Box Score
GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team dropped a 2-1 final tonight (Nov. 22) to the Western Mustangs at the Gryphon Centre. Guelph's record falls to 9-5-1 while the Mustangs victory lifts them to a 10-3-0 record and one spot ahead of the Gryphons in the OUA West standings. The loss also ends the Gryphons seven-game win-streak dating back to Oct. 25 (6-3 loss to Waterloo).
Western outshot the Gryphons 25-20 on the night. Third-year Western forward Steven Reese (Dorchester, Ont.) tallied two assists on the night while Kyle De Coste (London, Ont.) and Daniel Erlich (Thornhill, Ont.) lit the Gryphon lamp. Elrich and Reese now take the top spot in OUA assist leaders, tied with 15 apiece. Josh Unice earned the win in net for the Mustangs making 19 saves.
Scoring the lone Gryphon goal was Andrew Merrett (Vernon, Ont.). First year netminder, Brandon Maxwell (Guelph, Ont.) made 23 saves in the loss. Despite tonight's result he continues to lead the conference in goals against average (1.65) and also sports a sparkling 0.939 save percentage.
The first frame was a special teams feature, with all three goals of the contest being scored on the powerplay.
Andrew Merrett started the scoring at 2:08 of the first, getting his fourth goal of the season from Matt Lyall (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Ken Peroff (Chisholm, Ont.). With the man advantage, Perroff sent a beautiful pass across the crease to a waiting Merrett who didn't hesitate sifting a wrist-shot top right corner.
It was the Mustangs turn to score on the power-play next as Kyle De Coste notched his sixth of the season getting one past Gryphon netminder Brandon Maxwell at the 6-minute mark with helpers from Steven Reese and Daniel Erlich. Minutes later, the Mustangs took the lead with another power-play goal, this time from Daniel Erlich at 8:52, scoring a one-timer at the blue-line. Drawing the assists was Reese and Matt Clarke (London, Ont.). At the end of the period the Mustangs doubled the Gryphons shots on net, 8-4.
The Gryphons seemed to find their stride in the second period with a number of great attempts but weren't able to capitalize. Rookie Michael Hasson (Ariss, Ont.) was close at tying it up with a breakaway attempt mid-way through the period but Mustangs netminder Josh Unice made the save to keep the Gryphons at bay. The Gryphons outshot the Mustangs in the second period 11-7.
Undaunted by the one-goal deficit the Gryphons continued to press against the Mustangs, but weren't able to get the tying goal in the third period. Western managed to outskate the Gryphons in the third, outshooting them 10-5.
The Gryphons are back at the Gryphon Centre this Saturday (Nov. 24) for a game against the Laurier Golden Hawks. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
