GUELPH, Ont. – The Gryphons women's hockey team's hopes of earning the top seed in the OUA West Division are still alive.
Tori Verbeek scored twice, once shorthanded and once on the power play, to lift the No. 10-ranked Gryphons to a 2-1 win over the Laurier Golden Hawks on Wednesday night (Feb. 15) at the Gryphon Centre Arena.
With the game tied 1-1 late in the 3rd period, the Gryphons would go to work on a power play late in regulation. Needing a win in regulation to keep their hopes alive of top spot in the division, head coach
Rachel Flanagan and the Gryphon coaching staff would opt to pull the goalie in favour of the extra skater for a 6-on-4 advantage. And the gamble would pay off, as Verbeek was able to jam away at a loose puck from in close for the game-winning goal with just 1:44 left on the clock.
For Verbeek, a 20-year-old forward currently in her third-year with the U of G women's hockey program and second-year of eligibility, the two goals on the night marked her team-leading 9th and 10th goals of the season. That total moves her into the Top 10 in the conference in goals scored, with the Flesherton, Ontario native one of just nine OUA women's hockey players this season to have reached double figures in goals scored.
After Laurier opened the scoring in the 1st period, the Gryphons were able to tie things up in the 2nd period thanks to a shorthanded goal from Verbeek.
Abby Davies forced a Laurier turnover at the blueline and sent Verbeek in alone on a shorthanded breakaway, with the Gryphons leading scorer beating Laurier goalie Victoria Kelaiditis blocker side to tie the game at 1-1.
It marked the second time this season in which Verbeek had scored a short-handed goal versus Laurier, after also doing so back on January 12 in Guelph's 2-1 shootout win over the Hawks in Waterloo. The game would remain tied until late in the 3rd period, with Verbeek's first multi-goal game of the season lifting the Gryphons to the win on home ice.
With the win, the playoff-bound Gryphons improve to 17-4-5, with just one game remaining on the 27-game regular season schedule. The Gryphons and Golden Hawks (4-16-5) will meet up once again on Friday night (Feb. 17) in Waterloo as the two sides close out a home-and-home matchup for the 2022-23 regular season finale. If the Gryphons can win in regulation once again on Friday night at Laurier, coupled with a Waterloo Warriors loss in regulation to Nipissing on Friday night in North Bay, then the Gryphons would leapfrog the Warriors for top spot in the OUA West Division.
Thank You Seniors!
Wednesday night's matchup at the Gryphon Centre also marked the Gryphons annual 'Seniors Night' game, in which the game honours graduating seniors. A total of five student-athletes were honoured pre-game, with
Avery Peer,
Abby Davies,
Mayla Mayer,
Ally Davidson and Katie Raymond all set to graduate following this season. Davies set up the Gryphons first goal of the night, while Raymond turned away 20 of the 21 shots sent her way for third win of the season.
Familiar Faces with the Call!
Wednesday night's game at the Gryphon Centre not only marked the Gryphons annual 'Senior Night' - it also marked the team's annual
"She's Got Game" contest, where the program celebrates the University of Guelph's fundraising campaign for women's athletics.
As part of the programs support of the She's Got Game initiative, an all-female commentating duo re-united in the press box to call the game, with former Gryphons women's hockey standouts Kaitlin Lowy and Meagan Lee on the microphones. Lowy was a former team captain for the Gryphons, and scored the game-winning goal in the lone national title for the Gryphons women's hockey program during the 2018-19 season. Lee was also a key member of that Gryphons national title-winning team in 2018-19, and served as an assistant captain for the Gryphons during her fifth and final season that year.
