PETERBOROUGH, Ont. - Friday evening in Peterborough, the Guelph Gryphons women's lacrosse team opened up play at the 2018 OUA Championships with an 8-6 defeat to the host Trent Excalibur. With the loss, Guelph is relegated to the consolation side and will now face the Brock Badgers on Saturday at 11:45am.

The Gryphons entered the 2018 conference championship knowing they could play with the talented Trent side, which finished 3rd in the OUA during the regular season with a 9-2-2 record. These two teams also met up five days ago (Sunday, Oct. 14) where they played to an identical 8-6 scoreline in Trent's favour. In Friday's game, the Gryphons were led by third-year attack Erin Murray, who scored twice. Kristine Webber, Emily Power, Nicole Gastle and Victoria Rowe accounted for the other Gryphon goals against the 2016 OUA champion Excalibur. 

Gryphons' head coach Staci Morris saw plenty of positives to take away from Friday's result at the conference championship, "It was a hard fought game. Our players stayed positive and maintained their intensity through to the final buzzer. We're extremely proud of the perseverance our players showed today and we're looking forward to facing Brock tomorrow."

The Gryphons, who posted a 5-8 record during the regular season and finished 6th in the 10-team OUA standings, will look to complete the season sweep versus the Badgers. In their two regular season meetings, the Gryphons were able to secure a pair of tight victories, with 7-5 and 10-9 victories, respectively. The winner of Saturday afternoon's matchup between Guelph and Brock will earn a spot in the consolation final (Sunday - 10:45am).