GUELPH – When you've won the McCaw Cup two consecutive years, the target is on your back. The Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team have been getting the best from opponents all season and Guelph faced another stiff test Thursday night on home ice from the York Lions. The Gryphons were far from their best but escaped with an improbable 4-3 comeback victory thanks to an overtime winner from first-year defenceman Katie Mikkelsen.

Despite trailing on three occasions, Guelph found a way to equalize each time before netting the deciding goal. York played a smart, disciplined game most of the night but in the overtime session, the Lions coughed the puck up in their own end and the defending champions made them pay. Karli Shell passed to the slot and found a streaking Mikkelsen, who looked more like a poised veteran forward burying a shot high over goaltender Eva Hall's glove at the 3:21 mark to secure Guelph's fifth straight win.

Mikkelsen, a towering presence on the blueline at 5-11, joined the Gryphons after playing one season of NCAA hockey at Ohio State.

"If you give Mik that much time and space, she will score most of the time," head coach Rachel Flanagan said of the the talented Oshawa, ON native.

 
Captain Kaitlin Lowy had two goals, while Miranda Lantz also scored for the Gryphons (11-4-0). Guelph is now tied atop the OUA with Queen's at 32 points, though the Gaels have a game in hand.
 
A slow contest picked up in the second period before producing plenty of drama in a wild third. With the score knotted at 1-1, York's Kelsey McHolm took a drop pass from Brooke Anderson and beat Guelph goaltender Aurore Beaulieu high at the 4:12 mark of the third. Lantz replied just over four minutes later with a great backhand effort but York snatched the lead back when defenceman Jenna Gray went to the net and banged one home with just three minutes remaining.
 
York were on the verge of an upset but the captain came to the rescue – for the second time of the night. With the Gryphon net empty, Lowy was somehow sent in alone on a breakaway and she beat Hall through the five hole with just 1:08 left in regulation to force the overtime.
 
Lowy, who also took a penalty in overtime, opened the scoring for Guelph in the second period. The markers were her 10^th and 11^th this season, putting her in second place in the OUA goal-scoring race.

"She was our player of the game," Flanagan said. "York is a tough team to play against and we needed our top players to come through for us tonight. And they did."
 
Beaulieu got the start in the Gryphon net and was sharp, making 24 saves. She didn't have much to do in the first period but then turned away 13 of 14 York shots in the second period, producing a number of huge saves when the Lions had the man advantage. The Calgary native saved the Gryphons in overtime when she slid across her crease and stopped a quick York shot with her pads, before smothering another good chance with her glove minutes later.

"Aurore played a solid game today," said Flanagan. "York did a great job of making it difficult for her to see so she had to work to find every shot."
 
The Gryphons had an uneventful first period as York came out skating hard, limiting the hosts to four shots on goal. The Lions looked more likely to break the scoreless deadlock as they sent a bunch of shots Beaulieu's way on a own power-play opportunity early in the second period. Guelph didn't register a shot on a subsequent man advantage of its own though the hosts created their best chance of the game to that point with under nine minutes left in the second. Lowy was sprung for a breakaway but Hall forced her wide, causing the Gryphon star to lose the puck behind the net.
 
Lowy wouldn't miss on her next big opportunity. York took a well-earned 1-0 lead when Anderson pounced on a rebound and got one behind Beaulieu with 1:56 left before the intermission. But Lowy had an answer. She received a cross-crease pass from Kelly Gribbons at the left post, held on to the puck for just a second, then roofed it despite being a few feet away from the York goaltender, tying the game 1-1 with 22 seconds left in the period.
 
York outshot the Gryphons 14-8 in the period, though the hosts finished the night up 28-27 after registering 15 shots on goal in the third and the lone attempt in overtime, which was Mikkelsen's winner.
 
Guelph travels to Toronto Saturday, Jan. 13 to face the Varsity Blues. Puck drop is at 7 pm.