WATERLOO – The Guelph Gryphon men's soccer team defeated the Waterloo Warriors 2-0 on Saturday afternoon in the team's regular season opener played in Waterloo.  

Goal scorers for the Gryphons were Drew Gowan (Welland, Ont.) and Robbie Murphy (Ottawa) while Chad Paparoni (Burlington, Ont.) recorded the shutout.  

Despite the game being delayed by almost 20 minutes due to thunderstorms in Waterloo the Gryphons were able to pick up the win and a good start to the season.  

Gryphon players found the Waterloo soccer pitch to be in tough condition with ankle-deep grass and the pitch itself was pitted and had a number of holes and rough patches. However it was not the field though that slowed the Guelph play as much as Guelph themselves. It took the team some time to settle and attempt to keep possession, but though they created few clear scoring chances, the Guelph defence did an excellent job of keeping the Waterloo attack far from goal and allowing only one clear Waterloo chance.  

The Guelph coaching staff was impressed with the play of both the starting two central defenders who are rookies this season. Brandon Rollocks and Tom Paron dealt with every aerial ball with confidence, and played without any nerves considering it was both their OUA debuts.  

As the first half wore on, Guelph created more chances, including a shot saved from point blank range from rookie midfielder Tim Flynn; the half looked to be heading towards a draw when Drew Gowan scored in the 44th minute. Flynn and second year player Mike Bijman combined to create the chance for Gowan, who's first shot was saved, but he managed to scramble in the rebound for his first OUA goal.  

The second half was a totally different affair with Guelph controlling the play and creating the best chances; substitutions made at half also had a big impact with Jacob Stolle, Tim Engert, and rookie Quinn Tessarolo all coming on.  

Forward Robbie Murphy, playing in his first OUA game since returning from the FISU Games in China, created two good goal scoring chances before finally opening up his account for the year in the 72nd minute; the goal came from some great inter-play between Engert, Tessarolo, and Murphy, before Murphy finally applied the finish and put the game away.  

Goalkeeper Chad Paparoni and his back four can be proud of the way they dealt with the Waterloo attack, preserving the clean sheet.  

The win was the perfect start for Guelph, who play on the road again tomorrow, kicking off against WLU tomorrow at 3:15pm