Nov. 20 – Guelph 7 – RMC 3

 

GUELPH- Coming off a big performance last night, the Gryphons' offence was fired up again tonight (Nov. 20) on home ice.  After a two-year hiatus, the Gryphons and Paladins finally met up again and the Gryphons showed off a finely tuned offensive powerhouse, taking the 7-3 win over the visitors.

 

Team captain, Kris Belan (Florence, Ont.), led his squad on the score sheet tonight with a pair of goals and an assist in the victory.  Also helping out on offence, Zach Lillie (Bracebridge, Ont.) potted two goals of his own, while Thomas Kiriakou (Richmond Hill, Ont.) chipped in two assists.

 

Cody St. Jacques (Iroquois Falls, Ont.) started back-to-back games for the Gryphons picking up his second win in as many days, making 17 saves on 20 shots.For RMC, Andrew Flemming (Quispamsis, N.B.) was given the nod between the pipes, allowing 7 goals but playing well considering he made 47 saves on 54 shots.

 

Major contributors for the Paladins offence were Matthew Pinder (Calgary, Alta.), picking up a pair of assists, and Shawn Cox (Smiths Falls, Ont.), who netted a goal and picked up a helper as well.

 

The Gryphons dominated play in the first, outshooting the Paladins 19-3.  The scoreboard however, showed otherwise.  In fact it was RMC who got on the board first on their first shot of the game.

 

Doing a good job to keep the pressure on in the Gryphon end, the Paladins sent the puck to the point to set up the offense, but Colin O'Rourke (Montreal, Que.) had another plan.  Noticing a large crowd in front of St. Jacques, O'Rourke wound up and fired a shot on net.  The puck managed to make it through the screen and beat the blinded and helpless St. Jacques.  Taking the lead early in the game seemed to fire up the Paladin squad, but they couldn't hold off the Gryphons for long.

 

Mid way through the frame, with Guelph pressuring deep, Cale Jefferies Glenboro, Man.) worked the puck out of the corner then dumped it back down to Zach Lillie.  Lillie, coming off the end-boards, moved up beside the net and sent a backhander along the ice beneath the pads of Flemming.  The Gryphon goal would tie the game at one and returned the spark to the Gryphon squad.

 

The second period was host to a plethora of scoring, with five goals coming in the frame. The Gryphons started the scoring at 5:47, on a garbage goal in front by Ed Gale (Keswick, Ont.) to take a 2-1 lead.  Answering promptly, the Paladins knotted the game at two on a redirected shot, with the goal being credited to Landon Lavictoire (Kirkland Lake, Ont.).

 

Guelph regained the lead just 0:14 later on a quick shot from Gryphon captain, Kris Belan.  After Thomas Kiriakou cleanly won the draw in the RMC zone, Belan gathered the fluttering puck on his stick and snapped the puck over the left shoulder of Flemming, giving the Gryphons a 3-2 lead.

 

From that point Guelph dominated in the offensive zone, mustering up another 19 shots and beating Flemming twice before time ran out.

 

On the powerplay at 13:46, Belan picked up his second goal of the evening, knocking down a hard wrist shot from Kiriakou.

 

A few minutes later, Lillie would claim his second of the night to give the Gryphons a hefty three-goal lead.  Patrick Campbell (Sauble Beach, Ont.) started the rush, charging into the Paladin zone.  Crossing the blue line Campbell dropped the puck off for James Merrett (Vernon, Ont.), who then immediately sent the puck to Lillie at the hash marks.  Lillie, receiving the puck on his backhand, kept it there and whipped around, slinging the puck into the back of the net.

The Gryphons would head to the dressing room up 5-2 for the second intermission.

 

The Paladins didn't show signs of surrendering coming into the third period, as they narrowed the gap to two goals under three minutes into the frame.  Shawn Cox, with the puck to the right of St. Jacques, on the powerplay, waited patiently to find a gap in the defense.  Seeming to find the hole he was looking for, Cox wired a shot between the legs of a Gryphon defender and the puck found the back of the net.

 

Once again, the Gryphons wasted no time restoring their lead, potting their sixth goal of the game less than a minute later.  As Mike Kusy (St. Catharines, Ont.) handled the puck along the boards to the right of Flemming he spotted Geoff Guimond (Mississauga, Ont.) streaking into the zone unnoticed, behind the play. Kusy fed Guimond the puck leaving the Gryphon forward with lots of room to make a move on the RMC goaltender.  Guimond, playing with the puck in front of Flemming, forced the goaltender to sprawl in the hope of making a save.  With precision, Guimond neatly tucked the puck between the post and Flemming's toe, a space just big enough for the puck to squeeze through to the net.

 

The Gryphons would add one more to their total before the end of the game on a shot by J.T. MacDonald (Niagara Falls, Ont.).  The puck looked as though it had been stopped, but snuck under the arm of Flemming and trickled in to boost the Gryphons' lead to 7-3.

 

Coming away with the victory the Gryphons pick up two wins at home before a long stretch away from home ice.  Next week, the Gryphons hit the road and head to Quebec to play UQTR (Nov. 26) and McGill (Nov. 27).

 

By: Jacob Cassidy

 

GAME SUMMARY

RMC 3 at Guelph 7 - Status: Final

Saturday, November 20, 2010 - Gryphon Centre Arena

 

RMC 1 1 1 - 3

Guelph 1 4 2 - 7

 

1st Period-1, RMC, O'Rourke 1 (Pinder, Cox), 2:39. 2, Guelph, Lillie 3 (Jefferies), 13:16. Penalties-Pinder Rmc (cross checking), 7:08; Alaby Rmc (cross checking), 10:58; Lim Rmc (roughing), 19:41; Belan Gue (high sticking, roughing), 19:41.

 

2nd Period-3, Guelph, Gale 3 (Belan, Priamo), 5:47. 4, RMC, Lavictoire 4 (Pinder, Matthewson), 6:15. 5, Guelph, Belan 7 (Kiriakou), 6:59. 6, Guelph, Belan 8 (Kiriakou, Martine), 13:46 (PP). 7, Guelph, Lillie 4 (Merrett, Campbell), 18:14. Penalties-Pinder Rmc (tripping), 8:41; Brook Gue (interference), 11:21; Matthewson Rmc (slashing), 12:16; Lillie Gue (slashing), 14:30; Sullivan Rmc (hooking), 19:49.

 

3rd Period-8, RMC, Cox 4 (Lim, Sullivan), 2:55 (PP). 9, Guelph, Guimond 3 (Kusy, Magera), 3:54. 10, Guelph, Macdonald 5 (Lyall, Gvora), 16:34. Penalties-Jefferies Gue (too many men), 2:34; Matthewson Rmc (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 5:21; Belan Gue (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 5:21; Smith Rmc (high sticking), 14:15; Smith Rmc (high sticking), 18:31.

 

Shots on Goal-RMC 3-15-2-20. Guelph 19-19-16-54.

Power Play Opportunities-RMC 1 / 3; Guelph 1 / 7.

Goalies-RMC, Flemming 0-10-0 (54 shots-47 saves). Guelph, St. Jacques 6-4-0 (20 shots-17 saves)