WATERLOO, Ont. – The defending national champion Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team dropped the puck on their 2019-20 OUA regular season schedule Friday night in Waterloo and earned a convincing 4-0 road win over the Laurier Golden Hawks. The No. 1-nationally ranked Gryphons had four different goal scorers chip in offensively while fourth-year goalie
Aurore Beaulieu made 14 saves for the shutout. Fourth-year forward
Kristen Jay helped lead the way with a three-point night (3 assists).
"It feels good to get a win to start the season," says Gryphon head coach
Rachel Flanagan. "Aurore (Beaulieu) had a sold game, making some key saves in the 3rd to hold onto her shutout. Kristen (Jay) had a three-point night and Mayla (Mayer) was able to get her first OUA goal. So it was a nice start to the season."
The Gryphons were able to jump out to an early lead with co-captain
Miranda Lantz opening the scoring just under two minutes into the opening period of play.
Sydney Davison was able to set up Lantz in the slot, and the veteran forward made no mistake, firing it home to give Guelph the 1-0 lead. The Gryphons would double their lead in the 2nd period with some nice work on the power play. Second-year forward
Lauren Ianni (Markham, ON) would fire home her 1st of the season with a perfectly placed shot from the left faceoff circle, beating Laurier goalie Cohen Myers low blocker side for a 2-0 lead.
A pair of goals just :45 second apart early in the 3rd period would seal the deal for the Gryphons, with
Stephanie Gava making it 3-0, followed by rookie
Mayla Mayer scoring the first OUA goal of her career.
The Gryphons outshot Laurier 23-14 on the night and successfully killed off all six power play opportunities for the Golden Hawks.
The Gryphons will now have a quick turnaround as they return home for a Saturday afternoon (2:30pm) home opener matchup with the Waterloo Warriors. The Gryphons will raise their 2018-19 U SPORTS championship banner prior to puck drop, with the game broadcast live online at OUA.tv.
