The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team fell 6-5 in the shootout against the Guelph Gryphons on Friday (Nov. 14) night at Varsity Arena.

Getting off to a strong start, U of T found the back of the net twice in the opening nine minutes. Third-year defenceman Aiden Reeves was low in the offensive zone and finished off a set up from second-year forward Dylan Wightman and third-year forward Brandon Santa Juana. Wightman and Santa Juana went on to set up third-year forward Rylee Hlusiak as the Blues went into the first intermission with a 2-0 advantage.

In the second period the Gryphons equaled the score, beginning with a power play goal from Anthony Tabak and a tying marker from Nolan Dann. A resilient Blues squad managed to retake the lead heading into the third period as second-year forward Cooper Way buried a rebound for his first goal of the season.

The third period was a back-and-forth battle as goals were traded at a rapid pace with four goals scored in the opening seven minutes. The Gryphons tied the game when Jack Wismer scored less than two minutes into the frame. Shortly afterwards, captain Mark Cooper's shot on the power play deflected off of a Guelph skater and into the back of the net. Ethan Doyle evened the score before Toronto's power play struck again as fourth-year forward Zack Smith fired home a pass from Cooper and with a secondary assist, Wightman notched his third point of the game. Guelph responded with their second power play goal of the night as Nathan Allensen's shot from the point made its way through traffic.

As the period progressed Guelph goaltender Olivier Ciarlo and fourth-year Blues netminder Rayce Ramsay exchanged saves to send the game to overtime. Both teams garnered dangerous looks in overtime but play between the pipes remained strong to send the game to a shootout. In the second round of the shootout, Griffin Wilson was the lone skater beat one of the goaltenders to win the game for Guelph.

Ramsay finished the game with 28 saves.

With a quick turnaround, the Blues will be back in action on Saturday (Nov. 15) afternoon against the Windsor Lancers at Varsity Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m., with tickets available at varsityblues.ca/tickets. The game will be streamed live on oua.tv.