KINGSTON, Ont. – "Gryphons on the road."
It is a catchphrase that the Gryphons men's hockey team has adopted during the 2018-19 season, as a result of the team's knack for collecting signature wins away from the Gryphon Centre. Throughout Guelph's memorable 2019 OUA playoff run, the team has earned wins in four of their five away games during the first three rounds of postseason play, highlighted by series-clinching road wins at both Ryerson and Western in decisive Game 3's.
Saturday night (March 9) in front of a capacity crowd of 2,800 fans at Kingston's Memorial Centre Arena, the Gryphons were unable to add to that impressive road resumé, losing 4-1 to the Queen's Gaels in the 108th edition of the Queen's Cup. With the victory, the Queen's Gaels capture their first OUA title since 1981, using three goals in the final period to pull away from Guelph after the teams were tied 1-1 after 40 minutes. While the 2018-19 OUA season has officially come to an end, both Guelph and Queen's will now move on to the national stage as they head to Lethbridge, Alberta next week (March 14-17) for the 2019 U SPORTS Cavendish Farms University Cup.
After a scoreless opening period, the host Gaels were able to open the scoring in the 2019 Queen's Cup, thanks to a power play marker from Jaden Lindo :22 seconds into the 2nd period. The Gaels' second-year forward was close to making a 2-0 lead for the hosts less than five minutes later, but a fantastic save from Gryphons' second-year goalie Andrew Masters kept it a one-goal game.
During a 2-on-1 rush for Queen's, Luke Edwards would feather a pass across to Lindo, but Masters would go post-to-post to make a brilliant pad save to keep it a 1-0 game. It would stay that way until the closing moments of the 2nd period, when Guelph would score a tying goal thanks to third-year winger Marc Stevens.
With :25 seconds remaining in the period, Stevens would use a Queen's defender as a screen and send a wrist shot towards Gaels goalie Justin Fazio, fooling the Queen's standout goalie glove side to even the game at a goal apiece.
In the 3rd period, the Gaels would re-take the lead on Jaden Lindo's second of the night, with a sharp-angled shot sneaking past Masters at the 4:42 mark. Just over three minutes later, the Queen's lead would grow to 3-1 when Henry Thompson's quick shot from the faceoff dot would beat Masters. The Gaels would go on to add an empty-netter to secure their first conference title in 38 years.
The Gryphons, who outshot the Gaels 32-26 on the evening, will now await the announcement of their seeding for the University Cup.
The eight-team national championship tournament is set to officially get underway on Thursday (March 14) with the semi-finals and championship game being broadcast live on national television on Sportsnet 360.
GRYPHON TAKE
"Congratulations to the Gaels on winning the cup. They were the more desperate team in the final period with the championship on the line. We had our moments where we were playing some really good hockey tonight, but in the end weren't able to maintain that for long enough stretches." ~
Gryphon head coach Shawn Camp
NEXT UP
2019 U SPORTS Cavendish Farms University Cup (Men's Hockey national championship)
Date: March 14-17, 2019
Location: Lethbridge, Alberta (hosted by the University of Lethbridge)
Schedule: Guelph will play in a national quarter-final game on either Thursday, March 14 or Friday, March 15 (schedule TBD)
