Guelph, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphon men's hockey team earned their first victory of the season against a young Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawk team with a dominant 4-1 final score. The Gryphons move to 1-3-1, while the Golden Hawks drop to 1-1-0.
Second year Gryphon goalie
Keith Hamilton (Kelowna, B.C) was given the start in between the pipes and made the most of the opportunity. Hamilton would turn away 40 of the 41 shots sent his way by the Golden Hawks. While the Gryphons were outshot on the night, they were able to make the most of their scoring opportunities in a huge 1st period. OUA West All-Star
Nicklas Huard (North Bay, Ont.) would open the scoring for Guelph with a goal at the 4:31 mark of the 1st period. From there, the Gryphons power play unit would takeover. After a slashing penalty on Laurier player Derek Shoenmakers (Kitchener, Ont.), the Gryphons would extend their lead to 2-0 when
Robert De Fulviis (Toronto, Ont.) was able to score his first goal of the season. Later in the period, another slashing penalty on Laurier gave the Gryphons another man advantage, and once again the Gryphons were able to take advantage. A perfectly timed shot from Nicklas Huard would find its way through a crowd of defenders and just over the shoulder of Laurier's rookie goalie Christopher Festarini (Oakville, Ont.) as the Gryphons jumped out to a 3-0 after 20 minutes of play.
It would stay that way heading to the 3rd, where the Gryphons would put it out of reach. Once again, it was the Guelph special teams coming through, but this time it was of the short-handed variety. After forcing a Laurier turnover,
Ryan Strand (Invermere, BC) would snap one home from the top of the crease to make it 4-0 Gryphons. Laurier would manage to spoil Hamilton's shutout but the outcome was never in doubt as the Gryphons would go on to win 4-1 to pick up their first victory of the 2014-2015 season. De Fulviis recorded a three point night while Huard,
Nicholas Trecapelli (Guelph, Ont.) and
MacKenzie Nichol (Listowel, Ont.) all finished with two point nights.
The Gryphons will hit the ice again on Friday, October 17
th against the Brock Badgers in St. Catherines with the puck set to drop at 7:15 p.m.
