Western 4, Guelph 0

Guelph, Ont (January 23^rd) – The Guelph Gryphon men's hockey team suffered a 4-0 loss to the Western Mustangs on Thursday evening at the Gryphon Centre. The loss drops the Gryphons to 9-9-4 and moves the Mustangs to 15-6-0.
 
The Mustangs started out strong against the Gryphons, using their speed and physicality to keep control of the game. The Gryphons got the first power play of the game after a high-sticking call on Mustang player Matt Marantz (Calgary, AB.) at 2:25. The Gryphons were unable to keep possession of the puck and set up in front of the net. Most scoring opportunities ended with Western clearing the puck.
 
Later on in the period, the Gryphons would get a close call with a slap shot from Phillip Teri (Elora, Ont.) from the blue line, but the shot would go wide and the game would remain scoreless. A Guelph turnover later on would allow Kyle De Coste (London, Ont.) to grab the puck. De Coste was able to outskate the Gryphon defenders, going one-on-one with Gryphons goalie Keith Hamilton (Kelowna, BC). Hamilton would block the shot, but the Mustangs would score shortly after with Matt Paltridge (Tecumseh, Ont.) shooting from the top of the circle to make it 1-0 for Western at 10:09, with De Coste and Steve Reese (Dorchester, Ont.) on the assists.
 
The Gryphons would start the second period on a power play after an interference call on Adam Stoykewych (Winnipeg, MB) late in the first period. Western was able to kill the remainder of the power play and keep the Gryphons from scoring. Western would get a power play early on in the period after Gryphon player Kyle Neuber (Sarnia, Ont.) was called for interference. Western was able to score eight seconds into the power play after quickly setting up in front of the net, with Kyle De Coste scoring from the point making it 2-0, with Matt Clarke (London, Ont.) and Daniel Erlich (Thornhill, Ont.) on the assists.
 
The Gryphons would manage to get 11 shots on goal in the second period, but were unable to beat Mustang goalie, Josh Unice (Toledo, OH).
 
The third period would begin with end-to-end action, but the game would get more intense quickly with Western moving quickly through the neutral zone with a pass to Steve Reese who manage to get a quick shot into the top corner to make it 3-0 at 3:34 with Zach Hamden (Thunder Bay, Ont.) and De Coste on the assists.
 
The Gryphons would be plagued by turnovers for the majority of the third period, unable to keep possession of the puck. Western would capitalize on almost all Guelph turnovers, leading to scoring opportunities on most plays. Mustang player Kyle De Coste would get his second goal at 8:39 in the third period after a turnover, with Reese and Hamden on the assists.
 
Although the Gryphons would out shoot the Mustangs 28-25, the Mustangs would win 4-0.
 
The Guelph Gryphon men's hockey team hit the ice again on January 25^th in Toronto against York with the puck set to drop at 7:00 p.m.