The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s hockey team fell 4-3 to the Guelph Gryphons in a shootout on Saturday, January 10 at Gryphon Centre Arena.

First-year Blues forward Cailie Bazak (Peterborough, Ont.) opened up the scoring as she picked the top corner seven minutes into the game. Kingston, Ont. native Brenley Jorgensen finished off a beautiful give-and-go play from Emily Milito (Ottawa) 1:40 later to build a 2-0 lead after the first period of play.

Tori Woods (Orangeville, Ont.) would get Guelph on the board early in the second period but the Blues responded when Jorgensen sent a beautiful back-post pass to fourth-year forward Annie DelGuidice (Hamilton, Ont.) who tipped it past Gryphons goaltender Cassandra McNichol (Unionville, Ont.).

Dayna Kanis (Georgetown, Ont.) scored a late powerplay goal for Guelph and Toronto held a 3-2 lead going into the final frame.

The Gryphons came out on fire, looking to tie things up. Outshooting the Blues 17-4 in the third period, Kanis tallied her second goal with just over a minute left to send the game into overtime.

The extra frame did not solve anything and the game headed into a shootout. Blues goaltender Kendyl Valenta (Brampton, Ont.) stopped the first two shooters, but was unable to deny Jessica Zerafa (Mississauga, Ont.) as the Gryphons completed their come-from-behind victory and take the game 4-3.

The Varsity Blues return to action tomorrow night as they host the Brock Badgers at Varsity Arena. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.