GUELPH, Ont., - The Mustangs women's hockey team travelled to Guelph on Saturday afternoon to defend their season-long reign atop the OUA standings as they downed the Gryphons 3-1.
With the win the Mustangs remain in first place in the OUA standings with a 17-1-3 record, while the loss for the Gryphons now gives the team a 15-3-3 record, good for second in the league.
The Mustangs have had a tendency lately to leave their fans in suspense during the first two periods before bursting into action in the third. Saturday's contest was no different as the Mustangs straggled behind the Gryphon's one-point advantage for two frames before making an incredible three goal come back in the third to take home the 3-1 victory.
The first period saw the Mustangs struggle to get possession of the puck as a strong Gryphon's offense assaulted Kelly Campbell between the pipes with 14 shots, while the purple and white fired off four on Gryphon's netminder Stephanie Nehring.
Despite posting impressive performances between the posts, Campbell was unable to keep the Gryphons from penetrating the net and it was Guelph's Leigh Shilton who put the Gryphons onto the scoreboard first with a goal just over 12 minutes into the action.
The Mustangs worked hard to recover from the Gryphon's lead but were unable to capitalize on their scoring opportunities and went into the first intermission down by one.
In the second frame the Gryphons continued to dominate the play as they outshot the Mustangs 12-6. Although the Gryphons had control of the puck for the majority of the period, Campbell held the purple and white goal line firm and sent the match into the third period 1-0.
Despite being short-staffed on the bench and out shot on the ice, the Mustangs came into the third period looking to cut the Gryphon's one-point lead. Just over four minutes into the action it was Mustang's first-year defender Anthea Lasis who did just that as she found the back of Nehring's net to even out the score 1-1.
The Mustangs continued their momentum and capitalized on a power-play just two and a half minutes later as team point's leader Kendra Broad netted the second purple and white goal of the game to give the Mustangs a 2-1 advantage.
Now that the tables had turned for the Mustangs they were determined to secure their advantage as they took control of the play and outshot the Gryphons seven to six. Midway through the period, Mustang Ali Beres put the puck past Nehring to further the purple and white lead 3-1.
With limited time left on the clock the Gryphons tried to recover form the two point deficit but were unable to find any openings in Campbell's net before time ran out, allowing the Mustangs to take home the 3-1 victory.
The Mustangs are back in action on Sunday, February 8 as they travel to St. Catharine's, Ont., to take on the Brock Badgers at 2:15 p.m.
