The York University men's hockey team went head-to-head with the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday evening at Canlan Ice Sports, in the first annual Honouring Culture: Indigenous Youth in Hockey Game, an event held in partnership with York University's Centre for Indigenous Student Services (CISS).
The Lions came into this one off a loss Friday night to TMU, and were looking to flip the script on the Gryphons, who beat York 6-4 in Guelph in October, and earn the season series split.
However, Guelph's Dylan Stiles opened the scoring to give the Gryphons a 1–0 lead on his third of the season with 5:22 to go. The Lions responded by tightening up defensively, but, with under a minute to play, Justin Barker found space and slipped another puck past Dawson Smith for his fourth, and the period ended with Guelph leading 2–0.
The Lions entered the second period determined to shift the momentum, but the Gryphons had other plans. Duncan Penman battled through traffic and scored his first of the year, extending Guelph's led to 3–0. While the pace and physicality increased, with end-to-end action, York was unable to break through, and the Gryphons maintained their three-goal advantage heading into the third.
York finally got on the board on the power play just 2:48 into the third when Oliver Lamothe capitalized on a setup from Harry Clark, who made a beautiful play to earn the primary assist on Lamothe's fourth of the season. Any momentum was short lived, however, as Ethan Doyle responded for Guelph with a quick wrist shot to restore the three-goal lead with his sixth. Then, just 14 seconds later, Jacob Wismer added Guelph's fifth goal – his 11th – on a wraparound to make it 5-1 and Doyle later scored his second goal of the game to round out the scoring in what ended a 6-1 Guelph win.
LOOKING AHEAD:
York continues its season-ending three game homestand Friday when the Laurier Golden Hawks pay their second visit of the season to Canlan Ice Sports. Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm. You can get your tickets here or watch the game live on OUA TV.
Greybrook. Exclusive Sponsor of the York Men's Hockey Program. greybrook.com
