WATERLOO, Ont. – When the curtain opens on a new OUA season, the Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team hits a new level. The Gryphons started the 2018/19 campaign in dramatic fashion as Karli Shell scored twice, including the overtime winner, to help Guelph defeat the Laurier Golden Hawks 2-1 in Waterloo Friday night.
 
Shell had an opener to remember, giving the Gryphons a 1-0 lead in the first period on a power play. But the fourth-year native of Lively, ON saved the real heroics for the extra session. The play began with the Gryphons intercepting a Laurier clearing attempt. And Claire Merrick spotted a wide-open Shell, who went five-hole on goaltender Cohen Myers just 36 seconds into the overtime period.
 
Mallory Young (two assists) also had a helper on the game-winning goal, while veteran goaltender Valerie Lamenta was her usual sharp self, making 23 saves to notch her first win.
 
Shell opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 8:23 of the first period. She parked herself in front of the Laurier net and got her stick on a point shot for the Gryphons' first goal of the season. Young and rookie Madison Melo registered assists.
 
The pace of the game picked up in the second period and the Golden Hawks notched an equalizer on what appeared to be an innocent-looking shot from a tight angle that Lamenta initially saved with her right pad. But the rebound came to Kaitlyn Hatzes, who went glove side to make it 1-1 at the 16:49 mark.

But that was all that the hosts would get on Lamenta. The fifth-year netminder made some key stops to keep the game in reach.

 
Gryphon Take
"We're happy with Karli's performance tonight and Val was also very good. I would like to see a little more consistency in our play shift to shift and period to period."
 
"Our D did a good job of keeping a tight gap and anticipating plays in our end. They had some good offensive jumps, too. Overall, we had a good third period and produced some real quality scoring chances that we just couldn't put away." – head coach Rachel Flanagan

 
The Record
Guelph is 1-0-0.

 
Next up
Waterloo, Saturday, Oct. 20, 7:30 pm @ Gryphon Centre Arena