GUELPH, Ont. - It did not take long for the Guelph Gryphons to set the tone Friday night for their match against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, and they made sure the game would never be in doubt. Using five different goal scorers, the Gryphons soared to a 6-0 win over the Hawks at the Gryphon Soccer Complex. Alexander Zis scored a pair of goals for Guelph and also registered three assists, to go along with markers from Youssef Zaghloul, Jack Sears, Evan Dick and Mandela Sharpe in the victory.

The game proved to be a continuation of a recent offensive explosion for the Gryphons. After a tough loss against Western (Guelph's only defeat so far this season), they have come back with twelve goals in their last two games.

Youssef Zaghloul got the scoring started with a goal in the 10th minute. Then in the 18th minute, Jack Sears soared high to head home an Alexander Zis corner kick doubling the lead to 2-0. Then as the Gryphons continued to put on the pressure, Peter Zehdee was taking down in the box leading to a Guelph penalty kick. Alexander Zis stepped up to the spot in the 25th minute and made no mistake hammering a strike into the bottom left corner. As it turned out, Zis was just getting himself warmed up. Twelve minutes after his penalty kick, Zis tallied his second goal of the match in the 36th minute. Moments after the Gryphons extended their lead to 4-0, they then made it 5-0. In the 38th minute Evan Dick got in on the action scoring his second goal of the season.

During the second-half of the match the Gryphons kept their focus on maintaining their lead. The two teams went back and forth throughout the latter half without much doing on either end. That was until Mandela Sharpe scored his first goal as a Gryphon in the 84th minute to round out the scoring.

Making his second straight start in goal, Darlington Murasiranwa recorded his second clean sheet in a row.

The Gryphons now move to 5-1-2 on the season and into first place in the West, one point ahead of the York Lions who hold two games in hand. Guelph will have a chance to create a little more separation between themselves and York on Sunday when they host the Lions at the Gryphon Soccer Complex.

Quotes from Gryphons Head Coach Keith Mason:

"The first forty-five minutes is as good as we have played all year. We were electric, going forward with speed and precision, and our finishing was excellent. We've worked hard on that."

"Laurier always causes problems to every team, so we knew it was going to be a tough game. We had a good week preparing for it and the guys look really sharped preparing for it."

"If there is a better player in the OUA this year than Alex Zis, I haven't seen him yet because Zis is phenomenal. He is going to be right up there for getting drafted in the CPL. He controls everything about the play, he is so calm and his vision is second to none. He brings a lot to the team on and off the field."