GUELPH, ON - Gryphon fans will have plenty to keep their eyes on this week with OUA playoff action upcoming in both men's and women's hockey as well as women's basketball. Listed below is everything you need to know to get you set for an exciting week of action both on the ice and on the hardwood.
 

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WOMEN'S HOCKEY

OUA SEMI-FINALS vs LAURIER
 

Game 1	Wednesday, March 2	7:30pm	Laurier @ Guelph	TICKETS
Game 2	Friday, March 4	7:30pm	Guelph @ Laurier	TICKETS
Game 3 *if necessary*	Sunday, March 6	2pm	Laurier @ Guelph

Regular season records: 
Guelph 21-2-1 (1st in OUA)
Laurier 13-9-2 (7th in OUA)

OUA Playoff seedings:
No. 1 Guelph vs No. 7 Laurier

How they got here:
No. 1 Guelph defeated No. 8 Laurentian 2-games-to-1
No. 7 Laurier defeatd No. 2 Toronto 2-games-to-1

Head-to-head matchups this season:
October 17, 2015 - Guelph @ Laurier (L 2-0)
January 10, 2016 - Laurier @ Guelph (W 3-0)

PREVIEW

If there's one thing the Guelph Gryphons learned from the Laurentian Voyageurs, it's to never take an opponent lightly.
 
That's a lesson that will serve the Gryphs well in the next round of the OUA women's hockey playoffs.
 
The top-ranked Gryphs had their hands full with No. 8 Laurentian in a quarter-final series that ended on Sunday at the Gryphon Centre. That best-of-three series went the distance, and wasn't decided until the last 30 seconds of the final contest.
 
"We learned from Laurentian that we can't underestimate any team," centre Marcie Landman said on Monday. "Playoffs are a whole different world, and playoff hockey is hard no matter who you're playing. We've got to come in prepared, and I think Laurentian taught us that."
 
"They were eighth, but they proved that they belonged here," added defenceman Jessica Pellegrino. "They definitely pushed us and gave us a scare."
 
Their next challengers are the seventh-seeded Laurier Golden Hawks, who defeated the No. 2-ranked Toronto Varsity Blues in triple overtime on Sunday to take that series 2-1.
 
"That's a huge upset, so obviously they're going to be very fired up," Landman said. "We've got to expect them to come out ready to go. We need to be prepared for their best."
 
"We just have to focus on our game and make sure that we pick up our energy," said left-winger Brittany St. James. "We need to remember that we're coming off a really big win as well."
 
Game 1 in the best-of-three OUA semifinal is on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Gryphon Centre. Game 2 is on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Waterloo.
 
The Gryphs are all in agreement that the tough Laurentian series was something they needed, even if it did snap their 12-game winning streak that dated back to November. It challenged them to be better by forcing them to cope with some rare adversity.
 
"It's better to see it now than in the future," St. James said. "We hadn't lost in a while, and we kind of forgot what that felt like, but we definitely battled back through the next game."
 
"We were on a bit of a decline going into playoffs," said head coach Rachel Flanagan. "We were still winning, but we weren't playing our best hockey. They certainly forced us to play better hockey, and so it was a big eye-opener for us, with their discipline and how hard they worked and how badly they wanted it. It really forced us to be better."
 
The team enjoyed a rest day on Monday before getting back on the ice on Tuesday for a practice session. They're looking forward to facing the Golden Hawks, with whom they split two regular-season games; Laurier won 2-0 at home in October, and Guelph returned the favour with a 3-0 triumph at home in January.
 
"We're really excited to play them. They're going to be good competition," St. James said. "I think if we play like we did on Sunday, we should have the upper hand here. But you never know in playoffs, so hopefully we come out flying."
 
"I'm expecting a lot of intensity, a lot of speed," said goaltender Valerie Lamenta. "I know they're going to be throwing a lot of pucks on net, and I think it's going to be a battle of who's going to try to get those greasy goals."
 
That's a tactic that resulted in most of the goals for both teams in Sunday's quarter-final series finale. Flanagan said it's one area they know they need to focus on.
 
"That's exactly what Laurier's going to bring for us; they're very aggressive in front of the net, they like to go there and they get there in a hurry," she said. "We need to be disciplined in front of our own net, making sure we're lifting sticks and taking bodies in front.
 
"But we also need to give them a hard time. Their goaltender's been very good, but she's not that big, so we need to get traffic in front of her."
 
If a third game is necessary, it'll be played on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Gryphon Centre. The other OUA semifinal also starts on Wednesday, between No. 3 Western and No. 4 Nipissing.
 

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MEN'S HOCKEY

OUA WEST FINALS vs WESTERN
 

Game 1	Thursday, March 3	7:30pm	Guelph @ Western	TICKETS
Game 2	Saturday, March 5	7:30pm	Western @ Guelph	TICKETS
Game 3 *if necessary*	Sunday, March 6	7:30pm	Guelph @ Western

Regular season records: 
Guelph 16-11-1 (4th in OUA West)
Western 18-10-0 (2nd in OUA West)

OUA Playoff seedings:
No. 2 Western vs No. 4 Guelph

How they got here:
No. 4 Guelph defeated No. 5 Windsor 2-games-to-1 in OUA West Quarter-final, then defeated No. 6 Ryerson 2-games-to-1 in OUA West Semi-final
No. 2 Western defeatd No. 7 Laurier 2-games-to-0 in OUA West Quarter-final, then defeated No. 8 Toronto 2-games-to-1 in OUA West Semi-final

Head-to-head matchups this season:
October 24, 2015 - Guelph @ Western (L 3-2)
January 14, 2016 - Western @ Guelph (L 3-2)

PREVIEW

Revenge is a dish best served, in this case, frosty. Back on January 14, the Gryphons men's hockey team had their 2016 edition of The Frosty Mug spoiled with a 3-2 loss to the Mustangs in front of a record crowd at the Sleeman Centre. Thursday night in London, the Gryphons will look to take the first step towards exacting some revenge when they open up Game 1 of their best-of-three OUA West Final series at Western. The winner of this series will book a spot in the CIS University Cup Men's Hockey Championships in Halifax (March 17-20).

