GUELPH, Ont. – For the second straight game the Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team reached the end of regulation and overtime tied with their opponent. On Friday night (Nov. 18) the Waterloo Warriors escaped the Gryphon Centre Arena with a penalty ridden hard-fought 2-1 shootout win.
 
The Gryphons entered Friday nights matchup coming off a 4-3 shootout win over the Brock Badgers on Wednesday (Nov. 16) looking to hand the Waterloo Warriors their first loss of the 2022-23 season. The Warriors skated on to the ice at the Gryphon Centre with a perfect 8-0-0 record as the number one team in the OUA's West Division.
 
The first period saw both the Gryphons and Warriors with strong chances to get the first goal on the board. Having both received opportunities on the power play and the Gryphs with a narrow 9-8 shot lead, the two teams appeared in for a tough night of evenly matched hockey. Early in the second period Martina Fedel would make a fantastic pad save to keep the Gryphons and Warriors scoreless. On a Gryphon penalty at 6:42 in the second frame Leah Herrfort would break free with the puck and give the Warriors the first lead of the game with a shorthanded goal. A little over 3 minutes later the Gryphons would respond as Jaime Magoffin would find Chihiro Suzuki on the doorstep for a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal to tie the game at one apiece. Both teams were able to show off their penalty killing units in the second period with the Gryphons killing 3 penalties to the Warriors 4.
 
The third period would see the Gryphons down a skater twice and unable to build any momentum, being out shot 7-4. Fedel, along with Warrior goaltenders Mikayla Schnarr and Kara Mark, would have excellent showing with Fedel stopping 20-of-21 shots. The Warrior goalies would stop 23-of-24 Gryphon shots. The third frame would come to end with both teams locked at one apiece and needing overtime to try and settle this one. After exchanging chances seven extra minutes would prove to be too little and for the second straight game the Gryphons would head to a shootout. The Warriors would eventually leave Guelph with the win after the Gryphons were unable to beat Kara Mark in the shootout. It would be Carley Olivier who score the eventual game-winner in the second round of the shootout to maintain Waterloo's perfect record.
 
The Gryphons (5-2-3) will look to bounce back next Friday (Nov. 25) when they head to Windsor to take on the Lancers. Puck drop is set for 7:30pm at the Capri Pizzeria Complex and can be watched live at www.oua.tv.