The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team fell 4-3 to the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday (Oct. 31) afternoon at Varsity Arena.
Guelph opened the scoring midway through the first period with Dylan Stiles finding the back of the net to give the visitors an early advantage. Later in the frame, Nolan DeGurse would make it a two-goal game with a power play marker. Despite generating chances, U of T went into the first intermission trailing 2-0.
The Gryphons continued to build momentum in the second period with a goal from Nolan Forster less than four minutes into the period. Toronto looked to generate momentum of their own, hitting hard and getting great scoring chances on a tough to beat Jack Osmond. With 91 seconds left in the period Guelph would make it a 4-0 game courtesy of Sean Doherty. The Blues would break through with 28 seconds remaining in the second stanza as second-year forward Ryan Evenhuis finished off fourth-year forward Rylee Hlusiak's pass to give the Blue and White momentum heading into the third period.
Toronto fought hard in the final frame and would cut Guelph's lead to two-goals as second-year forward Alexander Dimitriadis would fire home a one-timer on the power play for his first goal in the OUA. U of T kept their foot on the gas pedal, forcing Osmond to make great saves in search of mounting a comeback. With 23 seconds left, Hlusiak would connect with Evenhuis again for the social science student's second goal of the game to bring the deficit to one. With one final push, U of T played hard until the final buzzer but couldn't find an equalizer before the games end.
Now, the Blues turn their attention to a road contest with the TMU Bold at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in downtown Toronto on Friday (Nov. 6) morning. Puck drop is scheduled for 11 a.m., and the game will be streamed live on oua.tv.
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