The Guelph Gryphons ringette team won silver this past weekend at the Oshawa Ringette tournament. Facing the Western Mustangs in the championship game, Guelph lost 4-3 in overtime to earn a silver medal in the inaugural tournament of the University Ringette League.
The Gryphons started the weekend off against Nippissing University on Friday night. After going down 2-0 in the first period, Guelph kept their composure and scored four unanswered goals in the second period to win the game 4-2. Leading the way was Steph Smith with two goals, Erin Ivens with one, and Jessica Johnston with a goal and two assists. Although it was the first official game of the season for Guelph, assistant coach Randy Ivens said, “That looked like a mid-season game. [The players] are in mid-season form”.
On Saturday the Gryphons geared up for three games, starting with their hardest matchup in the morning against Western. The Mustangs, who hold varsity status at Western, won silver at Provincials last season and were expected to be Guelph’s most fierce competitors, an expectation they lived up to. Once again going down 2-0, Guelph tied it up with two goals by Michaela Ondrejicka. The Gryphons kept possession for the majority of the play, battling hard and cycling well in the offensive zone, and making adjustments when some plays were getting intercepted. Their downfall came when they ran into penalty trouble, and two consecutive goals were scored on a 5-on-3 powerplays for Western. Western scored one more for a final score of 5-2.
The Gryphons shook off this loss and looked ahead to their game against Brock University. Just 43 seconds into the game, Brock scored, making players, coaches and fans nervous. However, that would be the last goal Brock scored in a chippy, penalty filled game. The Gryphons flustered the Badgers and kept them on their heels, roaring to a 6-1 win with two goals each from Shannon O’Dwyer, Erin Ivens, and Morgan Faulds, who also had two assists.
Brock had a chance at redemption in the semi-final game, but once again Guelph took charge, winning by a comfortable score of 7-3. A hat trick by Johnston and two goals each from Ivens and Stacey Forbes punched Guelph’s ticket to the finals on Sunday against Western, who defeated Nippissing 7-0 in the other semi-final game.
Sunday morning found Guelph once again down 1-0 early in the game after a questionable call by the referee allowed a Western goal as the shotclock expired. However, the Gryphons did not back down; Johnston, Smith and Faulds scored to put Guelph up 3-1 with ten minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, with 3:42 left in the game, and their strongest players on the ice, Western scored to bring the game within one. With the goalie pulled, Western scored again with 30 seconds left to tie the game and send the championships to overtime, which saw the Mustangs score in the first 30 seconds to win 4-3 and take the gold.
Although the ultimate goal for the Gryphons was to win gold, going to overtime in the finals is an accomplishment to be proud of. The Gryphons will be looking to improve on their silver medal in the London ringette tournament this weekend.
About
The Ontarion publishes independent, student-produced news, opinion, and commentary for University of Guelph students so that they can make informed decisions in their lives. To do this, The Ontarion provides learning opportunities and training in journalism, media production, leadership, board governance, and other aspects of nonprofit news.
The Ontarion is the University of Guelph’s independent student newspaper. It began in 1951 as part of the Ontario Agricultural College and then began to represent the entire University of Guelph once it amalgamated in 1964. The Ontarion incorporated in May 1970 as The Ontarion, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation registered with the province of Ontario.