WINDSOR, Ont. – The Gryphons men's hockey team opened up their weekend in Windsor Friday evening (Feb. 18) at the Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex. Looking to build off their win against Western at home last weekend, the Gryphons were up against an always tough matchup with the first-place Windsor Lancers. In a heated affair, the Gryphons put on some impressive late pressure but ultimately fell short.
The strong Gryphons penalty kill was put to the test just :30 seconds into the game as
Luke Bignell went to the box for a slashing penalty. The Gryphons were able to kill it off but the Lancers remained relentless for the first five minutes of the game, leading to a goal by Sean Olsen just past the 16 minute mark. The teams traded rushes throughout a very fast, close-checking first period, and the Gryphons went to the powerplay just prior to the midway point, maintaining some good zone pressure but failing to convert. The Gryphons went to the box again with 2 and a half minutes left and the Lancers jumped on the opportunity. Brady Pataki scored less than 5 seconds into the man advantage after a scramble in front of Gryphons netminder,
Colton Incze, sending the Gryphons to the locker room down 2-0 after 1 period of play.
The second period started in similar fashion to the first as
Duncan Penman left the game with a 10 minute misconduct for checking from behind, just 13 seconds into the frame. This time the Lancers capitalized, with a Holden Wale point shot finding the back of the Gryphons net through traffic. The Lancers added another one before Guelph was able to finally get on the board mid way through the second period as second year forward Luke Kutcevicius finished off a beautiful cross crease pass from
Ted McGeen, cutting the Lancers lead to 2. Windsor would add another goal to make it 4-1 but with less than 2 minutes left in the middle period, the Gryphons went to the powerplay. After some relenting pressure, Luke Kutcevicius tipped home his second of the game off a point shot from
Liam Ham with 12 seconds left, to give the Gryphons some momentum heading into the third.
The Gryphons opened the third period down 4-2, but with lots of energy, looking to keep chipping away at the Lancers lead. Guelph maintained possession for most of the first 5 minutes until they were caught with 6 men on the ice sending them to the penalty kill again. The penalty kill prevailed and the Gryphons went back to even strength, continuing to maintain possession but could not find a way to solve Windsor's Nathan Torchia between the pipes. An empty net goal for the lancers at 2:24 sealed the deal making it a 5-2 game, and Windsor took home the first 2 points of this weekend's series.
The team will look to bounce back from Friday night's loss quickly as they return to the Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex again Saturday (Feb. 19) to face off against the Lancers at 4pm.
