Guelph, Ont. (September 17, 2014) – The Guelph Gryphons men's lacrosse team held their home opener Wednesday evening and treated a great crowd to a 15-6 win over Laurier.
 
Guelph controlled the game from the opening faceoff and seemed to score at will in the first quarter. Brett Ulbikas (Burlington, ON) opened the scoring for the Gryphons in the second minute of the game and Guelph never looked back. The Gryphons scored six unanswered goals in the first and added another to take a 7-1 first quarter lead.
 
Defensively, Guelph's starters limited Laurier to one good opportunity in the quarter. Longstick defensemen Nicholas Wordtmann (Burlington, ON), Kristien Leblanc (Oakville, ON) , Michael Hennessey (Peterborough, ON) and David Nedelko (Lynden, ON), were solid in front of goaltender Michael Lalani (Guelph. ON), keeping the Laurier attack on the perimeter, forcing turnovers and clearing the ball. 
 
The Gryphons didn't miss a beat in the second quarter and beyond when Matthew Lyons (Whitby, ON), Brett Scullion (Peterborough, ON) Spencer Fraser-Steinbach (Guelph, ON) and Joshua Manangan (Etobicoke, ON) stepped on to the field to take on the defensive role. Equally up for the challenge were goalies Tyler MacKendrick (Whitby, ON) and rookie Dmytro Dutka (Toronto, ON).
 
With an 11-2 lead at half time, the Gryphon offence slowed the pace down somewhat and the defence were content to allow Laurier to move the ball around the perimeter. The only real scoring chances Laurier saw were on power play opportunities where they capitalized on three occasions.
 
The team needed a win to snap their three game losing streak. As every man on the roster saw time tonight, the 15-6 victory was a good one for the Gryphons. Ten men of the 30 man roster had points with Serville leading the way with four goals and two assists. Brett Ulbikas ended up with three goals and an assist, Mike Burke (Wasaga Beach, ON) had 2-and-2 while Curtis Knight (Whitby, ON) had a goal and two assists. Brendan Vogan (Toronto, ON), Taylor Brown (Peterborough, ON) Liam Corbett (Burlington, ON), Scott Johnston (Oakville, ON) all had one each.  Danny McIsaac (Burlington, ON) also had one; his first as a Gryphon. Rounding out the scoring was veteran attackman Jordan Critch (Orangeville, ON) with an assist.
 
The Gryphons have a bit of a break before next taking the field on September 28 when they travel to Nipissing University.