TORONTO, Ont. – The chances are there but the Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team is just having trouble burying them. Guelph battled but ultimately lost 3-1 to the Toronto Varsity Blues in a chippy game Saturday night at Varsity Arena.
 
The Gryphons entered the night leading the OUA in shots on goal per game with 38.7. But they were only able to get one past Varsity Blues' goalie Alex Bishop despite piling up another 37 shots.
 
Rookie Connor Bramwell scored the lone goal for Guelph, while Andrew Masters made 26 saves, including a left huge pad stop on a shorthanded Toronto breakaway attempt about five minutes into the third period to keep the Gryphons within one goal.
 
Guelph pulled Masters in the final minute for an extra attacker but Toronto got control of the puck at centre ice and Joey Manchurek found the back of the net from way out to secure the win in a heated affair that featured several scrums and 38 penalty minutes issued.
 
The Varsity Blues started well on home ice, scoring just over three minutes when Aidan Wallace took a couple swipes at a puck down low, with the second attempt bouncing off Masters and into the net. Guelph responded later in the period when Bramwell beat Bishop high with a great shot at the 14:21 mark.
 
Toronto entered the break on a high after winning a late draw in the right circle with the teams playing four on four. Matt Campagna got to the slot, took a feed and deked Masters with just 6.5 seconds left in the period, which proved to be a tough blow for a Guelph team looking for offence.

The Gryphons were also 0-for-5 on the man advantage.

 
Gryphon Take
"We worked hard, created chances and Andrew gave us another chance to win. We're getting the looks but it's the same old story. When you don't finish your chances, you're not going to win many games. We don't have enough killer instinct to finish the chances right now and that makes the margin of error so fine. Scoring is all about attitude and execution. When we become more consistent doing that, we'll finish more." – head coach Shawn Camp

 
The Record
Guelph is 7-10-0-3 (wins-losses-OT losses-SO losses)

 
Next up
@ Ryerson, Thursday, Jan. 17, 7:15 pm