TORONTO, Ont. – It's early in the OUA season to seek redemption. But the Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team was intent on manufacturing a big performance. The Gryphons started fast and battled their way to a 3-1 win over the No. 10 Ryerson Rams Thursday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Captain
Kaitlin Lowy scored twice and
Molly Crossman added her first goal of the season for Guelph, which looked good after a disappointing loss to Waterloo in the home opener last weekend.
Fifth-year goaltender
Valerie Lamenta was outstanding, making 36 saves for her second win of the season. She was busy from the outset and made one of her best stops with the visitors up 2-0 midway through the second, robbing Lauren Nicholson with a fast glove after the Ryerson forward turned the puck over in the Guelph zone.
The save proved huge as Crossman scored a couple minutes later to extend the margin. The third-year Thamesford, ON native showed tremendous patience after she grabbed a rebound and waited out goaltender Natalie Thompson before tucking in a backhander for a 3-0 lead at 10:36.
Katie Mikkelsen and
Gabriele Underwood had the assists.
Nicholson did get a goal about four minutes later. Guelph took its fourth penalty and the Rams' forward let one go from the top of the left circle and went by Lamenta, who was dealing with some traffic in front.
Ryerson was making its debut in U SPORTS Top 10 and looking to defeat Guelph on home ice for the first time since joining OUA hockey in 2011. But it was the Gryphons who got a dream start. Lowy went hard down the left wing and wristed a shot high on Rachel Seeley's stick side just 48 seconds into the opening period.
Miranda Lantz assisted on the play.
The captain showed she was hungry to score more and she buried a second at the 11:44 mark of the first with an excellent effort. Lowy toe dragged around a defender and while her initial wrister from the slot was saved, she stabbed at the rebound and put it through Seeley for a 2-0 lead.
Claire Merrick and
Laura Crowdis earned assists on the goal, Lowy's third of the young season. Seeley was pulled after that in favour of Thompson, who joined Ryerson as an NCAA transfer. The Rams' starter allowed two goals on the first five shots she faced.
Guelph had trouble keeping the offensive-minded Rams in check but the team showed a willingness to be unselfish, getting in the way of Ryerson shots to help Lamenta.
Kristen Jay made a huge block in the dying seconds of the first period and
Karli Shell had to leave the game after another block early in the second.
Turning Point
Lamenta's glove save on Nicholson in the middle of the second was a key moment in the game. If she's beat, the Rams get right back in it but instead, Crossman scored about a minute later to make a Ryerson comeback that much more improbable.
Gryphon Take
"Ryerson's forecheck is really good so we struggled to break out at times. But Val stole the game. She was excellent. And we did a good job blocking shots. We're definitely happy with the win." –
head coach Rachel Flanagan
The Record
Guelph is 1-1-1-0.
Next up
Windsor, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2 pm @ Gryphon Centre Arena
