Box Score
Men's Hockey vs Lakehead 2012 Gallery
Tonight marks the end of the double-header against the Lakehead Thunderwolves.  The Gryphons dropped both games with a 6-3 loss last night (Oct 5) and a 5-4 loss tonight (Oct 6) at the Gryphon Centre.
 
The loss drops the Gryphons into an 0-2 start while jumpstarting the Thunderwolves' season with a 2-0 record.
 
The game got off to a scrappy start following the intensity from last night's game as Guelph's powerplay unit made their first appearance after just under a minute of play.  Unfortunately Lakehead was able to control the puck for the majority of the two minutes to keep the Gryphons at bay.
 
Less than seven minutes later, Guelph's own J.T. MacDonald (Niagara Falls, Ont) was called for hooking to give the Lakehead powerplay their first shift of the night.  The Thunderwolves wasted no time in attacking Guelph's net by scoring several shots on target in succession.  Andrew Loverock (Elmvale, Ont) was instrumental in pushing several of these aside but was unable to protect a rebound that was jumped on by Matt Caria to hammer home the first goal of the night.
 
Following the Lakehead powerplay, Guelph soon dropped Mike Hasson (Ariss, Ont) to a questionable penalty to give the Thunderwolves another advantage.  Seconds later Hasson was joined in the box by Brett Appio (Bolton, Ont) to give the Thunderwolves a 5-on-3 opportunity.  Thankfully Guelph's penalty kill was able to spoil the Thunderwolves' success by keeping control of the puck for long enough to earn their own powerplay opportunity.
 
An ensuing scramble in front of the net did little more than raise the home crowd's hopes as it was swatted away to signal the end of the Gryphon powerplay.  However, redemption for the Gryphon powerplay unit would come with three minutes left in the period as Justin Gvora (Thunder Bay, Ont) was able to snipe the five-hole from the point to tie the game at one.  He was assisted by Nathan Martine (Port Colborne, Ont) and Nicholas Trecapelli (Guelph, Ont) to end the period tied up.
 
The Thunderwolves wasted no time in cashing in on a short-handed Guelph line as Luke Judson tapped in the go-ahead goal 38 seconds into the period.  Six minutes later the Gryphon penalty kill would make a reappearance to fend off the hungry Thunderwolves.  Unfortunately the Thunderwolves found another chance to shine as Keith Grondin buried the puck to put Lakehead up by two.
 
Just as momentum was beginning to sway in Guelph's favour, a costly cough-up gave Lakehead a 2-on-1 opportunity that they would not miss as Carson Dubchak charged the net to give Trevor Gamache the open rebound to put the Thunderwolves up by three.
 
The Gryphon powerplay unit would be given an opportunity to bring their team to within two following a penalty to stall the Lakehead momentum.  It seemed as though this wouldn't be enough but in the dying seconds of the powerplay, Gryphon Captain Ed Gale (Keswick, Ont) found the back of the net to bring the score to 4-2.
 
But less than a minute later, Lakehead's Jay Gilbert managed to penetrate the Gryphon defence to regain the three goal lead to give the Thunderwolves a 5-2 lead going into the third.
 
A hungry Gryphon team came into the third with an unforeseen ferocity to create an early goal to cut Lakehead's lead to two.  Brett Appio was awarded the goal with Martine and Hasson contributing assists in the effort.
 
The Gryphons were able to continue their dominance as J.T. MacDonald fed the puck to Andy Bathgate (Georgetown, Ont) who was able to corral it in to score Guelph's second goal in the period.
 
Yet despite the two quick goals, and outshooting the Thunderwolves 43-35, the Gryphons came up short in a disappointing 5-4 loss to round out the double-header.
 
The Gryphons look to reboot their season as they host the Brock Badgers next Thursday (Oct 11) at the Gryphon Centre.  The puck drops at 7:30 pm.