A tough loss in a strong effort.
The Gryphons came out to play tonight, with a few big hits early, and loads of time in the Caledon zone. From the start, the defensive core did a great job in our zone, keeping pucks out wide so Sergio could steer long shots into corners. Unfortunately one of these outside shots was tipped and redirected away from Sergio and high into the net. 1-0 Hawks. It wasn’t long until Nolan S. won a faceoff to the right of the Hawks keeper; he knocked it over to Noah who had snuck in low, and he buried it. 1-1 at the end of the first.
There weren’t a whole lot of other highlights to talk about in the game… the Gryphons controlled most of the play, again from the defensive end out, in past the Hawks blue line… but as good as Guelph’s defensive game was for both the D and the forwards getting back, the Hawks played spoiler in their own way. They were just as capable of knocking our passes off target and keeping our shots on the outside, with the goalie covering them up or knocking them behind their net, giving their D more time to push us outside. They struggled to get it past our blueliners and back into our zone, but limited us in their own zone. Again, unfortunately, on a rare venture near our net the Hawks netted another in the second. A late empty-netter sealed the game. 3-1 final, but the shots were 40-16 for Guelph.
A great effort by the Gryphs, but not a lot of connections due to a disruptive Hawks team.
-PL