Both the Gryphons and Mustangs head into the OUA West Finals fresh off of decisive Game 3 victories in their respective Semi-final series. The Mustangs eliminated the upstart Varsity Blues, while the Gryphons got past the No. 6-seed Ryerson Rams thanks to an offensive explosion in the final game of the series. The last time the Gryphons and Mustangs met in the postseason was during the 2013-14 season when the then-No. 8 seed Gryphons nearly pulled off the upset over the then-No.1 seeded Mustangs in the OUA West Quarter-finals. This time around, the Gryphons hold the title of defending Queen's Cup champions, but in order to once again book their spot in the OUA title game, will need to past one of the most consistent teams in the league. "They are a very disciplined, well-coached team," Gryphons head coach Shawn Camp notes about the Western Mustangs. "We anticipate a very fast-pace, intense series and we will have to be at our absolute best if we're going to get back to the Queen's Cup for a second straight year."

During the regular season, the recipe for success for the Gryphons was good goaltending and a balanced offensive attack and it is those two components which have also carried the Gryphons through the first two rounds of the OUA playoffs. Second year netminder Andrew D'Agostini sports a 2.61 Goals Against Average through six postseason games. While D'Agostini has been instrumental in several of the playoff wins, his most impressive performance may have actually come in a Game 2 overtime loss to Ryerson where the Scarborough native was sensational in turning away 47 shots on the night. Offensively, the Gryphons boast a total of six players who have recorded at least 6 points through the first two series of play. Leading the way is rookie Rob Lepine with 9 points (3 G, 6 A) including the OT-winner versus Windsor in Game 3 of the opening round.

The winner of this series will face the winner of UQTR and Carleton in the Queen's Cup. The loser of the Guelph-Western series will face the loser of the UQTR-Carleton series in an OUA Bronze Medal game, with the winner of that game earning the conference's third and final berth into the CIS University Cup Men's Hockey Championships.
 

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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

OUA Preliminary Round vs Brock
 

Brock @ Guelph

Wednesday, March 2

7:00pm

TICKETS

Regular season records: 
Guelph 11-8 (2nd in OUA Central)
Brock 10-9 (3rd in OUA Central)

OUA Playoff seedings:
No. 8 Guelph vs No. 9 Brock

Head-to-head matchups this season:
January 27, 2016 - Guelph @ Brock (L 59-53)
February 27, 2016 - Brock @ Guelph (W 57-48)

PREVIEW

"Change the story." That has been the focus for the Gryphons women's basketball team in 2015-16. They have certainly taken some big steps towards accomplishing that goal this season. Wednesday night on their home court, they will look to take another. For the first time since the 2012-2013 season, the Gryphons women's basketball program is back in the OUA playoff picture. A total of eight seasons have come and gone since the Gryphons last picked up a postseason victory, with the program's most recent playoff win coming in 2007 over Lakehead in the OUA West Quarter-finals. This year's squad enters into the OUA playoffs in fine form and riding plenty of momentum as they will look to start their postseason run in the exact same way they ended their regular season...with a win over Brock.

The Gryphons defeated the Badgers 57-48 last Saturday in what was part of the final women's-and-men's basketball doubleheader at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre. Now, just four days later, the Gryphons and Badgers are once again set to square off in what will this time serve as the final playoff basketball game played at the W.F. Mitchell Centre. Next season, the Gryphons are set to move into the New Guelph Gryphons Athletics Centre. "Our team has a great amount of pride playing in this gym," says Gryphons head coach Christin Dickenson, now in her third year in charge of the program. "The amount of support from the community and the students has been amazing. Our players have fed off of that energy and we would love nothing more than to go out on a winning note in what will be the final [varsity basketball] game played here."

Strong defending and rebounding have been the two main ingredients for success for the Gryphons this season. In two head-to-head matchups this season, the Gryphons have both times managed to keep the Badgers under their season scoring average (65.8) by holding them to 59 and 48 points while splitting a pair of decisions. The Gryphons are also a +23 in the battle of the boards in those two games, out-rebounding Brock 91-68 in their two meetings this season. Second year point guard Bridget Atkinson enters the postseason having averaged 15.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game over her last six contests. The strong finish from Atkinson is relfective of the team as a whole, who have continued to improve day in day out thoughout the course of the season. Fifth year senior Kate MacTavish led the team in scoring (14.9 PPG) and rebound (9.1 RPG) during the regular season, and is one of five seniors on this Gryphons team looking to extend their careers at least another game come Wednesday night. The senior class of MacTavish, Dana Van Balkom, Barbara Inrig-Pieterse, Vanessa Rampado and Kate Yallin have all been instrumental in helping the Gryphons finish over .500 for the first time since the 2006-2007 season. Not only has this year's group surpassed the .500 mark to earn a spot in the playoffs, they've also earned home court advantage in the opening round. The story is certainly changing around the Gryphons women's basketball program. On Wednesday night, they will to add some playoff success to the latest chapter in that story.

 

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