Gryphons score seven unanswered first period goals in 11-1 blowout victory
After being stymied offensively in a 5-2 home loss to the Carleton Ravens on Jan. 9, the Guelph Gryphons men’s hockey team responded with a bang in their next game against the Royal Military College Paladins (RMC); they scored seven unanswered first period goals en route to a landslide, and season high, 11-1 victory at the Gryphon Center on Jan. 10.
With the win, which was seemingly all Guelph from the moment the puck dropped, the Gryphons improved to 5-11-3 on the 2014-15 season, while the loss kept RMC winless with a 0-16-2 record. Kyle Neuber, a 2009 draft selection of the Columbus Blue Jackets, opened the scoring for the Gryphons with a cheeky forehand deke that fooled RMC goaltender Evan Deviller a minute-and-a-half into the contest. Deviller, who despite the end score played a deceivingly strong game, made 39 saves – many of which were of the highlight variety – throughout the match-up. Len Fabbri would then double the Gryphons’ lead a minute-and-a-half later, slamming the puck home off a scrambled play in front of the RMC net for his second of the year and a 2-0 home score.
RMC struggled defensively throughout the game – specifically during the first period, making several careless plays in their defensive zone that led directly to turnovers, giving up many odd man rushes for the Gryphons.
Six-and-a-half minutes into the first frame, Neuber would score his second of the game, and sixth of the season, to give Guelph a 3-0 lead. This was soon followed by rookie forward Seth Swanson’s second of the year, who banged home a nice cross-crease pass by third year center Nicklas Huard for the 4-0 home lead.
The Gryphons weren’t done there though, with third-year winger Jordan Mock getting in on the action with his fifth of the season and first of two on the evening, ringing a wrist shot off the cross bar and in, to bring the lead to 5-0, and the game into blowout territory.
30 seconds later, Trevor Morbeck would add his own tally to make it 6-0, snapping home a wrister off an aforementioned odd man rush for his third of the campaign in which RMC goaltender Deviller had no chance. The Gyphons would add one more to their colossal lead before the end of the opening period, with Ryan Strand converting off a rebound in front of the RMC net to put the Gryphons up a touchdown heading into the second.
Giving up seven unanswered goals seemed to give RMC a much needed kick in the pants coming into the second period, as they seemed to tighten up defensively, and gave up only one goal during the period – Fabbri’s second of the game – despite being outshot 17-5 by the Gryphons. Fabbri would finish with a season high five points on the night.
Gryphon goaltender Andrew D’Agostini had himself a strong period as well, and although he may not have been as busy as his counterpart across the rink, most of the five saves he had to make were prime scoring chances – including an acrobatic chest save off an RMC two-on-one rush with only a minute left to play in the period.
The Gryphons would add three more tallies in the third with goals from Robert De Fulvis, Huard, and Jordan Mock, capping off the huge night for the Gryphon offence.
Guelph will play next on Jan. 16 in what is the sixth edition of “The Frosty Mug,” where they will be hosting the Brock Badgers at the Sleeman Centre in front of their biggest home crowd of the year.