GUELPH, Ont. – The Gryphons men's hockey team returned to the Gryphon Centre Arena on Saturday night (Jan. 24) when they took the Lakehead Thunderwolves. The Gryphons battled back to score a late equalizer to force overtime but fell to the Thunderwolves 3-2 in the extra frame.
 
The Gryphons got out to an early lead, five minutes into the game as Nolan Dann entered the zone with puck and sniped his 12th goal of the season on the glove side to give his side the 1-0 advantage. The goal extended the Cambridge, Ontario's native point streak to 5 consecutive games. With the first period winding down, Lakehead would score on the power play to tie it up at 1-1. The game was chippy and physical throughout the night as the score would remain tied until the midway point of the third period when Malte Hasselgren snuck one home to give the Thunderwolves the lead. The Gryphs would press for the equalizer and find it with 1:24 to play in regulation. With the extra attacker on the ice, Ian Ferguson lasered a cross-ice pass right onto Dylan Hudon's stick as Hudon rips home the tying goal to send the game into overtime. However in overtime, Lakehead controlled possession for the majority of the period before Olivier Pouliot at the 5:22 mark scored to give the visitors the 3-2 win. Olivier Ciarlo made 23 saves in the Guelph net, including making 11 saves in the third period which helped his team get into the OT period.
 
Despite the OT loss for the Gryphons, they pick up a valuable point in a tight OUA West division. The Gryphons are currently in 5th place in the standings with a 12-7-3 record with 27 points. Lakehead with the win goes to 29 points on the season with a regular season record of 14-7-1 as they occupy 2nd place in the division.
 
The Gryphons will be on the road for the next two games when they take on the Windsor Lancers on Friday night (Jan. 30) before heading to Waterloo to take on the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 31).