GUELPH, Ont. – On Saturday night (Feb. 14) the Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team closed out their 2025-26 regular season schedule with a tough loss, falling 4-3 in overtime to the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. With the result, Laurier earns home ice advantage when these two teams meet in the opening round (best-of-three series) of the 2026 OUA playoffs.
The Gryphons and Golden Hawks entered Saturday night's matchup already knowing they will play one another in the preliminary round of the OUA playoffs. But there was still plenty at stake on Saturday night at the Gryphon Centre Arena, with the winner claiming home ice advantage in next week's best-of-three series. With the score tied at 1-1 in the 3rd period, the Gryphons would take the lead as
Griffin Wilson jumped on a rebound and scored his 7th goal of the season to put his side up 2-1. Guelph would make it 3-1 on an empty net goal from Jack Wismer with 1:12 left in regulation. For Wismer, the goal was his second of the contest and his 14th of the season.
But Laurier would storm back in the final moments of the game. Luke Della Croce scored with :29 seconds left to cut the deficit to one to give the visitors life. Just :18 seconds later, the Golden Hawks would tie the game at 3-3 as Tyler Hunt slipped through a defender and scored on his backhand to send the game into overtime. In the overtime period, the Gryphons had the better of the chances but were unable to beat Laurier goalie Ventsislav Shingarov. The Golden Hawks would complete the comeback as Kallaway Mercer broke through on a breakaway and scored his second of the contest to give his side the 4-3 overtime win and home ice advantage for Game 1 (and Game 3 if necessary) in next week's postseason matchup. The Gryphons finish the 28-game OUA regular season with a 15-9-4 record in 5th place in the OUA West Division with 34 points while the Golden Hawks jump to 4th place in the division with 35 points and a record of 15-8-5.
Below is an *unofficial* schedule for the Gryphons upcoming playoff series. The OUA will confirm the official schedule in the coming days.
Men's Hockey - OUA Playoffs, Opening Round (Best-of-Three Series)
No. 5-seed Guelph Gryphons vs No. 4-seed Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
Game 1: Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026 - 7pm (Guelph at Laurier | Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex)
Game 2: Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026 - 7:30pm (Laurier at Guelph | Gryphon Centre Arena)
Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026 - 6pm (Guelph at Laurier | Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex)
