WINDSOR – The Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team is loaded with veteran firepower. But it was one of the younger Gryphons who took the offensive reins at the South Windsor Arena Saturday afternoon. Second-year forward Sydney Davison broke out with four goals, including a first-period hat-trick in a span of 8:57, lifting Guelph to a 6-3 road win over the Windsor Lancers.
 
Davison, a criminal justice major from Oakville, ON, pumped in three in the first period before adding her fourth at 7:53 of the third, an important marker that extended the Guelph lead to 5-3. Davison redirected a Kristen Jay pass on a two-on-one to beat Windsor goaltender Morgan Farrow, who entered the game in relief of Molly Jenkins to start the second period.

"KJ gave me a really nice pass so all the credit to her," she said of her fourth.

Davison entered the day with two goals on the season and quickly vaulted into a tie with Claire Merrick for third on the team in that category, behind only Kaitlin Lowy, who leads the OUA with 14, and Kelly Gribbons with 9. 

Head coach Rachel Flanagan couldn't recall a player scoring four in a game in her tenure but she felt Davison's performance wasn't that much of a surprise.

"That's the kind of player she is," Flanagan said, noting the forward's offensive potential. "Syd's got such a fast release. But she has also become accountable on defence. She played both ends today. She got our Player of the Game award in the room and it wasn't just because of the goals."

Davison said she surprised herself with the offensive outburst and couldn't remember ever scoring that many in a game.

"It was pretty exciting," she said, mentioning that her parents Sonya and Ron, as well as some aunts and uncles, touched base after watching the game online. Davison added that she still needs to call her sister Taylor, who plays on the York Lions, to rub it in a little.


Karli Shell and Emma Forcey also scored for Guelph (16-5-0), while Aurore Beaulieu made 27 saves to earn the win in net. Mallory Young and Cyan Roepcke had two assists each. The win puts the Gryphons back into second place in the OUA with 43 points.

Windsor got the jump in a crazy opening period when Larissa Borowiec scored on the power play at the 4:11 mark. That appeared to wake Guelph up with Davison providing the spark. She scored the first of her three in the opening period with a deflection past Jenkins, also on a power play, at 7:01. Davison added her second with an excellent shot at 13:35 and just over a minute later, Shell got in on the scoring to make it 3-1. Davison then completed her trick unassisted at 15:55 of the first, using what Flanagan called her "sharp-shooter skills." She found the five-hole on Jenkins for what was the eventual game-winning goal.

"One of our keys for success today was to put pucks to the net , which we did in the first period," said Flanagan. 
 
Despite the 4-1 lead, Guelph wasn't sharp and squandered the big margin as Windsor pressed to get back in the game. Reagan Kaufman beat Bealieu 50 seconds after Davison's third. The Windsor forward then tallied again at 5:29 of the second period to cut the Gryphons' lead to 4-3. But the visitors would regain control thanks to Davison and Forcey, who both scored just over two minutes apart to ice the game.

"Windsor had the advantage heading into the third and I was really happy with our response," said Flanagan. "It was an opportunity for us to fight back."

Guelph heads north next weekend to face the Nipissing Lakers on Friday night and the Laurentian Voyageurs the following afternoon.