Waterloo, ON - Battling for 3^rd place and a home field advantage in the playoffs, the Men's Lacrosse team secured a much-needed win Sunday at Laurier.  The team outscored the Golden Hawks 9-5, giving them a 6-4 season record and sole possession of third place with two games remaining in their schedule.

Despite allowing Laurier to open the scoring two and a half minutes into the first quarter, the Gryphon defence was solid early in the game.  Laurier was only able to muster five shots on goal in the first half.  On the offensive side of the ball, the Gryphons got five unanswered goals from five different players and held a 5-1 lead at the half.
Guelph came out slowly out in the third.  The team struggled for possession of loose balls and when they won the ball, they were unable to establish their offense.  Turnovers, as they have been all season for the Gryphons, were costly for the team. 

Laurier took advantage of some poor Gryphon play in transition, picked up a loose ball at midfield and capitalized on an odd-man fast break.  After winning the subsequent face off, the Golden Hawks held the ball, cycled through their offense and took advantage of a missed assignment; scoring their 2^nd of the quarter and 3^rd of the game.   And, with five minutes left in the 3^rd, Laurier brought the game to within a goal.

Down 5-4 going into the final quarter Laurier could ill afford to be too patient on offense.  The Gryphon defense, aware that the Golden Hawks had to push to score, began to pressure Laurier.   As a result, Laurier was unable to work into good scoring opportunities and eventually, the Gryphons forced a turnover.  Guelph took the ball into the Laurier end and settled into their offense.

Veteran attackman Mike Cavanagh (Peterborough, ON) went one on one from behind the Laurier goal and found fellow attackman Liam Corbett (Burlington, ON) open on the wing.  Corbett buried the ball in the top left corner of the net, bringing to and end the Gryphon's 33 minute scoring drought. Now down by two goals, Laurier's offense had to press and the Gryphon defence was up to the challenge.  Rookie goaltender Denys Semenovych (Bila Tserkva, Ukraine), in the pipes for the second half, made several strong saves to keep Laurier from climbing back into the game.

Guelph's offense re-established itself in the quarter and the team's midfield began finding open looks.  Todd Greer (Orangeville, ON) took a pass from Jared Bouwman (Fergus, ON), blew by his defender and bounced one inside the far pipe.  On the team's next possession Brett Ulbikas (Oakville, ON) dangled his defender and let an outside shot go stick-side high on the Laurier goalie who was unable to catch up to the rocket.
 
The Gryphons are in action again on Friday, October 23 when they host Brock.