WINDSOR, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team dropped Game 1 of their best-of-three OUA quarterfinal series with the Windsor Lancers on Wednesday night (Feb. 25) in Windsor, with the OUA West top-seeded Lancers skating to a 5-2 victory. The series will now shift back to Guelph on Thursday night (Feb. 26), where the Gryphons will look to keep their season alive with a win.
 
Just three nights after the Gryphons had secured an opening round, Game 3 victory on Sunday night at Laurier to clinch their opening round series, the team found themselves back on the road again, this time heading west on the 401 to Windsor to face a tough Lancers team. Windsor finished 1st in the OUA West Division during the regular season with an 18-7-3 record, including winning all three of their head-to-head meetings with Guelph during the regular season. The Lancers also entered Wednesday night's OUA quarterfinal series well-rested, with Windsor having enjoyed a first round bye last week. The Lancers were able to take control of the game early on, with the Lancers jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the 1st period, with goals from Brady Hinz, Colton Smith and Ray Hamlin in the opening period. Gryphons captain Nathan Allensen continued his standout season, getting Guelph on the board with :53 seconds remaining in the 1st period to make it a 3-1 game. But the Lancers would pull away in the 2nd period, with Colton Smith completing the hat trick thanks to a pair of power play goals from the former Windsor Spitfire forward. Nolan Dann, the OUA's leading scorer during the regular season, would score for the Gryphons on the power play in the 3rd period, but it was too little too late for the Gryphons, as the Lancers held on for the 5-2 win. The Gryphons out-shot the Lancers, 29-24, on the night, in a game that was also chippy at times, with both teams combining for 17 trips to the penalty box.
 
The Windsor Lancers will now take their 1-0 series lead to Guelph on Thursday night (Feb. 26), with puck drop at the Gryphon Centre Arena set for 7:30pm. Tickets for the Gryphons must-win game on Thursday night are available online at gryphons.ca/tickets, with the game broadcast live online at www.oua.tv.