TORONTO, Ont. – Saturday night in Toronto at York University, the No. 7-ranked Gryphons men's hockey team suffered a 4-3 shootout loss to the York Lions. The Gryphons built up a 3-1 lead in the third period, only to see the host Lions battle back with a pair of goals in the final minute of regulation to force overtime. In the extra frame, the Gryphons came agonizingly close to securing the win when, in the dying seconds of OT, veteran defenceman
Mark Raycroft fired a shot that beat York goalie Mack Shields, but not the post.
In the shootout, the Gryphons got off to a good start when
Todd Winder started things off by converting with a perfectly placed shot in the opening round. From there however, the two goalies would take over, with Guelph's
Andrew Masters and York's Mack Shields turning away one shooter after another. With the shootout knotted at 1-1 in the 7th round, the Lions (2-1-0-0) would finally seal the win with a goal from Lions' forward Josh Lafrance.
With goals hard to come by in the shootout, it's no surprise that scoring was also at a premium during regulation. The Gryphons and Lions were scoreless through the first 40 minutes of play before combining for six goals in a wild third period. The Gryphons scored twice in the opening four minutes of the final period, with rookie
Braydon Munn scoring his first career goal, followed by OUA West All-Star
Cody Thompson netting his second of the season. With 1:24 remaining, rookie
Connor Bramwell scored his first U SPORTS goal to push the Gryphon lead to 3-1. But the Lions would score :46 seconds apart, including the tying goal from Daniel Nikandrov with just :16 seconds left in regulation, to keep the Lions' hopes alive.
The Gryphons will return to action on Wednesday (Oct. 17) with a rare 11am puck drop at the Gryphon Centre as they host their first "School Day" game. Hundreds of local elementary students will make their way to U of G campus to watch the Gryphons battle the Brock Badgers.
The Record
Guelph is 0-1-0-1 (wins – losses - OT losses - SO losses)
Next up
vs Brock, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 11am (School Day Game)
