GUELPH – The Guelph Gryphons men's rugby team will get some well-earned rest. The Gryphons secured second spot in the regular season OUA standings and an all-important bye to the conference semi-finals by defeating the Western Mustangs 56-0 Friday night at Varsity Field.
The defending champions will host one OUA semifinal on Saturday, Nov. 5 against an opponent still to be determined.
It was another dominant display for Guelph (7-1). The Gryphons have manufactured three straight shutouts and outscored opponents 131-0 in the three matches since suffering their only loss of the season to the Queen's Gaels on Sept. 30 in Kingston.
Since then, they have been almost perfect.
"The guys have just bought in to what we're trying to do," said head coach
Cory Hector. "And they have carried what we've done in training into the matches. There's a seriousness about them that's making both training and games fun."
Fourth-year wing
Jordan Hofstra and third-year flanker
Marcello Wainwright scored two tries each for Guelph, while first-year fly half
John Sheridan, third-year centre
Kyle Lagasca, third year 8
th man
Kolby Francis, and rookie centre
MacLain Wakefield each added a try.
The Gryphons realized they were in a battle early on against Western as the sides went back and forth without scoring for almost 20 minutes to start the match. Then Hostra got things going when he exploded down the left wing for the first try of the night in the 19
th minute. The floodgates opened from there.
"That got us on the board and from that point, the guys kept applying pressure," Hector said of Hofstra's first try. "We smothered them."
Sheridan scored a try in the 25
th minute, followed by Lagasca in the 30
th. Francis added another try in the 36
th as Guelph built a massive 28-0 lead over the Mustangs (5-3) at the half, before adding more offence after the break, beginning with two straight Wainwright tries.
While the Gryphons have been building momentum since the setback in Kingston and would love to keep their impressive run going, the bye will be welcome.
"It's critical to get some additional rest," said Hector. "We're healthy but beat up physically so we look forward to the week off.
"It will also give us a chance to look at our potential opponent and spend that time prepping for the semi-final."
