Box Score
Guelph, Ont. (February 6, 2014) - The Guelph Gryphon men's hockey team defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks with a final score of 4-2 at the 'Do it for Daron' game on Thursday evening at the Gryphon Centre. The win moves the Gryphons to 12-10-4 and drops the Golden Hawks to 9-14-2.
 
The Gryphons took time before the game to honour the graduating seniors, which included assistant captains James Merrett andKenneth Peroff. Philip Teri, Guelph native John Collins, goaltender John Collins and Cale Jefferies were also amongst those to graduate this year.
 
As a huge supporter of the Do it for Daron cause, Michael Landsberg was at the Gryphon Centre to drop the puck before the game and was presented with his own Landsberg jersey by Guelph Head Coach Shawn Camp in the pre-game ceremony.
 
Robert De Fulviis opened up shooting for the Gryphons, using his speed through the neutral zone to work his way past the Laurier defenders, looking for the bottom corner on both shots. The Gryphons were able to out shoot the Golden Hawks in the first period with a total of 16-6, but were unable to beat Laurier goaltender Vinny Merante (Niagara Falls, N.Y.).
 
A tripping penalty for Steven Strong at 6:04 had Laurier on a power play, but it would be the Gryphons who would score first, with a short handed goal by Teal Burns to make it 1-0 at 6:22, with Kenneth Peroff and James Merrett on the assists.
 
Laurier started out the second period more aggressively, capitalizing on more possessions and out shooting the Gryphons 12-5 in the second period. The Golden Hawks would get a man advantage at 5:42 in the second period after Gryphon player Steven Strong would get called for hooking. Laurier would have some problems setting up in front of the net, and the Gryphons would successfully kill the penalty, keeping the score at 1-0.
 
The Gryphons would score again in the second period after the puck rebounded off of Merante's pads, directly to Leonard Fabbri who knocked the puck in to make it 2-0 at 12:58, with Peroff and Jordan Mock on the assists. Laurier would continue hammering Gryphon goaltender Keith Hamilton with shots, but would be unable to get onto the board in the second period.
 
Laurier would give up a goal early on in the third period after Joe Vanni (Caledonia, Ont.) would get called for high sticking at 20 seconds. Guelph used the man advantage to get their third goal of the game, with a quick shot by Nicholas Trecapelli from outside of the crease, with Peroff and Nicklas Huard on the assists at 1:13.
 
Penalties would plague the Gryphons for the reminder of the third period, with the Guelph players finding it hard to stay out of the box. Laurier's first goal of the game would come after Strong was called for cross checking at 15:14, putting the Golden Hawks on a power play. They would set up quickly in front of the net and score on the power play with a quick shot from Joe Vanni, with Taylor D'Andrea (Hamilton, Ont.) and Ryan Lopes (Brampton, Ont.) on the assists.
 
Laurier would score just over two minutes later after a roughing call on Thomas Kohler at 17:19. The Golden Hawks would pull their goaltender and have a 6-on-4 advantage against the Gryphons. It would be Derek Schoenmakers (Kitchener, Ont.) who would score Laurier's second goal of the game, tapping it in the bottom left hand corner, with Luke Hietkamp (London, Ont.) and Matt Brown (Calgary) on the assists.
 
The Golden Hawks would pull their goalie for the last minute of play in an attempt to tie it up at the three's with the Gryphons, however Jordan Mock would take possession of the puck and knock it into the empty net to make it 4-2 with 40 seconds left in the game.
 
The Gryphons would win with a final score of 4-2, with shots on goal totaling 34-30 in favour of the Gryphons.
 
The Guelph Gryphon men's hockey team hits the ice again on Saturday, February 8^th in Waterloo against the Waterloo Warriors with the puck set to drop at 6:30 p.m.