GUELPH, Ont.- For 620 days,
Lauren Ianni and her fellow Guelph Gryphon teammates had to sit and wait to get back on the ice for meaningful OUA games. With the gut-wrenching feeling of being eliminated by two straight overtime losses to the eventual 2019/20 OUA champion, Toronto Varsity Blues, her most recent on-ice memory, the newly named Gryphon's captain led by example Wednesday night at the Gryphon Centre as Guelph took step one in getting back to the promise land.
Tied 2-2 in their home and season opener with the Western Mustangs, and only 1:56 remaining in overtime, Ianni took it upon herself to finish the job and did exactly that by roofing a sharp-angled shot over the shoulder of Western goalie, Kaitlyn Booth.
"It was awesome," Ianni said of watching her shot find the back of the net. "It was just awesome to get that first win as a team. To be honest though, we were all really tired and we were all really stressed because we thought we should have won that game before overtime."
"In that overtime we knew we needed to finish the game and get two points instead of one. Coming down the wing, I was nervous because I knew if I missed, we were going to have to back-check hard but once I saw the goalie cheat a bit to the pass I knew I could go over the shoulder."
In a game that saw momentum seem to switch on a dime on numerous occasions, the Gryphons ultimately were able to get the last laugh behind goals from
Rylee Davison,
Chihiro Suzuki and Ianni, along with 20 saves from
Kathryn Raymond secure two of a possible three points to begin the 2021 campaign.
"We were a little inconsistent I thought tonight but we are going to get there," Gryphon's Head Coach
Rachael Flanagan said. "We are a young team and the girls were maybe gripping their sticks a little bit tight tonight, but getting the win is the most important thing so we are happy about that."
With such a long amount of time between meaningful games, the two sides both used a good chunk of the first period to get their feet underneath them. However, shortly after the midway point of the opening frame a Western penalty opened the door of opportunity for Guelph and they barged right through.
Converting on their first power-play of the season,
Rylee Davison scored her first career OUA goal when her shot from the bottom of the circle beat Booth over the left shoulder.
Feeling good and with momentum suddenly on their side, the Gryphons quickly doubled their lead just minutes later. It was only 1:21 after their first goal when Chihrio Suzuki, who was making her Guelph debut after transferring from Laurentian, whistled a shot from the slot in to the top corner of the Western goal giving the Gryphons a 2-0 advantage.
Holding that lead heading to the second period, Guelph began having to deal with the Mustang's response. Forcing much of the play to the Gryphon's zone, the Mustangs not only got on the board in the middle frame, but also found the equalizer. First, it was Madelaine DesRosier charging the net before shoveling the puck up and over
Kathryn Raymond. Then it was Janneke Watt firing a wrist shot that whistled by the ear of Raymond and just below the crossbar. With the game tied 2-2 with 6:04 to play in the second period, both teams continued to press for the go-ahead goal but had no such luck.
"Going in to the third we knew that Western was pushing and going to keep pushing," Flanagan said. "We talked about pressure being a privilege and how learning how to play under pressure is what wins you championships. There are going to be lot of one goal games this season that we will have to fight through, but for today we found a way to respond by committee."
Throughout the final period of regulation, both sides came within inches of taking the lead but ultimately the finishing touch alluded each side as the game went into overtime. That is when Ianni fired home the game winner and helped give herself and her team a new memory to think about and reflect on instead of how the 2019/20 season ended.
"We have seen the top of the mountain and we have seen the bottom and we know which one feels better," Ianni said. "We just want to make sure we are playing to our potential because we didn't do that in 2019. We were a much better team than our season showed, so this year we need to make sure we are giving it our all in every single game, because every single point in this league is so important.
Looking at the score sheet, Davison, Suzuki and Ianni all found the back of the net for Guelph, while
Nicole MacKinnon,
Hannah Tait,
Teghan MacRae and Ianni each recorded an assist.
Kathryn Raymond stopped 20 of the 22 shots she faced. On the power-play, the Gryphons finished the night 1 for 4.
With their first win under their belt, Guelph will now make the return trip to London on Saturday to complete the home and home set with the Mustangs. Puck drop in London is scheduled for 7:00pm.
