GUELPH, Ont. – Thursday night (Nov. 28, 2024) at the University of Guelph's Gryphon Centre Arena, the No. 8-ranked Gryphons women's hockey team suffered a 4-3 overtime loss to the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. With the loss, the Gryphons fall to 8-4-1 (wins-losses-OTL/SOL) at the midway point of the 26-game OUA regular season schedule, while Laurier improves to 7-5-1 on the season with the win.
 
Thursday night's game marked the inaugural edition of the Gryphons women's hockey "Aggies Night" game, presented by Syngenta Canada Inc. An enthusiastic crowd of 765 fans were in attendance at the Gryphon Centre, to watch the U of G women's hockey team take to the ice, unveiling a new alternate 'Aggies' jersey. Each year, the Gryphons women's hockey team will select one of their regular season home games, and dedicate that game to celebrating the University of Guelph's Ontario Agricultural College, its students, staff and alumni. The Ontario Agricultural College, established in 1874, is one of the founding colleges of the University of Guelph and is known internationally for its research and teaching in the areas of food, agriculture, communities and the environment. And the Aggies supporters in attendance were treated to an exciting matchup.
 
With Guelph trailing 3-2 late in the 3rd period, the Gryphons would head to the power play with :56 seconds remaining after Laurier's Sydney Brooks was called for a holding-the-stick penalty at the 19:04 mark. The Gryphons would pull their goalie for an extra skater, and would come through on the 6-on-4 power play opportunity, with assistant captain and fifth-year blueliner, Meaghan Chittick (Woodstock, ON), firing a wrist shot from the point that would find its way through traffic and in to tie the game at 3-3 with just :37 seconds remaining in the 3rd period. The goal from Chittick, her fist of the season, would send the game to overtime.
 
The 3-on-3 overtime period would end in controversial fashion, after Gryphons forward Chihiro Suzuki was sent into the boards just inside the Laurier blueline. With no penalty called on the play, the Golden Hawks were able to head the other way on a 2-on-1 break, with Laurier fifth-year forward Olivia MacMillan (Elora, ON) finishing off the odd-man rush to score the game-winning goal at the 3:16 mark of overtime to secure the win for the Golden Hawks. Despite the loss, the No. 8-ranked Gryphons were still able to secure a point and currently sit in 2nd-place in the seven-team OUA West Division standings.
 
All three of Guelph's goals on Thursday night came on the power play, with Reese Coffey getting Guelph on the board midway through the 2nd period to trim the deficit to 2-1, followed by 3rd period power play goals from Maeve Sutherland-Case and Meaghan Chittick. All-Canadian goalie, Martina Fedel, turned away 25 of the 29 shots sent her way in the loss. The Gryphons (8-4-1) return to home ice on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 30) for an afternoon matchup, as they welcome the Western Mustangs (6-7-0) to the Gryphon Centre Arena for the team's annual "Alumni Day" game. Tickets are available online at gryphons.ca/tickets, with the game broadcast live online at www.oua.tv.