WATERLOO, ON - In recent years, the Guelph Gryphons and Waterloo Warriors have developed quite the rivalry in OUA men's hockey. Wednesday night at the Columbia Icefields Arena on the campus of the University of Waterloo, the two teams combined for the latest chapter in this heated rivalry. The Gryphons picked up an impressive 5-0 win in what was a penalty-filled OUA regular season opener.

A total of 64 minutes of penalties were handed out (40 for Waterloo, 24 for Guelph), including a handful of majors and one game misconduct. With so many bodies in the penalty box throughout the night, it is no surprise that the first goal of the game came on a breakaway right out of the penalty box. After serving two minutes for slashing, Gryphons centre Robert Lepine jumped out of the penalty box and was sent in all alone, making no mistake and burying the Gryphons first goal of the 2016-17 season. It was also the only goal of the opening 20 minutes as the Gryphons led 1-0 heading to the 2nd.

Just under five minutes into the 2nd, the Gryphons would extend their lead to 2-0 when Zach McFadden's shot found its way through a crowd and in for his first goal in the red, black and gold in this his second year with the Gryphons. Late in the period, the Gryphons would go up 3-0 after some beautiful tic-tac-toe passing during a 5-on-3 power play was finished off at the back door by second year winger Cody Thompson. Gryphon goalie Scott Stajcer was only called upon to make 16 saves on the night en route to picking up the shutout, but several of those 16 saves were high quality stops, including several big pad saves to rob Waterloo forwards from point blank.

In the third period, things got nasty as Waterloo's Mike Moffat was given a 5 minute major and a game misconduct for a hit to the head. The second power play goal of the evening for the Gryphons came from newcomer Manny Gialedakis (Woodbridge, ON) who showed off a quick release to net the first goal of his Gryphon career. Rounding out the scoring on the night was former Guelph Storm winger Ryan Migliaccio who was rewarded by driving hard to the net with his first goal as a Gryphon.

The Gryphons penalty kill unit, led by Andres Kopstals and Trevor Morbeck, were phenomenal on the night as the Warriors were 0-for-7 with the man advantage. In total, 11 different Gryphon skaters put their name on the score sheet, with Mark Raycroft (2 A), Cody Thompson (1 G, 1 A), Robert Lepine (1 G, 1 A) and Ryan Migliaccio (1 G, 1 A) all recording multi-point nights.

The Gryphons will be right back on the ice on Thursday night as they return to campus for their home opener versus the Western Mustangs. Puck drop at the Gryphon Centre is set for 7:30pm.