Gryphons advance to McCaw Cup semifinal with Game 3 win over Laurentian

GUELPH, ON – The Guelph Gryphons can breathe again.
 
But only for a day or two.
 
The Gryphs women's hockey team survived a scare against the Laurentian Voyageurs, coming back to defeat the visitors 4-2 on Sunday at the Gryphon Centre and clinch their OUA quarter-final playoff series.
 
Guelph wins the best-of-three series 2-1 and will play Laurier in the next round, starting Wednesday night (March 3) in Guelph.
 
"It was exciting," Gryphs head coach Rachel Flanagan said after the game, which was necessitated after the Gryphs dropped a 3-2 decision on Saturday at home, snapping a 12-game winning streak that had carried them to the top of the CIS rankings.
 
"We had forgotten how to lose a game, and it was a big wake-up call for us," Flanagan said.
 
"I think it was good for us to lose yesterday. We hadn't lost in a while," added fourth-year forward Christine Grant, who scored Guelph's first goal on Sunday.
 
"It got us going a little earlier (today). We've struggled with quick starts normally, so it put a little more pressure on us, but it was good for us."
 
The Gryphs did jump on the Voyageurs right away on Sunday, playing with an intensity that had been lacking for most of Saturday's contest.
 
Despite that, it was Laurentian that drew first blood eight minutes in, when Samantha Morell redirected a puck past Valerie Lamenta in the Guelph net.
 
"That was a little frustrating," Grant said. "It seemed that the bounces were going more their way these past couple of games, but we had a good response and I think we recovered well."
 
"We know there's going to be times when we're going to outwork and outplay someone, and they're going to get a lucky bounce, or get one opportunity and capitalize," Flanagan said.
 
"We've just got to keep doing what we've been doing and getting the job done. Eventually it'll come for us. And it did."
 
Grant tied the game five minutes after Morell's goal, picking up a rebound in front of Laurentian netminder Emily Toffoli and sliding it home. But the Voyageurs went ahead again three-and-a-half minutes later on another redirect, this time by Ellery Veerman.
 
Guelph's Katherine Bailey tied the score again with a point shot that snuck through on a late power play in the final minute of the opening period. The score remained 2-2 until late in the middle frame, when Brittany St. James carried the puck along the boards and threw it in front of the net, where Averi Nooren was waiting to tip it in.
 
"We have a lot of skill, but we need to put more pucks toward the net and create the rebounds, just crash the net all the time, because anything can happen," Grant said.
 
The game opened up somewhat after that, with the Voyageurs looking desperately for the equalizer and the Gryphs hoping for some insurance. Guelph captain Jessica Pinkerton finally sealed the deal, scoring into an empty net with 25.9 seconds left on the clock.
 
Lamenta made 18 saves for the win. Toffoli stopped 20 shots in a losing effort.
 
"Kudos to them," Flanagan said of the Voyageurs, who were making their first OUA playoff appearance in their third season in the league. They were the No. 8 seed in this series, but they proved that they belonged.
 
"They led in this series almost the whole way, and for us to have to work back was really good for our girls. Credit to them to come out today and really show what they're made of."
 
The Gryphs will get Laurier in the semifinals if the Golden Hawks complete the upset of the Toronto Varsity Blues. That series would start on Wednesday night at the Gryphon Centre.
 
If Toronto wins, Guelph will instead travel to Nipissing on Wednesday night for Game 1 in North Bay before coming back home for the next two contests.
 
Flanagan expressed no preference for her team's next opponent.
 
"We're a little bit closer to knowing how we need to play," she said. "And we feel like if we play that way all the way through, we're going to be tough to beat."

Source: Guelph Gryphons