Gryphons come from behind to force game three

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(Photo courtesy of Chad Leitch)
(Photo courtesy of Chad Leitch)

They were just “standing around.”

The fifth-seeded Wilfrid Laurier menโ€™s hockey team came into game two of their best-of-three Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West quarterfinal against the Guelph Gryphons with a win in their hands and a chance to close out the series.

But as head coach Greg Puhalski said, his team was just standing around.

Despite jumping out to an early 2-0 lead, the Hawks allowed the Gryphons to climb back and tie it before the end of the first period.

Unable to generate anything more throughout the game and allowing a plethora of opportunities for Guelph, fourth-year J.T. MacDonald was able to put the game away with just over a minute left in the third for a 3-2 victory for the Gryphons.

“I thought Guelph just played better than us. Each period they were able to generate more offence,โ€ Puhalski said following the game. โ€œWe were outshot badly tonight and I think itโ€™s a true indication of who the deserving victor was tonight. It was Guelph.โ€

Guelphโ€™s offence began merely seconds into the match and didnโ€™t end until the final horn sounded to end the game.ย They threw 41 shots at fourth-year netminder Ryan Daniels, while the Hawks only produced 25 of their own on Guelph netminderย Andrew Loverock.

The Hawksโ€™ two early goals seemed to be exactly what they needed to escape their offensive struggles. First, Mitchell Good scored on the powerplay with a shot that rang off the inside of the post, then Greg Cerilli put a smooth shot past ย Loverock.

But minutes later, the game was tied.

Laurier was also blessed with a four-minute powerplay in the third period โ€” the perfect opportunity for the Hawks to get the go-ahead goal.

But again, no offence could be mustered.

โ€œItโ€™s a learning process and we just didnโ€™t take advantage of it,โ€ Puhalski said of his teamโ€™s powerplay. โ€œIt kind of lends itself to the way the game was played. We didnโ€™t get ourselves into any type of rhythm or create any type of forecheck.โ€

With the win, the Gryphons tie the series at one game apiece to send it back to Guelph Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. The winner will face the Windsor Lancers in the next round.

Puhalskiโ€™s focus now is to โ€œrectify todayโ€™s game.โ€ The Hawks will look to fix the offensive lapse and close out the series.

โ€œGuelphโ€™s a good hockey club,โ€ Puhalski said. โ€œThey were full deserving of tonightโ€™s win. I thought we were deserving of game one. Weโ€™ll see what happens tomorrow, I just know we need a better effort.

โ€œIf we have a better effort, then weโ€™ll have a better outcome.โ€


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