The Guelph Gryphons are returning to the final of the Steel Blade Tournament after defeating the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 5-1 tonight in St.Catherine's.  The Gryphons benefitted from a balanced attack and stifling defence to put them in a position to defend their title.

Guelph opened the scoring in the first period when rookie Mike McFarlane (Ajax) banged in a rebound off a hard shot by Zach Lillie (Bracebridge).  The Gryphons outshot Laurier 7-2 in the first frame.

The Gryphons followed a similar pattern to their win two nights earlier over Brock with a dominant second period that featured three different scorers and continuous pressure on the Laurier net. Tim Priamo (Guelph) scored on a heavy slap shot just eight seconds into a Laurier penalty on a quick face-off win by Thomas Kiriakou (Richmond Hill) and a partner pass by Nathan Martine (Port Colborne).  Ed Gale (Keswick) scored on a rocket from the wing on a rush set up by J.T. Macdonald (Niagara Falls) and Priamo less than a minute later.  Laurier replied with a powerplay goal exactly two minutes later by Ryan Bellows.  After Gale forced a turnover on an aggressive forecheck a couple minutes later, he slipped the puck to Zach Lillie who scored to make it 4-1. Guelph outshot Laurier 18-6 in the period.
 

Matt Lyall (Richmond Hill) added a powerplay goal in the third period assisted by Ken Peroff (Astorville) and Alex Magera (Edmonton, Ab.).  Guelph outshot Laurier 11-5 in the third and 36-13 on the night.
 

Scott Van Bommel stopped all eight shots he faced and Andrew Loverock stopped four of the five he faced for Guelph.  Andrew Brown went the distance in nets for Laurier.

The Gryphons will now face the Brock Badgers in a rematch of last year's final on Sunday afternoon at 2:15 P.M. at Brock.