Dec 17, 2018 | Bruce Schlitt | 230 views
Atom AE Take 3 Points From Orangeville
The Gryphons Atom AE's took on the Orangeville Flyers last Thursday and Friday in a home and home battle. After tieing the first game on home ice 3-3 on Thursday, the Gryphons travelled to Orangeville on Friday and come through the fog with a 6-1 victory.
On Thursday the sluggish Gryphons chased the Flyers around the ice for most of the night. Guelph got on the board 2:04 into the contest when Kenny Beynon backhanded home an Adrian Tersigni rebound to give Guelph a 1-0 lead. Peyton Smith also drew an assist on the play. 1:30 later Milan Wilson increased the lead by picking the top corner from the slot. Caleb Davison pitched in with the helper. However, Orangeville cut the lead in half two minutes later and the period ended with Guelph leading 2-1.
Orangeville took control of the game with two goals midway thru the second to take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission.
With 7:27 remaining, Chase Roffel flipped a backhand from the point that had eyes and found its way past multiple bodies and into the back of the net. Caleb Davison and Connor Laskowski drew assists on the play. For the remainder of the game, Guelph hung on and escaped with a point as the final score ended 3-3.
On Friday night, Guelph returned to their hard skating form and their efforts paid off. Orangeville jumped out with an early goal and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
However, Guelph exploded for four goals in the second to turn the tide in their favour. 1:39 into the period, Peyton Smith aggressively chased down an Orangeville defender in a battle for a loose puck and drove the Flyer net where his rebound was tapped home by Peyton Markwood who had fought for position in front of the Orangeville goal. Nate Taylor also assisted on the play. The goal seemed to spark the Gryphons. At the 3:37 mark, Milan Wilson poked home a loose puck to give Guelph the lead. Caleb Davison and Connor Laskowski assisted on the play. Off the ensuing draw, Milan Wilson drove past the Flyer defense and backhanded a shot top shelf just 9 seconds after his first tally of the night to give Guelph a 3-1 lead. With 1:13 remaining in the second, Kai Stone with some nifty puck work set up Peyton Markwood in his office in front of the net and Markwood bulged the twine to make the score 4-1 after two periods of play.
Guelph kept up the pressure and where rewarded in the third period. 1:28 into the final frame, Milan Wilson completed his hat trick with assists going to Kenny Beynon and Peyton Smith. Then with 8:55 remaining, Adrian Tersigni worked the puck back to defenseman Peter Schlitt ripped a wrist shot along the ice that found the back of the net to make the score 6-1.
Max Heroux picked up the win between the pipes with some nifty relief work from call up Cole "Coley The Goalie" McQueen. Ryan Stafford also filled in admirably on the blueline as a broken thumb has sent Cian Duffy to the disabled list with what team officials describe as an upper body injury.
The Friday night victory gives the Gryphons 45 points on the season and enough to clinch the Tri County Harrison division pennant. The Gryphs have one remaining game this week before a much deserved Christmas break.