The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men’s hockey team fell 3-2 in a shootout to the Guelph Gryphons on Friday, November 20 at Varsity Arena.

Third-year Gryphons forward Kris Balen (Florence, Ont.) was the shootout hero, scoring the only goal to secure Guelph’s fifth win of the season.

After a scoreless first period, the Gryphons finally opened the scoring four minutes into the second frame when Patrick Cambell (Sauble Beach, Ont.) dished a nice pass to Jon-Thomas MacDonald (Niagara Falls, Ont.) who wired a slap shot into the top corner of the net.

Less than five minutes later, Michael Nelson (Stratford, Ont.) sent a pass to second-year forward Justin Gvora (Thunder Bay, Ont.) who deked out Blues goaltender Andrew Martin (Mississauga, Ont.) to put the Gryphons up by two.

U of T finally got on the board when assistant captain Ed Snetsinger (Ajax, Ont.) buried a Byron Elliott (Burlington, Ont.) rebound on the powerplay at the 13:14 minute mark of the second period.

Guelph held a 2-1 lead heading into the final frame.

The play went back-and-forth throughout the third period as both teams looked hungry for the next goal.

Martin stood on his head to keep the Blues within one, stopping Edward Gale (Keswick, Ont.) on a breakaway with just under 12 minutes remaining.

With just under nine minutes to go, third-year Blues defenceman Andrew Kizito (Toronto, Ont.) sent a hard shot off Gryphons goaltender Matt Smith’s (Waterloo, Ont.) pad and Claudio Cowdrey (Mississauga, Ont.) was there to bury the rebound and even the score.

First-year forward Kyle Paige (Richmond Hill, Ont.) almost put the Blues ahead when he rang a wrist shot off the cross bar with nine minutes to go.

Martin would stop his third breakaway of the night in the last minute of regulation as the game headed into overtime. After another scoreless five minutes, the Gryphons secured the 3-2 victory in the three-player shootout.

Martin was named the Blues player of the game for his 31 saves on the night.

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

For more information, scores and highlights on your favourite Toronto teams, please visit the home of the Varsity Blues at http://www.varsityblues.ca.