March 3, 2016

Late goal leads Western over Guelph in Game One of OUA West Finals

LONDON, ON – The Guelph Gryphons have needed to go the distance in each of their first two OUA playoff rounds in order to advance.

Western

Guelph

Final	1	2	3	T
Western	1	0	1	2
Guelph	0	1	0	1

Western

Guelph

Final	1	2	3	T
Western	1	0	1	2
Guelph	0	1	0	1

LONDON, Ont. – Spenser Cobbold added to his stellar rookie year with the biggest goal of his OUA career on Thursday, hammering home a pass from Shaun Furlong late in the third to send Western past Guelph 2-1 in Game One of the OUA West Division Finals at Thompson Arena.

The win gives Western a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series and puts them one win away from both the OUA Finals and a bid at Nationals. Victory didn't come easy, but Mustangs' head coach Clarke Singer gave his team full credit after the game.

"I thought it was the best overall game of the year," said Singer. "I thought both teams played very, very well. Obviously it went right to the last faceoff there with three seconds left but good hard nosed playoff game and either team could have won but we're fortunate to come out with the win."

Guelph and Western have yet to play a boring game of hockey this season and Thursday night was no different. The two teams entered the third period tied at a goal apiece and it took over 16 extra minutes for Cobbold to send home the winner—the second of his OUA career. He whiffed on an identical chance just seconds earlier but made up for it quickly.

"It's not too often Cobby needs two shots on goal like that to put one in," said Furlong about the winner. "I think the puck kind of got chipped in, [Cody Brown] made a great play to take a hit just to chip the puck deep. I could hear Cobbs screaming from a mile away for that puck so all I had to do was turn and he was wide open. Luckily on the second one he put it in."

Furlong was all over the ice on Thursday, as he has been for most of the playoffs so far. The veteran forward finished with an assist—his sixth point of the playoffs—and a pair of penalty minutes, including one for high sticking late in the third. But Western's penalty kill bailed him out both times on a night that saw them go a perfect seven-for-seven.

"Our coaching staff did an incredible job on their scouting report on [Guelph's] power play," said Furlong. "That's one thing we've been preaching all year…our penalty killing. Late in playoffs it doesn't matter who the team is or who the refs are you're going to get a call against you sooner or later so hats off to the guys on the PK."

Guelph has had trouble all year with the extra man, converting on just 13.5% of their chances during the regular season. They've been a bit better since the start of the playoffs, firing at 17%, but they were up against a team that has now killed 88.9% of their penalties and boasts a hot goaltender—Greg Dodds—who has now won all four starts in the 2016 playoffs.

"I felt like I was seeing [the puck] well and the boys did a good job boxing everyone out," said Dodds. "Couple big blocks from the boys, I know [Alex Micallef] is probably hurting right now, but that was huge for me."

Andrew D'Agostini turned in another excellent effort in goal for the Gryphons, stopping 40 of 42 shots to raise his playoff save percentage to .927. He's started all six games for Guelph in the playoffs and hasn't missed a beat, building on an impressive regular season that saw him register the fourth best save percentage in the OUA at .927 to go with 14 wins.

He faced his lowest shot total of the night in the first period but Western scored on the last of their seven shots, as Andrew Goldberg took a feed from Trent Ouellette and buried it over D'Agostini's shoulder. The goal, made possible by a nice pass down the ice from Stephen Gaskin, went in and out so quickly that the crowd hesitated to cheer.

Western added a game-high 23 shots in the period but D'Agostini stood on his head, giving his team a chance to get back in the game. And his teammates took it, getting a bad-angle goal from Kyle Neuber eight minutes into the second period. It was one of 10 shots for Guelph in the period, and they added eight more in the third to finish with 29.

The teams have a day of rest before taking the ice in Guelph for Game Two on Saturday night. Despite taking the early lead in the series, Western will be in tough against a team that has already staved off elimination twice in the 2016 playoffs.

"We've got a lot of work left to do, Guelph's a great team," said Singer. "I think some people forget that they were the OUA Champions last year and bronze medalists at nationals.

"They're going to play their best game of the year on Saturday and we're going to have to be ready to go."

NOTES: Goldberg now has the most points of any OUA player in the playoffs with nine and the second-most goals with five. The only player with more goals is Guelph's Neuber with seven… The only active team with a better penalty kill than Western through the playoffs so far is UQTR (94.1%). Guelph is the worst active team, killing just 75% of their penalties… After leaving with an injury in the first playoff game of his OUA career last year, Dodds now has a 4-0 record through five playoff starts…