Box Score LONDON, Ont. – A pair of late goals from Teal Burns and Carlos Amestoy lifted the Guelph Gryphons to a 5-4 win over the Western Mustangs men's hockey team in game one of their OUA West Quarterfinal series on Thursday night at Thompson Arena.
 
The Gryphons now take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series with game two set for Saturday night in Guelph.
 
"Full marks to Guelph tonight," said Mustangs head coach Clarke Singer. "They battled back and kind of reminiscent of the other game they just kept coming and working hard. They were down a goal and came back and tied it and kept pushing. I thought we were ok tonight, but you can't allow five goals and win a playoff game in this league, that's for sure."

"I think if you ask all those guys they'd all say they could have a better game. I think when you allow five goals in a playoff game the coaches can play better, the goalie can play better, the defence can play better, and the forwards can play better. That's what we all have to do on Saturday or it's going to be an early finish to the season."
 
Jefferies and Amestoy scored back-to-back goals with less than four minutes left in the third period to record the tying and winning goals respectively, capping off an intense third period that saw three different lead changes in 20 minutes.
 
Both the Mustangs and Gryphons each had a two-goal scorer on the night with Nicklas Huard leading the Guelph offence with two goals and one assist while Zach Harnden topped the Mustangs score sheet with two goals.
 
After a back-and-forth start that saw only two whistles in the opening six minutes the Gryphons opened the scoring at 13:40, and unsurprisingly it was leading scorer Huard providing the offence. As the puck came out to the side of the Mustangs net before the sophomore forward fired a shot along the ice to give Guelph a 1-0 lead they'd take into the first intermission.
 
The Mustangs didn't wait long before answering back in the second as a quick shot from Zach Harnden beat Guelph netminder Keith Hamilton just over a minute into the period to tie the game a one goal apiece. Western then kept the momentum rolling as Stefan Salituro scored a power play marker off a rebound from a Matt Paltridge point shot to put Western up 2-1 less than five minutes into the frame.
 
While the Mustangs had success early in the period it was the Gryphons who would close out the second with some momentum as they capitalized on a two-man advantage when Huard notched his second goal of the game, scoring off of a cross-ice pass from Teal Burns to tie things up at 2-2 after 40 minutes.
 
The stage was set for a dramatic third period and it more than fit the bill with the Gryphons opening the scoring a little over five minutes into the frame off the stick of Burns, however the Mustangs responded only 54 seconds later as Matt Clarke scored off a rebound in front to keep the game tied. Harnen then picked up his second goal of the night, converting a Daniel Erlich pass from behind the net at 11:46 to put Western up by one. Jefferies and Amestoy then scored only 38 seconds apart to claim a 5-4 win for the visitors.
 
Game two of the best-of-three quarterfinal series is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 22 at the Gryphon Centre in Guelph. Game three, if necessary, will take place Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. at Thompson Arena.