GUELPH, Ont. – On Saturday afternoon (Feb. 4) the Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team played host the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks in the 2022-23 'Alumni Day' game. The U SPORTS No. 8-ranked Gryphons came into Saturday's game coming off a hard-fought 3-2 overtime loss to the No. 2 U of T Varsity Blues and looking to get back on track with the OUA Playoffs in view. The Gryphons put on an impressive effort in front of former U of G players, taking victory over the Ridgebacks in a 2-0 shutout.
The Gryphons played another strong defensive game on Saturday limiting chances and offensive zone time. Their defensive effort was kick started by an early first-period penalty for the games first advantage and best scoring opportunity. Fortunately for the Gryphons they boast the OUA's 4
th best penalty kill, holding opponents scoreless on 90.7% of powerplays with just 8 goals allowed. Having momentum in their favour, the Gryphons offense would have a turn to show off with seven minutes remaining the period. After winning the puck battle along the boards,
Tori Verbeek would take it behind the net and fire backhanded shot past the blocker of the Ridgeback goaltender for the games first score. The first period ended with Verbeek's goal as the lone tally on the scoreboard.
The second period was the Gryphons strongest frame defensively as they held Ontario Tech to just a single shot on net.
Martina Fedel stopped the only shot of the period, along with 10 others, on her way to her league-leading 5
th shutout of the season and 10
th of her OUA career. The 2
nd-year from Trento, Italy is now tied for the most wins among goalies with 13 and ranks 3
rd in goals against average with 1.57 per game. Both the Gryphons and Lions would have chances on the powerplay in the second, but the period would end with Verbeek's first period score remaining as the only goal.
The final frame saw momentum clearly on the side of Gryphons with the Ridgebacks spending six minutes on the penalty kill. The momentum would boil over a couple minutes past the halfway mark with
Meaghan Chittick blasting a point shot that beat a screened Brooke Vial. The Gryphons cruised to the 2-0 win over the remaining 8 minutes and convincingly picked up their 15
th win of the season.
The Gryphons (15-4-5) currently sit four points back of the Waterloo Warriors in 2
nd place in the OUA's West Division. With the Gryphons comfortably in the playoff picture as the 2
nd team in the OUA's West Division, they now set their eyes on the No. 1 seed with just four points separating them and the division-leading Waterloo Warriors. The Gryphons will look to lessen that gap as they take on the York Lions, who they recently defeated 1-0, next Saturday (Feb. 11) at the Gryphon Centre. Puck drop is set for 7:30pm with tickets available at grypons.ca/tickets. Fans unable to attend can catch the game live, online at
www.oua.tv.
