WHKY PREVIEW: No. 1-ranked Gryphons open playoffs vs Laurentian

GUELPH, ON - The Gryphons have a long bus trip ahead of them on Wednesday (Feb. 24) for Game 1 of their OUA Quarter-final matchup with Laurentian. They're hoping it marks the first step on a long trip towards securing a championship banner. The Gryphons women's hockey team are set to drop the puck on the 2015-16 OUA Playoffs with a best-of-three series against the No. 8-seeded Laurentian Voyageurs (11-11-2). The Gryphons enter the postseason as a No. 1-ranked team in the country after posting at 21-2-1, good for top spot in the OUA standings and 12 points clear of second place Toronto.

Game 1	Wednesday, Feb. 24	Guelph @ Laurentian	7:50pm
Game 2	Saturday, Feb. 27	Laurentian @ Guelph	2:00pm --- TICKETS
Game 3 if necessary	Sunday, Feb. 28	Laurentian @ Guelph	2:00pm

The Gryphons allowed the least goals against per game, thanks in large part to the monster numbers put up by goaltender Valerie Lamenta (Montreal, Que.), who sported a goals against average of 0.99 and a .957 save percentage, both tops in the nation.

On offence, Guelph boasts four of the top 10 point leaders in OUA, all of which are key contributors to their league-leading 3.25 goals per game. The Gryphons goals per game average is almost a half goal more than the next closest team. Leading the way for the Gryphons in goals and points is the fourth leading goal scorer in the league, Averi Nooren (Aylmer, Ont.), with 14 and 25, respectively. Rounding out the four are Kelly Gribbons (Port Elgin, Ont.) and Jessica Pinkerton (Oshawa, Ont.), both of which are tied with 23 points, and Christine Grant (Mississauga, Ont.) with 21 points.

The Voyageurs, who will be making their McCaw Cup postseason debut this season, saw their win percentage more than triple from a year ago. Laurentian had no problem developing offence this season, as they averaged the second most shots per game with 30.6. But with the second lowest goals per game total among playoff teams, they will need to capitalize more on their chances if they hope to pull off the upset and take down the top ranked team in the country. Leading the Voyageurs is captain Julie Hebert (Chelmsford, Ont.) with 17 points, including 11 goals, which is good for ninth in the league.

"We're excited to get started on the post season and looking forward to making history as Laurentian's first playoff opponent" said Gryphons head coach Rachel Flanagan. "We know we're going into a hostile environment a long way from home to face a very disciplined and well rested team. ?We have experience on our side but we're not taking anything for granted. It's going to be a great series against an opponent we respect and we plan to bring our best hockey to Sudbury on Wednesday."

Guelph won the season series by winning both games, but needed OT to get past Laurentian 3-2 when the teams first met back on November 22 in Sudbury.

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