Box Score GUELPH, Ont. – The University of Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team picked up a much-needed win on Saturday night (Feb. 4) at the Gryphon Centre as they make their push for entry to the OUA playoffs. The Gryphons came into Saturday's game coming off a 2-0 win over the TMU Bold looking to make it two in a row against the York Lions. Despite being outshot 44-32 the U of G men would take it 5-3 over the Lions.
 
The game opened with the Gryphons coming out firing knowing that their playoff lives hang in the balance. Their relentless attack paid off just over seven minutes in when Ethan Doyle found the rebound of a Duncan Penman point shot and fire it through the pads of Lions goaltender Cole Ceci. Just over ten minutes later Ted Nichol would skate around the back of the net and send a backhanded shot into the back of the net for his 3^rd of the season. The opening 20 minutes would come to an end with the Gryphon two-goal lead intact.
 
The second period started with the Gryphons quickly finding themselves on the back foot as they were forced to kill a penalty. Limiting any quality chances saw momentum swing back into the home team's favour and at the 4:57 mark they would be rewarded with a powerplay of their own. With 4 seconds left in the man-advantage Ethan Doyle would finish a beautiful passing play for his second of the night and 6^th of the campaign. The Lions would finally beat Gryphon goaltender Colton Incze with just over 5 minutes left in the period. After his shutout win last night, Incze stopped 41 of 44 shots faced to maintain his perfect record.
 
The third period would start in a similar fashion as the second, with the gryphons finding themselves down a skater early. This time the Lions would capitalize and make it a one-goal game. Just two minutes later Tristan De Jong would retake the two-goal Gryphon lead with an pin-point accurate goal over the shoulder of Cole Ceci for his 3^rd of the season and first since November 11^th. On a Lions penalty 4:22 into the 3^rd the Gryphons would take a 5-2 lead as Zachary Poirier capitalized on a shorthanded breakaway. Despite a late York goal that made it 5-3 the Gryphons would hold for their 8^th win of the season.
 
With the win, the Gryphons (8-10-7) move up into 8^th place in the OUA's West Division and into a four-way tie with Laurier, Western, and York for the 6^th and final playoff spot with just two games remaining. Next the U of G men will take on the Brock Badgers in the annual 'Aggie Night' game, tickets are available at gryphons.ca/tickets. The game can also be seen live, online at www.oua.tv.