Box Score
Toronto, Ont. (Jan. 3, 2015) - Behind a hat-trick from defenceman MacKenzie Nichol (Listowel, Ont.) the Gryphon men's hockey team snapped an eight-game losing streak with an 8-1 rout of the Ryerson Rams on Saturday afternoon at the Mattamy Centre in Toronto.  With the win, the Gryphons improve to 4-10-1 on the season while Ryerson falls to 9-6-1.

After a frustrating first half of the season, the Gryphons started the 2015 portion of their OUA schedule with a major statement, going on the road and taking out their frustration by scoring a season-high eight goals against a good Ryerson team that came into the game having won seven of their previous 10 OUA games.  Aside from MacKenzie Nichol's memorable three-goal performance (note: he had one goal in his first 16 games of the season), there were a number of other Gryphons who had their names littered all over the score sheet.  Nick Huard (North Bay, Ont.) and Teal Burns (Victoria, B.C.) each had three assists on the night; Scott Simmonds (Uxbridge, Ont.) scored twice, while Burns, Jordan Mock (Dartmouth, NS) and Carlos Amestoy (Toronto, Ont.) also found the back of the net.  

The Gryphons led 3-0 after the first period and extended that lead to 5-1 heading to the third period.  Of the Gryphons eight goals, half came via the special teams with two coming on the power play and two coming short-handed.  Despite the fact that the score was lobsided in Guelph's favour, the shots were not.  Ryerson actually outshot the Gryphons 44-36 on the night, meaning Gryphons rookie goalie Andrew D'Agostini (Scarborough, Ont.) had to make 43 saves in the win.  For the Gryphons, who have been on the wrong end of several one-goal games season, it is their first win since October 25 when they beat the UOIT Ridgebacks 4-1 in Oshawa.  The Gryphons will look to build off of this result as they now return home for a three-game homestand beginning on Friday (Jan. 9) against Carleton (12-4-0).  That is followed by a Saturday night game against RMC (0-13-2) before it is off to the Sleeman Centre for the sixth installment of "The Frosty Mug" when they will face Brock (8-7-1) on Friday, January 16th.  All three of those games are scheduled to start at 7:30pm.