TORONTO, ON – In order to have a great playoff series, there are certain criteria that need to be met. Aside from close games, you need exciting twists and turns. Great goaltending battles. And of course, it never hurts to have some hard-hitting and a healthy dislike for your opponent. The Gryphons and the Ryerson Rams have certainly met all of those criteria in their OUA West Semi-final series.
 
On Friday night at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, the Gryphons men's hockey team lost 2-1 in overtime to the Ryerson Rams in a thrilling Game 2 of their OUA West Division Semi-final series. The best-of-three series is now tied 1-1 with a decisive Game 3 set for Sunday night in Guelph.
 
After the two teams had combined for eight goals in the opening game of the series the previous night, which Guelph won 5-3, scoring was suddenly at a premium on Friday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. A scoreless opening period of play saw Ryerson come the closest to finding the back of the net when Ryerson's Marcus Hinds fired a shot off the cross bar.
 
In the second period, Ryerson would open up the scoring by capitalizing on a 5-on-3 power play when Brian Devlin's shot went of the post and in to give the Rams a 1-0 lead. Despite the fact that Friday night's matchup was a low scoring affair, the game nevertheless provided plenty of entertainment. Physical play saw both teams exchange big hits throughout the course of the night, with emotions boiling over on more than one occasion.
 
But the biggest storyline of the night, without a doubt, was the goaltending dual that was shaping up between Guelph's Andrew D'Agostini and Ryerson's Troy Passingham. Both goalies made several crucial stops in the game as the Rams were still clinging to a 1-0 lead with under two minutes remaining in regulation. But with 1:41 remaining in regulation, the Gryphons would finally get on the board.
 
Thanks to some fancy footwork and stickhandling from a pinching Nick Trecapelli in the neutral zone, the Gryphons were able to get the puck deep into Ryerson territory. Rob Lepine was then able to slip past a Rams defender along the boards and centre for Kyle Neuber whose one-timer found the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1 and send things into overtime.
 
Less than 2 minutes into overtime, Ryerson's Aaron Armstrong would be sent in all alone with a chance to win it. Andrew D'Agostini's out-stretched pad forced Armstrong to slide the puck just wide as the game remained knotted at 1-1. D'Agostini was slow to get up afterwards, but stayed in the game. If he wasn't 100 percent, it was sure hard to tell as the Scarborough native continued to make one big stop after another. When the dust settled, D'Agostini would make 47 saves on the night, several of which were of an extremely high quality. If the Rams were going to beat D'Agostini, they would need an extraordinary effort. They would get just that from their captain with 3:12 remaining in the first overtime period.
 
Game 2 came to an end on a brilliant individual effort from Ryerson captain Michael Fine. Fine, who scored twice in Game 1 of the series, would end Game 2 with an end-to-end solo rush in which he was able to slide the puck five-hole past D'Agostini.
 
With that result, the Gryphons and Rams are now deadlocked at a game apiece in their best-of-three series. The series will be decided on Sunday night (Feb. 28) at the Gryphon Centre. Puck drop is set for 7:30pm.