GUELPH, Ont. - The Gryphons men's hockey team capped off their season opening weekend with a 3-2 win over Waterloo in Saturday night's home opener. After defeating Western in overtime on Friday night, the Gryphons carried momentum over, producing another solid performance in front of over 500 Gryphon fans at the Gryphon Centre Arena. The win puts their record at 2-0-0 to kick off their 2022-23 season.
Luke Bignell scored the first goal in front of the home crowd. After Nate Allensen got the puck on net from the point, Bignell, who attended New Jersey Devils' rookie camp earlier this fall, jumped on the rebound and shovelled the puck over Waterloo goaltender, Dan Murphy's pad to give the Gryphons a 1-0 lead. 5 minutes later, the Gryphons blue line once again became the source of some offence. Tristan De Jong, fresh off his first OUA goal on Friday night, sent a point shot through traffic and
Jacob Winterton showed off some great hand-eye coordination to tip the puck into the Waterloo net, giving the Gryphons a two-goal cushion heading into the first intermission.
The second period was an eventful one for this home Gryphons crowd.
Anthony Tabak scored his second goal of the season early on to give the team a 3-0 lead. However, in the middle of the period, the Warriors' Chase Campbell converted on a shorthanded break, and then 2 minutes later Alex Gritz scored to bring the Warriors within striking distance, cutting the Gryphons lead to 3-2.
As the game got tighter, tempers began to flare between the two teams and each team had their fair share of special teams opportunities. The period alone would see 12 total penalties, with 6 players sitting in the box to finish off the second period.
The third period opened up with 4 on 4 play before the Gryphons would go to the powerplay thanks to Waterloo receiving a 5 minute major penalty in the tussle that finished the second period. The Gryphons were unable to convert, and would be forced to kill of 2 more penalties in the third period as they attempted to defend home ice.
Brendan Cregan stood tall in the Gryphons net stopping 23 of 25 shots and helped the Gryphons hang onto a 3-2 win.
The Gryphons now sit at 2-0-0 after their opening weekend. Their next games are part of a U.S. college tour next weekend where they will be playing Cornell, Dartmouth and Harvard in exhibition games. They resume their OUA regular season play at the newly renamed Toronto Metropolitan University on October 26 at 6pm.
