By Hayden Godfrey
In a rough Thursday night contest at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the Ryerson Rams men’s hockey team fell to the Guelph Gryphons 4-3 in overtime on Jan. 17.
Despite their efforts, Ryerson fell short due in large part to a messy third period that included two goals by Guelph’s Connor Bramwell and an overtime period that ended in defeat.
“I thought we did a lot of really good things,” Ryerson head coach Johnny Duco said after the game. “Probably a few too many mistakes where we shot ourselves in the foot.”
Though the first period was rather uneventful, the Rams did manage to get on the board thanks to a rocket shot from blueliner Mark Shoemaker, who took a well-placed pass from David Miller and fired it past Guelph goaltender Andrew Masters.
Picking up right where they left off in the first, the Rams extended their lead midway through the second frame when their captain, Alex Basso, threaded the needle and floated a wrister into the back of the net to make it 2-0.
Minutes later, Guelph cut the lead in half when forward Tryg Strand took a Matt Timms pass and put it through Rams goaltender Troy Timpano.
Following a penalty shot that resulted in Guelph’s second goal, the Gryphons took the lead with 10 minutes remaining, thanks to the outstanding deking of winger Connor Bramwell.
Putting up a fight, the Rams tied it up at three with four minutes remaining when Matthew Santos took a Matt Mistele pass and slid it through a sliding Masters. The assist was Mistele’s 100th career OUA point.
Despite the late equalizer, the Rams were dealt the finishing blow when Ryan Valentini beat Timpano to secure a late, heartbreaking Guelph victory with seconds remaining in the overtime period.
“The effort was there,” Duco said. “We were executing, we just have to capitalize on some of those chances.”
UP NEXT: The Rams play host to the division rival York Lions at Mattamy Athletic Centre for the much anticipated WOCO. Puck drop is scheduled for 2:15.
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