Guelph, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphon's men's soccer team fell 4-3 in penalty kicks to the Laurier Golden Hawks in the first round of the OUA Playoffs on Wednesday night. The loss unfortunately ends the season for the squad.
 
Despite the loss Guelph put on an exciting display tonight, The Gryphon's opened the half with a goal in the third minute of the contest on a brilliant free kick from Ethan Danielli.  In the 21st minute Jared Agyemang nearly scored another for Guelph when he shot the ball just wide of the net directly off a cross. In the 30th minute Paul Manchisi struck the ball from just outside the Laurier box and hit the top bar, narrowly missing.
 
The opening half was extremely close with plenty of tension from both sides. In the 42nd minute Laurier was awarded an indirect free kick a few feet outside the Gryphon box. Goalie Niklas Wetterling made a marvelous save to keep the lead for the Gryphon's. However, off the ensuing corner kick Jordan Kotsopolous evened the match for the Golden Hawks.

The scored remained 1-1 at the half.
 
Early in the second half Laurier controlled possession and dictated the game. Timothy Flynn was given a yellow card in the 71st minute after a questionable challenge. In the 77th minute Laurier's Niklas Bauer finally broke the deadlock on a long strike.
 
Down 2-1 Guelph battled hard to even things up. In the 86th minute Guelph was given a free kick from a few feet outside the box. Leading scorer Robert Murphy sailed the free kick over the Laurier net and out of play. The game seemed to be over but the Gryphon's never quit. In injury time the Gryphon's Jared Agyemang evened the match at 2-2 with a beautiful header goal. This sent the match into extra time.
 
In the 96th minute Guelph's Timothy Flynn scored to make the score 3-2.
 
In the 105th minute Laurier was awarded a free kick inches outside the Gryphon box. Their glorious opportunity to tie up the match was blocked by the Guelph wall. Laurier continued to pressure the Gryphon defense and in the 113th minute they tied the match when Jordan Kotsopoulos scored his second of the match. The game ended at 3-3 and went on the penalty kicks.
 
The Gryphon's opened the penalty shootout with a goal from Paul Manchisi.  Laurier answered back with a goal as well. After the first six shooters the teams were tied as all attempts had been converted. With the seventh shot Gryphon Justin Springer as stopped, opening the door for Laurier to take the game. Forward Matthew Maughn scored for Laurier to end the game.
The loss ends the season for the Guelph Gryphon's, while Laurier moves on to the OUA quarterfinals.
 

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At the start of the game the Gryphons honoured their graduating players.  
 
Goalkeeper Niklas Wetterling, who is an international student who will be returning to Sweden in December after one term here in Guelph.  Niklas quickly demonstrated his ability in goal and has since taken over the starting job, starting 12 of the 16 regular season games this season, and recording a total of six clean sheets, 27 saves, and 40 claims.
 
Neil McLoughlin has unfortunately had his Gryphon career shortened by injury. On his day, Neil was one of the finest and most talented defenders we've ever had; in his four-year career, Neil made 36 appearances, 19 as a starter and we wish him well in his recovery from hip surgery this winter. 
 
Marc Bijman has been an incredibly determined and focused player who has concentrated since day one on winning his spot in the back four. In all, he appeared 48 times for the Gryphons, 20 as a starter and had his most impressive season in 2012 playing over 1000 minutes and leading the team in ball won %. 
 
Jacob Stolle came to the University of Guelph as a forward, and since then has played just about every position on the field, including back-up goalkeeper last year. He has spent most of his Gryphon career as a defender and has had an exceptional 2013 season. In all, he has appeared for the Gryphons an impressive total of 57 times, 34 times as a starter, and has scored five goals for the team, all while maintaining a very impressive academic average and winning most of his fantasy football leagues.
 
Jeremy Gaylor is yet another graduating defender who has had a very impressive career at the University of Guelph. Jeremy has played both centre back and full back and has shown his importance to the team this year again and again using his speed and good decision making to take opportunities from attackers.  Jeremy has appeared in 58 games as a Gryphon, starting 49; he has a career passing percentage of 79%, has showed his good decision making in never having a season with more than 9 fouls, and scored his first Gryphon goal this year.
 
Nick Liang is a 5th year who has been a goalkeeper and is now an assistant goalkeeping coach; he is the consummate team player, willing to do anything to help the team reach their goals.  His selfless and consistently professional attitude will be missed.
 
Robbie Murphy is without a doubt the greatest Gryphon to have ever graced the men's soccer team. His stats almost speak for themselves – he has appeared 66 times for the Gryphons, 58 as a starter; he has scored a team record 47 goals, more than doubling the previous Gryphon record; he was an OUA all-star three times so far, an All-Canadian once, named OUA and CIS Rookie of the Year in 2009, OUA and CIS Player of the Year in 2011, and has twice represented Canada at the FISU Games, most recently as team captain, scoring five goals as an international; further, he has been selected as the team MVP twice, has been selected captain for the past four years in a row, and was the Gryphon Male Athlete of the Year in 2011.