TORONTO, Ont. – Friday night at Varsity Arena in Toronto, the No. 10-ranked Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team officially opened the regular season portion of their 2019-20 schedule with a season-opening road matchup against the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.
 
The host Blues were able to start fast, scoring just :19 seconds into the new season. The Varsity Blues would start the 2nd period in similar fashion, this time scoring :39 seconds in to push their lead to 2-0. The Gryphons would cut into the lead thanks to some nice work on the power play with sophomore forward Connor Bramwell tipping home his first of the season to make it a 2-1 game. After Toronto reestablished a two-goal lead to make it 3-1, the Gryphons would respond just two minutes later, this time with rookie defenceman Cole Cameron scoring his first as a Gryphon. Cameron, a former member of the OHL's Kitchener Rangers, would have his point shot deflected in with two and a half minutes remaining in the final period to trim the U of G deficit to 3-2. The Gryphons would push for an equalizer over the final few minutes but would run out of time as the Varsity Blues held on for the 3-2 win.
 
Gryphons third-year goalie Andrew Masters made 28 saves in the loss, several of which were of the highlight-reel variety. Both teams finished the night with 31 shots on net with each team converting on the power play (Guelph 1-5, Toronto 1-4).
 
The Gryphons will now hit the road for a pair of NCAA exhibition games (Saturday, October 5 at Vermont, Sunday, October 6 at New Hampshire) before resuming OUA regular season play on October 10 at Ryerson.