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Gryphons explode in second period, hand Rams their fourth consecutive loss

By Hayden Godfrey

Coming off of a tough 5-0 loss in St. Catharines against the Brock Badgers on Jan. 4, the Ryerson Rams men’s hockey team weren’t able to bounce back Saturday night, losing 6-2 to the Guelph Gryphons at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

The Rams were handed their fourth straight loss of the season in large part to Guelph’s relentless offense and solid goaltending. With the result, they sit second in the OUA West with a record of 12-5-1.

Though both teams appeared to be evenly matched through much of the first period, the Gryphons exploded in the second half of the game, putting up three goals in six minutes to take a commanding lead. The third goal, courtesy of fourth-year forward Stephen Hiff, led to Rams goalie Garrett Forrest being pulled for veteran Taylor Dupuis.

The Gryphons added to their lead early in the second frame, when Cody Thompson wired a shot past Dupuis to make it 4-0. The rest of the period, which was marred by neutral zone turnovers and unsettlingly frequent Guelph scoring chances, remained scoreless until Patrick Fellows got the Rams on the board with 4:30 remaining.

Ryerson’s Matt Mistele added a goal minutes later, but it would ultimately be countered by a sneaky Ryan Valentini snap shot that barely squeaked under Dupuis’ left pad. After a messy two periods, Guelph led 5-2 despite only outshooting the Rams 22-19.

The third period was much of the same for the surging Gryphons, as they added to their lead thanks to a screaming top-shelf wrister from Thompson, his second of the contest. Though physicality ruled the last dozen minutes, no more goals were added.

Elsewhere on the roster, Ryerson defenceman Connor Schlichting made his Rams debut. The native of Newmarket spent the 2017-18 season with the Sarnia Sting, racking up 39 points in 67 games.

UP NEXT: The Rams will take on the Waterloo Warriors on Jan. 10. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. 

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