Trois-Rivières, QC - Friday night in Trois-Rivières, the Gryphons men's hockey team picked up an impressive 5-1 road win over the defending OUA champion UQTR (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières) Patriotes. A total of 12 different Gryphon players put their name on the score sheet in what was a well-balanced attack, led by
Trevor Morbeck (1 G, 1 A) and
Rob Lepine (2 A) who each finished with multi-point nights. The win moves the Gryphons to 15-9-1 on the season while UQTR falls to 14-8-3.
"Overall, it was a really good effort tonight by our guys," said Gryphons head coach
Shawn Camp after the game. "I thought we started off really well in the 1st period and really pushed the pace. Our level of play dropped in the 2nd, but (Scott) Stajcer came up big and then the guys closed it out in the 3rd." The Gryphons were outshot 19-6 in the 2nd period, but several big saves from Scott Stajcer helped the Gryphons take a slim 2-1 lead to the 3rd.
In the final period, the Gryphs would push their lead to 3-1 after
Seth Swenson one-timed home his 9th goal of the season on a power play. Late in regulation, the Gryphs would officially put to rest any hopes of a UQTR comeback when Trevor Morbeck and
Andres Kopstals scored 44 seconds apart to seal the deal.
Scott Stajcer turned away 39 of the 40 shots sent his way on the night in what was one of his strongest outings of the season.
The Gryphons will continue their two-game Quebec road trip with a Saturday night game in Montreal versus the No. 10-ranked team in the country in the Concordia Stingers (16-7-2). Puck drop at Concordia is set for 7:30pm. The game can be seen live online at www.oua.tv.
