Jan 14, 2016 | Bruce Schlitt | 715 views
Novice AA Open OMHA Playdowns With Two Victories
The Novice AA Gryphons opened their OMHA Playdowns with victories in Oakville on Saturday January 9 and against Halton Hills on Monday January 11.
In Oakville, three goals in 47 seconds in the first half of the first period paced the Gryphons to a 6-4 victory over the Rangers. 2:38 into the opening period, Trenton Harris broke free and drove around the defence and wristed the puck past the Oakville goalie to give Guelph the early lead. 32 seconds later on the same shift, Caysen Craig wristed the puck towards the net where it changed direction and skooted by the Oakville goalie for a 2-0 Guelph lead. Just 15 seconds later, Nolan Chabot directed a shot on net where it was scooped up Landon Mitchell, who stuck it in behind the goalie for a 3-0 lead. After Oakville got on the board to close the gap to two, Hunter Solomon launched a wrist shot from the blueline that bulged the twine for a 4-1 Guelph lead after one. Nathan Schlitt and Landon Mitchell drew assists on the play.
28 seconds into the second, Koen Smith broke loose behind the Oakville net and fed a perfect cross crease pass to a wide open Tanner Bothwell. Bothwell wasted no time sticking the puck in the back of the net for a 5-1 lead. Noah Milne drew an assist on the play with a strong pinch on the boards to keep the puck in. Two minutes later, Landon Mitchell repeated Smith's performance by feeding a wide open Nathan Schlitt in front of the Oakville net. Schlitt threw it upstairs for a 6-1 lead. Nolan Chabot also drew an assist on the play.
Oakville put on late pressure and closed the gap to 6-4 in the third but Guelph held on to claim victory in their first game of the OMHA.
Two nights later, the Gryphs traveled to Georgetown and came home with a 3-1 victory over the Halton Hills Thunder. This was a hard checking affair that saw the Gryphons battle thru many hard checks to earn the win. 5:35 into the first, Landon Mitchell drove a wrist shot on net that the Halton goalie partially blocked but not enough to prevent the puck from trickling into the net for a 1-0 lead. Matthew Stam drew an assist on the play.
The score remained 1-0 until Halton Hills tied it up four minutes into the third period. Two minutes later, Koen Smith took a pass from Nathan Briggs and slid it along the ice to the far corner for the eventual game winning goal. Tanner Bothwell also assisted on the play. The game remained tight checking until Koen Smith wristed an insurance marker into the top corner with just 1:32 remaining in the game. Matthew Stam assisted on the play.
The Gryphs are now off for a week before they travel to Flamborough on January 19th to battle the Sabres.