BOX SCORE
 
GUELPH, Ont. – Justin Gvora's, game-winning goal 2:39 into overtime lifted the Guelph Gryphon men's hockey team to a 3-2 triumph over the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday night at the Gryphon Centre.
 
Justin Gvora (Thunder Bay, Ont.) put away the game winner and tallied a pair of assists, while Nathan Martine (Guelph, Ont.) and Barrett Brook (Leduc, AB) tallied a pair of goals each.
 
The game was a high-intensity, aggressive affair between the rival teams. The win moves Guelph to 9-12-5 while the loss drops Laurier to 8-16-2.
 
Cody St. Jacques (Iroquois Falls, Ont.) got the start between the pipes for the Gryphons making 22 saves on 24 shots.
 
Laurier opened the scoring with a power play goal from Mitchell Good at the seven-minute mark of the game. The first period ended with the Gryphons outshooting Laurier 17-8 in the period.  
 
Early in the second period, Guelph went on the powerplay and after some great puck movement Justin Gvora slid the puck out to Nathan Martine on the point who wired a shot at the net knotting the game at one.  Zach Lillie (Bracebridge, Ont) would also pick up an assist on the powerplay goal.
 
Seven minutes into the second period Guelph would pull ahead on a goal by Barrett Brook. After a 3-on-2 gave Gvora an opportunity to fire a shot on net the rebound would land directly on the stick of Brook who didn't hesitate to snipe it top shelf past the goalie.
 
Midway through the second period, tensions rose in front of the Gryphon net as a fight ensued and in total three 10-minute misconducts were dished out.  The Gryphons would take the 2-1 lead into the third period.
 
The third period was full of high quality opportunities at both ends of the rink.  Guelph out-muscled the Hawks throughout the period with their continued aggressive play, but much to the dismay of the Gryphons and their fans, the Golden Hawks would score an equalizer 13-minutes into the third to send the game to overtime.
 
Half of the overtime period ran out before Justin Gvora capitalized on a giveaway by a Golden Hawk.  After picking up the loose puck Gvora skated in and wired one off the inside of the crossbar and past the sprawling Laurier goaltender.  Over 100 fans and the Gryphon team erupted at the Gryphon Centre celebrating the overtime goal.
 
The Gryphons are back home at the Gryphon Centre this Thursday (February 9) against the Windsor Lancers for graduating seniors night.  Puck drops at 7:30pm. 
  Mens Hockey vs. WLU 2012 Gallery