Great comeback effort powered by Harris falls short in first loss of 2017
After defeating Western on Jan. 27, the University of Ottawa men’s hockey team faced off against the University of Guelph Gryphons on Saturday, Jan. 28.
Unfortunately, the Gee-Gees were trailing for most of the game and couldn’t mount a comeback from a three-goal deficit, leading them to take a 4–3 loss.
The Gees came out in the first period looking nothing like the team that had just won their last seven games in a row, which could have been due to the adjustment of playing on Guelph’s Olympic-sized surface. They ultimately fell down two goals after the first and couldn’t recover.
Just before the midway mark of the first period, the Gryphons opened the scoring with a shot from the top of the circle that went through a crowd of players to beat goaltender Anthony Brodeur.
Defenseman Jeremy Picard-Fiset had a great chance a few minutes later with a one-timer, but he couldn’t convert on the opportunity from inside the hash marks.
Guelph took a two-goal advantage with 3:34 left in the first frame with a nice one timer off a giveaway by the Gees to extend their lead to two. While the Gees came back strong, and even generated a few turnovers, they just couldn’t find the back of the net.
U of O forward Jacob Harris put his team on the board as he converted a shot from just in front of the Gryphons’ goal with just over a minute into the second period.
During a flurry of chances in front of the Gees’ net, Brodeur and his defence partners somehow kept the puck out as the Gryphons came within inches of scoring.
Aiming to close out the second period with a slight one-goal deficit didn’t work out as planned with Guelph, as they scored with 19 seconds left to extend their lead to 3–1.
The Gees were dealt an even bigger blow when the Gryphons scored less than five minutes into the final frame, which stretched their lead to 4–1.
However, Harris responded with his second of the night at 13:15 in the third period to give the Gees some hope. Five minutes later, forward Mitchell Gibson brought the Gees to within one goal of Guelph.
Brodeur was pulled with just over a minute left to hopefully tie the game. But the move was unsuccessful and the Gees suffered their first loss of 2017.
Harris was all over the Olympic-sized ice surface at the Gryphon Centre Area, scoring three points and becoming the third Gee-Gee this year to reach the 20-point plateau on the season.
The Garnet and Grey will have to re-focus after their first loss in almost two months, as they head into the final three games of their regular season.
The Gees’ final home game of the regular season will take place on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the Minto Sports Complex against the Carleton Ravens. Tickets can be purchased from the Gee-Gees’ website.
