GUELPH, Ont. - Having secured five of a possible six points over their last three games, the Gryphons were able to keep that momentum rolling Saturday afternoon at the Gryphon Centre. Playing host to the Laurentian Voyageurs, the Gryphons used a pair of goals from their special teams, as well as a shutout from their freshman goalie en route to a 3-0 victory, giving them now seven points in their last four contests.
Making her Guelph Gryphons, and OUA debut, goalie Alexandrea Davidson had a memorable one. Davidson stopped all 19 shots she faced in the contest to record her first career OUA shut-out. Although she didn't need much help on offence from her teammates, the Gryphons were still able to break through with goals from Miranda Lantz, Sydney Davison and Hannah Tait.
Looking to take advantage of a Laurentian team that had been on the ice the night before in St. Catharines, the Gryphons began the game by working their offence in the Voyageurs zone. Despite neither team being able to find the back of the net in the opening 20 minutes of play, Guelph was able to tilt the ice in their favour as the period wore on. The Voyageurs were out-shooting the Gryphons 5-4 at the midway point of the first period, but after that, the Gryphons began to control much of the offence in the frame. Guelph went on to out-shoot Laurentain 6-1 over the rest of the period but the two teams remained deadlocked.
As the second period got underway, the Gryphons continued to control the shot clock, and would have their efforts rewarded halfway through the period. Despite being short-handed, Gryphon's forward Miranda Lantz was able to force a turnover at her own blue-line and then broke in all alone on Voyageurs goalie Danielle Toland. Lantz faked to her back-hand and then went to her fore-hand to tuck the puck in and give Guelph a 1-0 lead. Guelph then went on to kill the rest of the penalty and carry the 1-0 advantage into the second intermission, while out-shooting Laurentain 10-5 in the frame.
Entering the final period looking to hammer down their fourth win of the season, the Gryphons maintained their same aggressive mentality that had been working throughout the contest. Guelph managed to keep the shots and pressure up on the visitors, which would wind up leading to a power-play opportunity. The 5-on-4 advantage for the Gryphons lasted only six seconds, as Sydney Davison wired home her fourth goal of the season off the face-off. Then with Laurentian trying to create a comeback late in the third period, the Voyageurs pulled their goalie but all it resulted in was an empty-net goal for Hannah Tait to make it 3-0 and seal the victory.
"Our main key to success today was just to put together a full 60-minutes and I thought we were close to that," said Gryphon's head coach Rachel Flanagan. "We had a few minutes where we let them create some offence, but otherwise I thought it was a pretty complete game from our group."
"I know that we've got a really good squad here, but we are still putting some pieces together and we're just focusing on making sure we keep playing consistent."
With the victory the Gryphons improved to 4-2-1 on the season. They will now have a quick turn around in front of them, as they return to the Gryphon Centre Sunday afternoon to take on the Nipissing Lakers. Puck drop is set for 2:00pm.
