SAULT STE. MARIE -
Ryan Vyrostko has accomplished a lot in his Gryphon career. The fourth year midfielder, who was named the OUA West Rookie of the Year back in 2014-15, was named the Gryphons team captain for the 2017-18 season. On Saturday afternoon in Sault Ste. Marie, Vyrostko helped the Gryphons earn a 4-1 win over the Algoma Thunderbirds by scoring the first goal of his U of G career. With the result, the Gryphons remain in 1st place in the OUA West Division with a 5-1-1 record while Algoma falls to 1-4-0 on the season.
Scoring goals is not something the Gryphons usually ask of Ryan Vyrostko. The Waterloo native helps anchor the middle of the pitch as a defensive midfielder with the Gryphs. But on Saturday, in his fourth year with the red, black and gold, the Accounting major finally got on the score sheet after poking home a sharp angle to give the visitors a 2-0 lead 11 minutes in.
The Gryphons opened the scoring just 8 minutes in when some beautiful passing ended with
Mitchell Lefebvre finishing off a low cross from
Calvin Witzell. After Algoma made it a 2-1 game with a goal in the 14th minute, the Gryphons would push the lead back to two on a goal from
Jace Kotsopoulos in the 34th. Kotsopoulos, who is the OUA's leading scorer with 8 goals through 7 matches this season, was threatening all match long. After having already hit a post as well as a crossbar, Kotsopoulos would coolly finish off a chance from in close after running onto the end of a beautiful through ball from teammate
Johnson Amoo.
U of G rookie forward
Peter Zehdee would cap the scoring on the day with his first goal as a Gryphon. After a beautiful ball in from a corner from fellow rookie
Evan Dick, Zehdee would head home to open his Gryphon account for what proved to be the lone goal of the 2nd half. Zehdee would be forced to leave the match shortly after his goal after tweaking his hamstring.
Overall, Saturday's performance versus Algoma was an encouraging one for Gryphons head coach
Keith Mason, "I was very pleased with the overall performance today. The first half in particular we were very strong from the mid-third to the attacking-third. We used the ball well, created a lot of chances and deserved the three points today."
The Gryphons and Thunderbirds will meet up once again on Sunday afternoon to wrap up their weekend doubleheader.
