Box Score Kingston, ON – Friday night in Kingston, the seventh ranked Gryphons won 3-1 over the fourth ranked Queen's Gaels. With the win, the Gryphons improve to 12-2-3 and draw even with Queen's with 27 points on the season (note: the Gryphons have one game in-hand).
The OUA.tv Marquee Matchup of the week lived up to the hype, with these two talented teams playing in a hard fought, tightly contested affair. The Gryphons, who beat Queen's 4-0 in their matchup earlier this season, once again opened the scoring. First year centre
Sophie Contant (Cornwall, ON) would score the first goal of her OUA career to give the Gryphons a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.
The Gryphons would extend their lead to 2-0 in the second period thanks to
Jessica Pinkerton's fifth goal of the season (with
Brittany St James and
Christine Grant picking up assists). Queen's was able to strike back on the power play later in the period, as the Gryphons held on to a 2-1 lead heading to the final period.
These days, two goals often seems to be more than enough the way Gryphons All-Star goalie
Stephanie Nehring is playing. Nehring was once again in fine form on Friday night, turning away 24 of the 25 shots sent her way. With 2:16 left in regulation, Gryphons forward
Averi Nooren would be called for slashing, giving the Gaels a man advantage for essentially the rest of regulation. As they had done all night, the Gryphons would bear down defensively and find a way to kill it off. In the closing moments, the Gaels would pull the goalie to get six skaters on the ice. With Queen's buzzing in the Guelph end of the ice, Gryphons All-Star forward Christine Grant was able to get the stick on her puck and clear the zone to relieve some pressure. It ends up she would do more than just that. Her clearing attempt from 200 feet away would find the empty net and seal the 3-1 victory for the Gryphons.
Up next for the Gryphons, a Sunday afternoon game in Oshawa versus the UOIT Ridgebacks. Puck drop is set for 3:30pm and can be seen live on OUA.tv
