GUELPH, ON -- So far so good for the new-look Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team, who are enjoying a perfect start to the Ontario University Athletics season. The Gryphons picked up their second win in as many nights, defeating the rival Western Mustangs 3-2 at the Gryphon Centre Arena Thursday.

"It's a great start against two very difficult teams," said head coach Shawn Camp, who liked what he saw from his Gryphons one night after beating Waterloo 5-0 on the road. "Tonight, we had to battle for every inch of ice."

Captain Scott Simmonds, Trevor Morbeck and Robert Lepine scored for the Gryphons, while Scott Stajcer made 36 saves. The fourth-year goaltender from Cambridge, ON had a busy night after a relatively quiet opener in Waterloo when he faced just 16 shots to earn a shutout.

It was an impressive opener on home ice for the Gryphons (2-0), who showed some killer instinct in the third period but had to hang on late. Up 2-1 after 40 minutes, Guelph extended the lead with an odd-man rush goal, its second of the night, just 53 seconds in. Cody Thompson hesitated and made a little juke from the right circle before patiently centring a pass that Lepine jumped on and fired past Western goaltender Greg Dodds. Lepine's winner was his second goal of the young season.

It proved to be big as Western (0-1) would get within one. Jonathan Laser jumped out of the box after his slashing minor expired and flew in alone down the right wing before wristing a shot past Stajcer at 13:09 of the third.

"It got tense after that second goal," Camp said. 

Guelph was sharp to start the second period and built a 2-1 lead when Morbeck battled down low and beat Dodds at the 8:25 mark. Peter Soligo and Andres Kopstals picked up assists.

On the heels of a convincing performance in the OUA season opener at Waterloo, Guelph didn't take long to get the offence going. The teams exchanged chances in an end-to-end opening few minutes and the Gryphons took a 1-0 lead 5:15 into the game on Simmonds' first of the season. Tryg Strand broke down the right wing and sent a pretty feed to the slot, which the captain one-timed past a helpless Dodds. 

Western's Trent Ouellette responded quickly and tied the game 1-1 about two minutes later. The visitors pushed the pace the rest of the period and were unlucky not to score a few more despite having to kill two penalties. Western had a goal waved off and Stajcer then robbed Matt Marantz with an excellent pad save after Guelph coughed up the puck on a power play deep in its own zone. The Mustangs also hit a post in an opening period in which they outshot the Gryphons 18-11.

"We were outplayed in the first period but we picked it up in the second," said Camp. "It's good to see that we created a couple of opportunities from hard work in our zone and we were able to move the puck out."

Camp is happy with the 2-0 start but knows what the Gryphons are in for, calling the division "a dog's breakfast."

"There won't be an easy night," he said.

Next up for the Gryphons, their second early season road trip to Waterloo, this time to face the Laurier Golden Hawks on Friday, October 14 at the Waterloo Rec Centre. Puck drop is set for 7:30pm.