The Guelph Gryphons women’s hockey team faced off against the Ryerson Rams at the Gryphon Centre on Oct. 9. Friday night hockey action at the University of Guelph brought a competitive atmosphere to the arena. Last time these two teams met, the Gryphons sent the Rams home with a post-season-ending 2-1 victory. This time, the Rams were looking to redeem themselves as both teams prepared for their second game of the season.
The puck dropped at 7:30 p.m., and right away the Gryphons proved to be too much on offence and goalkeeping. This was evident as soon as the first period began with the goal scoring efforts of Guelph’s third-year forward Kelly Gribbons and fourth-year right wing Averi Nooren. Partway through the first period, Gribbons capitalized on a perfect pass from Nooren, sending the puck into the top left corner of the Rams’ net for Gribbons’ second goal of the season. The first goal of the game got the home fans fired up, adding to the energy of the crowd. Three minutes later in the first period, Nooren scored her first of two goals for the night on the power-play for the Guelph Gryphons. Fifth-year forward Leigh Shilton had a shot on net that was deflected, and Nooren was in the right place at the right time to capitalize on the opportunity, a habit which she would continue throughout the game.
The Gryphons rounded out the game by adding another pair of goals to the two scored in the first period. Forward Christine Grant scored in the second period and Nooren added to her first goal with a nice breakaway goal and top-corner slap shot in the third, bringing the score to 4-0 for the Gryphons. Nooren finished off her night with a nice pair of goals and a beautiful assist. The other assists for the night came from left winger Kaitlin Lowy, center Jessica Pinkerton, forward Christine Grant and Shilton, showing how the Gryphons worked together to accomplish their victory.
The game remained competitive throughout, with both teams racking up penalty minutes as the play heated up. The Gryphons and Rams combined 26 total penalty minutes, 12 for the Gryphons and 14 for the Rams. A hard-fought game by both sides, play remained competitive until the last second of the third period. The Gryphons and Rams won’t face each other again until Jan. 23rd in the regular season, but fans can anticipate another highly charged faceoff.
The Gryphons owed a lot of gratitude to the goaltending efforts of second-year goalie Valerie Lamenta, who saved all 27 of the Ryerson Rams’ shots of the night for her first shutout of the season. This strong saving performance by Lamerta takes a page out of Stephanie Nehring’s book, the Gryphons’ OUA leader for Goals Against Average from last season.
The Gryphons had a busy weekend of hockey, following up their victory against Ryerson with a tough loss to the currently undefeated University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday afternoon. Following the weekend, the Gryphons’ record moves to 2-1 for the season, a great start for the team.
The Gryphons will travel to Waterloo’s Sun Life Arena to face the Laurier Golden Hawks for their next game on Oct. 17th, set to begin at 7:30 p.m. The Golden Hawks are currently ranked eighth overall in the OUA, while the Gryphons sit comfortably in fourth.