Box Score THUNDER BAY, Ont. – They wanted a sweep. But the Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team didn't get its wish against an equally-hungry opponent. Guelph lost 4-1 to the Lakehead Thunderwolves Saturday night in a chippy battle between two teams fighting to stay in the OUA West playoff race.
 
Veteran forward Andres Kopstals had the lone goal for Guelph, while Andrew Masters made 27 saves in between the pipes.
 
The Gryphons trailed 1-0 on a power-play goal from Daniel Del Paggio when Kopstals tied it up going hard to the net and stepping around Lakehead goalie Devin Green for a big goal at 3:05 of the second period.
 
But a Guelph offence that had found its groove lately had difficulty finishing chances, a recurring theme earlier in the season. Lakehead made the visitors pay with a pair of goals from Caleb Bowman and Dexter Kuczek less than a minute apart in the second period before Scott Gall added a fourth at 4:23 of the third.
 
 It was an ugly game with over 100 penalty minutes, including five misconduct calls.
 
 
Gryphon Take
"We had lots of scoring chances but no finish. That was too many chances to slide by without a result. It's the same story – if we don't score, we don't win. The effort and execution was there but that inability to finish was the difference. Both games certainly had a playoff atmosphere. It was a battle for every inch of ice." – head coach Shawn Camp
 
 
The Record
Guelph is 11-11-0-4

 
Next up
Toronto, Thursday, Feb. 7, 7:30 pm @ Gryphon Centre Arena