Men take 2-1 win while women suffer 5-0 loss
It was a tale of two spirited affairs with opposite outcomes on Sunday afternoon at the Gryphon Soccer Complex, as both the men and women’s soccer teams took the field against the Laurier Golden Hawks.
The women took the field first against the defending OUA Champion Golden Hawks, losing by a score of 5-0 in which the end result was not indicative of the Gryphons overall play.
The first half of the game saw crisp passing and tight defense from both teams, with Laurier’s Emily Brown opening the scoring in the 13th minute off a nice individual rush, giving the Golden Hawks the all-important 1-0 lead. Both sides continued to press following the goal, specifically Gryphon forward Courtney Whiteside who kept the Golden Hawk defenders on their heels with her speed and deception. While the Gryphon offence pressed, Laurier’s stingy defense and stellar goaltending proved too much to overcome. The Gryphons were unable to find the back of the net, despite firing nine shots on net in total, while Laurier countered with ten of their own.
The loss moved the Gryphons to 2-2-0 on the season. The team’s next game is against the University of Windsor Lancers on Sept. 13 in Windsor.
The Gryphons men’s team was next to take the field, taking a nail biter of a game by a score of 2-1 against a Golden Hawks team that fought to the very last minute. The Gryphons came out of the gate strong with their trademark precision and aggression, keeping much of the play in the Golden Hawks end and reeling off numerous chances to score. Guelph’s tight defensive play kept the Golden Hawks hemmed in their own zone for most of the half, limiting Laurier’s shots on net to seven while the Gryphons kept the Golden Hawks goalkeeper busy with 14 shots.
The Gryphons offensive pressure paid off in the 25th minute, when midfielder Zachary Rushie scored off a fortuitous bounce in front of the Golden Hawk net and put the home team up 1-0 going into the second half.
The Golden Hawks seemed to compose themselves during halftime as the play became much more even compared to the first half, with both teams using their speed and tenacity to create offensive chances. After some good back and forth play, the Golden Hawks scored to tie the game in the 72nd minute off a nice individual play by forward Tyrrel Wilson.
Following Wilson’s goal, Guelph had several close calls to take the lead, including a play in the 82nd minute, which saw the ball hit the post followed by the crossbar in quick succession. The shot off the foot of Guelph midfielder Ethan Danelli had the posts ringing like the Bell of St. Peters as Gryphon fans and players couldn’t believe the ball didn’t go in. Gryphon fans didn’t have to wait long though, as Gryphon forward Jared Agyemang scored the game-winning goal off a rebound in the 90thand final minute of play, capping off an exciting win for the Guelph Gryphons and sending the home crowd into frenzy.
With the win, the Gryphons record now stands at 2-0-2, with the team’s next game coming against the University of Windsor Lancers on Sept. 13 in Windsor at 3:15 pm.