GUELPH - In their 2017 home opener, the Gryphons men's lacrosse team dropped a tough 7-6 loss to the Western Mustangs.

Another slow first quarter, which was plagued by turnovers, hampered the Gryphons early on.  Were it not for the solid Guelph defence and exceptional goaltending from Hayden Walsh (Burlington, ON) the game may have gotten out of hand early.  Veteran longstick defensemen Justin Martin (Oakville, ON) shut down Western's top attackman and 2016 CUFLA attackman of the year, Cody Ward.  Barrie native Liam Patten, playing shortstick defence for Guelph, was called upon to cover Western midfielder and 2016 NLL rookie sensation Reid Reinholdt.  Patten's efforts kept Reinholdt off the scoresheet.  Longstick Nate McKenzie had his usual solid performance shutting down his match up and Robert Stockden, starting in his second year with the Gryphons, put in a strong performance as well.

Despite the rough start, Guelph only found themselves down 2-1 at the end of the first quarter.  In the second, they continued to struggle to get themselves on track.  Western pressured Guelph's clear, forcing several Gryphon turnovers.  The Mustangs took advantage of the early turnovers and opened up a 4-1 lead only 5 minutes into the quarter.   Halfway through the quarter, with the Gryphon defence continuing its strong play, the Gryphon offence began to take better care of the ball.   James Short (Kitchener, ON) got the Gryphons to within 2 with a goal at the 10:48 mark and then 5 minutes later, the Gryphons had another opportunity to close the gap on the power play.  Guelph's ball movement however, lacked confidence and the man up unit turned the ball over.   The half would end with Western up 4-2.

Guelph caught a break when, during the break, Western was called for an illegal stick.  The penalty would give the Gryphons possession of the ball and a 3 minute man advantage to start the second half.  This time, the Guelph power play moved the ball with purpose and while they did not score early on the man advantage, had several good shots.  Just before the penalty expired, Mike Berger (Uxbridge, ON) took a pass from Jackson Nishimura (Toronto, ON) and buried one low from the top of the power play.
The goal seemed to mark a small change in momentum in the game as Guelph started to move the ball with more confidence.  The team generated several good scoring opportunities and then at the 11:10 mark of the 3^rd, Berger scored his second of the game with another outside rip.   There was a sense that the Gryphons had hung around just enough to get themselves back into the game.

A minute later however, Western responded to take a 5-4 lead but Guelph was not to be deterred.  On a great play from behind the Western goal, James Short dodged left and saw a cutting Mike Cavanagh (Peterborough, ON) in from of the net, along for a split second.  Short put the ball in Cavanagh's stick and Cavanagh buried it to tie the game at 5's.

The fourth quarter was a new game.  Each team had chances every time they gained possession of the ball.  Guelph had several point-blank chances but put the ball into the Western goalie's stick. Guelph's defence maintained it dominance, keeping the Western attack on the perimeter, limiting Western to only 4 shots in the quarter.
With the Gryphons pressing late in the quarter, James short once again worked his magic from behind the net.  This time, he side an open Liam Corbett (Burlington, ON) cutting down the left side and Corbett rifled a shot past the Western net minder.  With just over 2 minutes left in the game, the Gryphons had taken the lead for the first time in the contest Guelph lost the ensuing face off however, and Western called a time out.  They methodically moved the ball around after the time out and isolated a Guelph defender behind the Gryphon net.  The Western midfielder won the one on one battle and the game was tied.  The Mustangs again won the ensuing face off and called their last time out.  The held the ball until there was less than 30 seconds left and scored to take a 7-6 lead.

With 27 seconds left, the game was far from over.  Guelph drawman Josh Manangan (Rexdale, ON) had a clean face off win and this time the Gryphons called a time out.  They had just over 20 seconds to run a final play but after their first dodge to the net had to regroup and were unable to get a final shot away.

"We had a very weak first half but in the second half, the boys demonstrated to themselves that they can play.  We need to be more confident and smarted with the ball and we need to play a full 4 quarters of good, solid lacrosse.  It's a long season" said Gryphons head coach Sam Kosakowski following the loss. 

The loss leaves the Gryphons with a 1-1 record to start the season.  Next, Guelph will travel to St. Catharines on September 16 to meet their rival, Brock Badgers.  Game time is 5pm.