GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons women's hockey team hosted the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday night (Jan. 31) from the Gryphon Centre Arena as two goals in the opening 1:55 of the 3rd period made all the difference in their 3-2 win. The Gryphons held on late as Sophie Helfenstein made some important saves late in the game to preserve all three points for Guelph to close the gap in the OUA West Division standings. With the win, the Gryphons extend their win streak to four and improves to 17-2-3 on the regular season while the Varsity Blues drops to 9-9-5 on the season. With the Gryphons trailing 2-1 heading into the third following two Varsity Blues power play goals, it would be fourth-year forward Maeve Sutherland-Case who'd start the Guelph rally once again. Just: 23 seconds into the period, Sutherland-Case would sneak her shot through Toronto goalie Lyla McKinnon to tie the game up at 2-2. For the animal biology major, the goal was her team-leading 11th goal of the season as she extends her goal scoring streak to three games. The Gryphons would strike again 1:30 later as fourth-year forward Alexie Olivier (Sudbury, ON) got rewarded for winning the puck battle on the board as she threw one on net from a tight angle as it beat McKinnon on the blocker-side to give Guelph their first lead of the night. The Gryphons penalty kill played a crucial role in the period as they killed off nearly five minutes of penalty time, including a 5-on-3. Third-year goalie Sophie Helfenstein came up big in the period, stopping all 9 shots she saw as she made 17 saves for her 13th win of the season, thwarting the late Toronto push. Katherine Heard (Arva, ON) finished off her strong month of January scoring her 7th goal of the season on the power play in the first as she has scored in five of her team's last six games.
 
The Gryphons sit in 2nd-place in the OUA West Division standings with 51 points, one point back of the 1st-place Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (18-3-1, 52 pts). Up next for the Gryphons (17-2-3) two final home games in the regular season when they host the York Lions on Friday night (Feb. 6) before a Saturday night (Feb. 7) home date with the Brock Badgers. Tickets are available online at gryphons.ca/tickets, with the game broadcast live online at www.oua.tv.