TORONTO, Ont. – A veteran-heavy Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team has recently shown it knows exactly what's required to succeed on the ice. Guelph paid tribute to its 10 departing seniors a couple weeks back and the most renowned member of that group showed up when the lights shone brightest. Fifth-year captain Scott Simmonds scored twice in his first action of the series, helping lift the Gryphons to a dramatic 4-3 win over the top-seeded Ryerson Rams in the deciding game of the OUA West semi-final Sunday night.
 
The Gryphons scored four second-period goals in under six minutes and survived a Ryerson rally to take the best-of-three with two road wins at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, earning the right to play the No. 3-seeded Western Mustangs in the OUA West final (best-of-three).
 
Ryan Valentini and Nick Boyer also scored, while rookie Connor Bramwell and Frederikshavn, Denmark native Mikkel Aagaard had a pair of assists each. Goaltender Andrew Masters made 24 saves, including several stops at important moments, the last coming with just 20 seconds left in regulation to deny Matt Mistele.
 
The Gryphons received a massive boost with the return of Simmonds, who was suspended for the first two games of the series. And the fifth-year captain was apparently in no mood to see his decorated and distinguished OUA career come to an end. With his team down 1-0, Simmonds scored the crucial equalizer by tapping in a rebound past Rams' goalie Tayor Dupuis at 4:17 of the second period.
 
The Uxbridge, ON native wasn't done. Simmonds put another one past Dupuis by finishing a pass from Bramwell into an open net on a Gryphon power play with 12:28 remaining in the second.
 
The goals inspired the visitors and seemed to temporarily deflate the top-seeded Rams. Guelph poured it on with Valentini going top shelf two minutes and 18 seconds later before Boyer shocked the home crowd with the Gryphons' fourth of the period on a low shot just 25 seconds later. That one ultimately proved to be the winner.
 
Ryerson finished atop the OUA West for a reason, and with the season on the line, the team responded to Guelph's barrage. Pat Fellows would get one back near the midway point of the second period, deflecting a shot that just trickled in behind Masters at 11:36. Mistele cashed in on a power play less than four minutes later, roofing a wrister from the top of the left circle to make it 4-3 Gryphons.
 
Prior to the wide-open second period, the visitors had regained the sharp focus they had in the 4-1 win at the Ryerson rink Thursday, which was obviously lacking in Saturday's back-and-forth 6-5 overtime loss. And Masters played a big role. The second-year goaltender from Kitchener, ON came up big in the first period, making several key saves, including a massive stop on a Rams' breakaway to keep Guelph close.
 
But the prolific Ryerson offence eventually broke through and snatched the critical opening goal at 13:08 of the first period. Matt Santos released a shot from the right circle that found a way behind Masters in between his pad and glove just inside the right post.
 
Guelph had to be happy to be down just one at the first intermission as rookie defenceman Matt Timms took away an apparent Ryerson goal, clearing the puck off the line to bail out Masters. That proved to be a huge moment as a 2-0 deficit could have been more difficult to overcome.
 
The Gryphons outshot the powerhouse Rams 33-27.
 
The win gave Guelph a perfect 4-0 record at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, with 18 goals scored. In addition to the two playoff wins, the Gryphons won twice at Ryerson during the regular season. 
 
Gryphon Take
"Scott has been a three-year captain for us, our longest serving captain. He's the kind of leader who doesn't always have to be loud but when he speaks, people listen. He was so ready to play and get back into the lineup. And Scott did what he always does, lead by example. Those goals got us rolling and we scored four in six minutes. That was the difference in the game."
 
"We felt we didn't have a great game last night. We played too loose. But we were able to get back on track, limiting their shots and limiting their scoring chances. The guys put together a great effort to get us back to playing how we needed to."
 
"We know Western is an outstanding team. They'll be a difficult opponent and we'll have to be at our very best to beat them." – Gryphon head coach Shawn Camp 
 
The Record
Guelph is 4-1 in the postseason.
 
Next up
OUA West Final vs Western Mustangs (best-of-three) - schedule TBA