GUELPH, Ont. – On Saturday afternoon (Sept. 17) at the University of Guelph's Varsity Field, the Gryphons men's rugby team officially kicked off their 2022 OUA campaign with a season-opening matchup versus the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. The defending OUA champion Gryphons came out on top of a tightly-contested match, defeating Laurier 38-31 with a large crowd on hand as part of the "Gryphon Rugby Alumni Day" festivities. A back-and-forth affair saw the Gryphons jump out to a 21-5 lead, only to see the Golden Hawks answer with 19-unanswered points to grab a 24-21 lead. The Gryphons opened the second half with a quick score and held off a late push by Laurier to preserve the win, with Gryphon flanker Jakob (Kobe) Faust sending a penalty kick through the uprights to end the game 38-31 in favour of the Gryphons. Faust, an Uxbridge, Ontario native, was responsible for 11 of Guelph's points (4 converts, 1 penalty kick), with each of the 5 Gryphon tries on the day being scored by a different player. The Gryphons (1-0), will look to improve to 2-0 next Saturday (Sept. 24) when they make their way to Kingston to take on the RMC Paladins at 3pm.
