on the score sheet as the team improved to 19-3-1 on the season. With Saturday's victory, the Gryphons clinch first-place in the OUA standings with one game remaining in the regular season schedule. The Gryphons will wrap up their regular season on Sunday afternoon with a home game against the second-place Nipissing Lakers.
"Our offensive production was terrific today. We know that Windsor could be a potential first-round matchup for us in the playoffs, so it was important to put together a strong effort today," said Gryphons head coach
Rachel Flanagan. "We're looking forward to a big challenge tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon versus Nipissing. It's nice to be able to end the regular season schedule against some playoff-bound teams and potential future matchups."
If there was any concern over the Gryphons offensive output following a 3-0 loss last Sunday at Waterloo, that concern was put to rest on Saturday afternoon. The Gryphons exploded for a season-high seven goals, four of which came in the final period of play. The first goal of the game came just over six minutes into the opening period when Gryphons defenceman
Katherine Bailey scored a power play marker to give the Gryphs an early 1-0 lead. After the Lancers tied the game at 1-1, Kelly Gribbons would score her first of three on the night to give the Gryphs a 2-1 lead heading to the 2nd period.
The lone goal of the 2nd period belonged to Gryphons rookie
Kristen Jay (Thornhill, ON). Jay's second goal of the season, and first since October 29th, pushed the Gryphons lead to 3-1 heading to the 3rd. Another Gryphon rookie would find the back of the net 1:22 into the final period when
Sydney Davison (Oakville, ON) potted her 9th of the season, ranking her third on the team in goals scored behind only Gribbons and
Kaitlin Lowy. After Kelly Gribbons scored her second of the night,
Sophie Contantt would score to make the score 6-2. Gribbons capped off her hat trick with just under five minutes remaining in regulation.
Lowy finished the night with three assists while
Karli Shell and
Claire Merrick also finished with multi-point nights, each recording a pair of assists.
Valerie Lamenta turned away 19 of the 21 shots sent her way for her 14th win of the season.
The Gryphons will now turn their attention to the Nipissing Lakers on Sunday afternoon. Not only are the Gryphons and Lakers the top two teams in the OUA standings, they are also ranked No. 2 and No. 9 in the national Top 10. The Gryphons currently sit on top of the standings with 54 points, the Lakers (18-3-3) are three points back with 51 points. This will be the team's second meeting of the season, with the Lakers winning 1-0 back on November 18th in North Bay. Puck drop on Sunday is set for 2pm at the Gryphon Centre.
