ST. CATHARINES – They were two nights that couldn't have differed more for the Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team. On Thursday, the Gryphons looked every bit like the No. 8 team in the country. One day later, Guelph struggled to find its groove – and the Brock Badgers took full advantage. Brock finally grabbed its first win over Guelph in their fourth meeting this season, defeating the Gryphons 3-1 Friday night on home ice.
Just 24 hours earlier, Guelph routed the Laurier Golden Hawks 5-0 in a memorable Frosty Mug performance at the Sleeman Centre. But Guelph didn't have enough left to win in front of a much smaller, and considerably more subdued, Seymour-Hannah Centre crowd. Running into a red-hot goaltender and taking several penalties didn't help either and an impressive five-game win streak came to an end.
"We weren't disciplined in many ways," said disappointed head coach
Shawn Camp. "We took too many penalties and coudn't get any momentum. We chased the game all night long."
Cody Thompson, who had three assists in the Frosty Mug, scored the lone goal for the Gryphons, while
Andrew Masters made 25 saves a night after recording the first shutout of his young OUA career.
Guelph (16-5-1) generated several opportunities but had trouble solving fourth-year goalie Clint Windsor. The veteran Brock netminder, who entered the game leading the OUA in saves (618) and save percentage (.929), made 32 stops, including 22 after 40 minutes of play.
But Guelph finally found a way to get one past Windsor early in the third. Minutes after going down 2-0 on a Chris Maniccia power-play goal (on a 5-on-3) just 35 seconds into the period, the Gryphons fought back.
Max McCutcheon let a hard shot go from the left circle and while Windsor made the initial save, he couldn't stop a crashing Thompson, who buried the rebound at the 3:01 mark.
"Windsor played really well," said Camp. "And a lot of our chances were one-and-done. The shots were cleared and we had to start all over again."
Cosimo Fontana restored Brock's two-goal cushion less than five minutes later when he tipped a Matt McLeod shot, putting the game out of reach for the visitors.
The Badgers struck first as Ryan Purvis got his stick on a Patrick Volpe shot that beat Masters at the 2:41 mark of the opening period. Guelph had chances to get back in it but couldn't generate much on special teams.
It was a typical chippy affair between the two rival hockey schools with each team being whistled for three minors in the first 20 minutes. There were 32 penalty minutes issued in total, 20 going to Guelph. That took a toll on the penalty killers.
The Gryphons play the second of four straight road games Friday, Jan. 26 when they travel to Toronto to face the Varsity Blues. The puck drops at 7 pm.