GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team will be heading into Thanksgiving weekend on a high note. On Saturday night (Oct. 10) at the University of Guelph's Gryphon Centre Arena, the Gryphons used a three-goal, 1st period outburst to earn a 5-1 home victory over the Lakehead Thunderwolves. The Gryphons, who had five different goal scorers on the night and a strong performance from their second-year goalie
Olivier Ciarlo to improve to 1-1-0 on the season, while Lakehead falls to 0-2-0. For the second time in as many nights, the Gryphons were in action on their home ice, looking to bounce back after
dropping their regular season home opener on Friday night against TMU. Lakehead meanwhile, arrived at the Gryphon Centre after having suffered a tough, 3-2, defeat at the Windsor Lancers on Friday night, leaving both teams eager to pick up the first win of the 2026-27 season.
The Gryphons were able to get off to a fast start on Saturday night, with the Gryphons scoring three goals in the 1st period, with a trio of third-year forwards all scoring their first goals of the new season, with
Dylan Hudon,
Julien Gervais and
Justin Barker all finding the back of the net to help the Gryphons take a 3-1 lead after the opening 20 minutes.
In the 2nd period, the Gryphons would add to their lead when fourth-year forward
Julian Vander Voet (Ancaster, ON) was sent in all alone and was able to fire a perfectly place shot blocker side past Lakehead goalie Carson Cherepak to put Guelph up 4-1.
Luke Johnston would add an empty netter in the 3rd period for his first career OUA goal to make it 5-1. Gryphons second-year goalie,
Olivier Ciarlo (Laval, QC), who made 35 saves on Friday night against TMU, was once again impressive, making 29 saves on 30 shots on the night for his first win of the season. Gryphons fifth-year forward, Nolan DeGurse (Bright's Grove, ON) was the lone player to register a multi-point night with DeGurse finishing the night with 2 assists.
The Gryphons (1-1-0) will now play their next two games on the road, with the team making the short trip to Waterloo to face the Waterloo Warriors on Friday night (Oct. 17) at Columbia Icefield Arena, followed by another trip to Waterloo on Saturday night (Oct. 18) to face the Laurier Golden Hawks at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex. All Guelph Gryphons men's hockey games throughout the season can be streamed live online at
www.oua.tv.
