The Guelph Gryphon men's hockey team successfully defended their Steel Blade tournament title with a convincing 5-1 win over the host Brock Badgers Sunday afternoon (Sept. 19).  The Gryphons displayed a balanced scoring attack with five different scorers and suffocating defence that limited Brock to few scoring chances.

 

Guelph never trailed in the tournament and once again took the lead today on a goal by Mike McFarlane (Ajax, Ont.) assisted by Zach Lillie (Bracebridge, Ont.) and Tim Priamo (Guelph, Ont.). Jordan Gignac tied the game for Brock a couple minutes later however Guelph doubled Brock 10-5 for shots in the first period.

 

 The game remained tight with Kris Belan (Florence, Ont.) scoring the only goal of the second period on a passing play on the powerplay setup by Thomas Kiriakou (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Ed Gale (Keswick, Ont.).  Guelph outshot Brock 12-5 in the period.

 

 Finally in the third the Gryphons put the game away with another powerplay goal on a deflection by Justin Gvora (Thunder Bay, Ont.) on a point shot and pass from Nathan Martine (Port Colborne, Ont.) and Kiriakou.  With the score 3-1 the Gryphons added two more goals within a minute late in the game.  Ed Gale outworked the Brock defence on a goalmouth scramble from Mike McInerney (Toronto) and Priamo.  Finally Zach Lillie scored on a hard wrist shot cutting through the slot on a slick pass from Mike McFarlane.   The Gryphons dominated the period with chances while outshooting the Badgers 9-3 in the final frame.  

 

Guelph outshot Brock 33-13 on the day.  Cody St. Jacques was excellent again in net for Guelph while Kurt Jory was very busy in the Brock net. Guelph went 2-for-6 on the powerplay and killed off all five Brock powerplays.

 

The Gryphons will travel to UNB for the Varsity Reds Fall Classic Thursday.  They will play the host UNB on Friday Sept. 24 at 8:00 p.m. at the Aitken Centre and play Saint Mary's or UPEI on Saturday Sept. 25 at 4:00 p.m.