Jan 02, 2017 | Bruce Schlitt | 469 views
Novice Selects Grind Out Road Victory in Brantford
The Novice Selects traveled to Brantford on Monday evening to skate off the turkey and stuffing and sweat out the gravy in their return to action from the Christmas break. Despite enjoying a healthy advantage in shots on goal, the Gryphons had to battle to the final buzzer for a 2-1 victory.
The Gryphs came out in the first period with numerous scoring chances put were unable to get the puck past Saints goalie Elliott Maratos. Finally, with 1:40 left in the opening frame, defenseman Liam Bendo picked up the puck beside his own net and fed a long breakout past to right winger Declan O' Hearn who was flying up the far side of the ice. O' Hearn walked in alone and snapped a wrist shot over the goalie's glove to give Guelph a 1-0 lead. The first period ended with Guelph holding on to their one goal lead.
With 6:05 left in the second, Guelph winger Vid Peteranac wristed a shot on goal that was turned aside by Maratos. Left winger Joseph Piccone jumped on the rebound and blasted a wrist shot into the open net for the what proved to be the game winning goal. The Gryphons held on to their two goal lead for three minutes before Brantford cut the lead in half on a tally by Wyatt Williams. The score stood 2-1 in favour of Guelph after two periods of play.
The third period saw more sustained pressure from the Gryphons who were able to bottle up the Brantford squad in their own end for minutes at a time but were unable to put the puck in the net. A big save by Carter Curran with four minutes left kept the Gryphons in the lead and they played out the clock for a 2-1 win.
The Gryphons return to action January 16th when they host the Kitchener Jr Rangers.