The stands at the Gryphon Centre were filled with alumni this afternoon (Nov. 13) for Guelph's 3^rd Annual Hockey Day in Gryphonville.  The Gryphon squad was looking to impress the former players and didn't disappoint, coming away with the 2-1 overtime win over the visiting Brock Badgers.

Guelph native and second-year defenseman, Tim Priamo, netted the game-winner for the Gryphons just 1:07 into the overtime period, with Nathan Martine (Port Colborne, Ont.) and Matt Lyall (Richmond Hill, Ont.) picking up the assists on the goal.  Geoff Guimond (Mississauga, Ont.) had the Gryphons' first goal in the opening period, coming from Shane Kinsella (Toronto, Ont.) and Alex Magera (Edmonton, Alta.).

Cody St. Jacques Iroquois Falls, Ont.) was given the nod this afternoon, making 14 saves on 15 shots and taking the win to even his record at 4-4-0.

The only goal for Brock came from Matt Abercrombie (Sarnia, Ont.) and was assisted by Steve Mullin (Guelph, Ont.) and Kaine Geldart (Kingston, Ont.).

Vince Cusick (Hamilton, Ont.) had his first start of the season this afternoon and played well, with 34 saves on 36 shots.

The win moves the Gryphons to 6-5-0 while the Badgers drop to 3-4-4.

The first period of action in Guelph was a back and forth affair, with both teams taking an aggressive approach to the first twenty minutes.  As a result, the game remained scoreless until the last three minutes of the frame. 

Brock was first to get on the board on a play deep in the Gryphon zone.  With the puck and the action moving to the left of the Guelph net, Cody St. Jacques made the appropriate corrections to his positioning.  In the process, Badger forward Steve Mullin, quickly fired a pass back against the grain to the stick of Matt Abercrombie who had the open net behind St. Jacques to quickly dump the puck into for the go-ahead goal.

The Gryphons would respond with just 0:15 left on the clock.  Maintaining possession in the Brock end and the clock ticking down, Geoff Guimond threw the puck at the net in a final effort to knot the score.  The puck was shot hard and changed direction off the skate of a Badger defender, finding its way through the five-hole of Brock goaltender, Vince Cusick.  The goal evened the score and both teams headed to their dressing rooms with a goal apiece.

The second period seemed to favour the Gryphons who just minutes in beat Cusick.  Rotating the puck in the corner left an open lane for Thomas Kiriakou (Richmond Hill, Ont.) to go to the net. Dangling in front, Kiriakou slipped a pass across the net to Ed Gale (Keswick, Ont.) who instantly buried the puck.  Unfortunately for the Gryphons, the referee declared the net had been pushed off before the puck went in and Guelph would not be credited with a goal, the score remaining 1-1.

The Gryphons had a number of additional opportunities in the frame, but had a tough time beating Cusick and when they did, the post seemed to be conveniently placed behind him as a second line of defense.

The third period played out much like the second, with lots of scoring chances but no scoring, leaving the decision up to a period of overtime play.

After forty minutes of scoreless hockey, a five-minute overtime period determining the end of the game seemed unlikely.  The Gryphons however, proved otherwise, potting the game-winner just over a minute into extra time. 

Matt Lyall brought the puck deep into the Brock zone and left it for a trailing Nathan Martine, who realized the best option was to take the puck back to the point to set up the offense.  While drifting backwards to the blue line, Martine spotted Tim Priamo floating behind the action on the far side of the ice.  A tape-to-tape pass left Priamo with just a couple feet of open ice between himself and Cusick.  Acting quickly, Priamo made a few choppy movements that seemed to stall Cusick and going to his backhand, Priamo lifted the puck over Cusick's pad and into the back of the net.

The goal, just 1:07 into the frame, gave the Gryphons the 2-1 win and after polishing the ice a little with his glove, on one knee, Priamo was smothered by the entire Gryphon squad who had immediately emptied the bench seeing the game-winner ruffle the mesh.

The Gryphons host both of their games next week, with the Queen's Gaels coming in on Friday (Nov. 19) and the RMC Paladins making the trip in for Saturday's (Nov. 20) tilt. Both games will start at 7:30pm in the Gryphon Centre.

Source: Jacob Cassidy

GAME SUMMARY

Brock 1 at Guelph 2 (OT) - Status: Final OT

Saturday, November 13, 2010 - Gryphon Centre Arena

 

Brock 1 0 0 0 - 1

Guelph 1 0 0 1 - 2

 

1st Period-1, Brock, Abercrombie 6 (Mullin, Geldart), 17:43. 2, Guelph, Guimond 2 (Kinsella, Magera), 19:44. Penalties-Geldart Bro (hooking), 9:43; Stajan Bro (tripping), 11:48; Pell Bro (checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct), 14:56; Martine Gue (checking to the head, 10-minute misconduct), 19:54.

 

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-No Penalties

 

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Flynn Bro (roughing), 10:47.

 

OT Period-3, Guelph, Priamo 6 (Martine, Lyall), 1:07. Penalties-No Penalties

 

Shots on Goal-Brock 6-6-3-0-15. Guelph 15-12-8-1-36.

Power Play Opportunities-Brock 0 / 1; Guelph 0 / 4.

Goalies-Brock, Cusick 0-1-0 (36 shots-34 saves). Guelph, St. Jacques 4-4-0 (15 shots-14 saves)