Guelph Gryphons knocked out of playoffs

GUELPH – The Guelph Gryphons saw their OUA women’s hockey season come to an end Sunday at the Gryphon Centre when they were nipped 1-0 by the Toronto Varsity Blues.

That win came in the third and deciding game of the best-of-three semifinal series.

Sophie Grawbarger scored an unassisted goal on a breakaway seven minutes into the third period.

The Gryphs outshot the Varsity Blues 31-22 and neither team netted a power-play goal, Guelph on five power plays, one more than Toronto.

Martina Fedel had 21 saves for the Gryphs while Erica Fryer had 31 saves for Toronto.

The Gryphs finish their season with a 21-7-4-5 (W-OTW-OTL-L) overall record.

The loss was the second shutout setback of the season for the locals. Despite their record, scoring was a concern for the Gryphs throughout the season as they were held to a single goal in nine games and to two goals in six other games. That’s 17 of their 39 games with two goals or fewer.

The Varsity Blues are to host the Waterloo Warriors in the league’s McCaw Cup championship match Saturday in Toronto.

Both Toronto (17-2-1-8) and Waterloo (15-3-3-7) finished the regular season second in their respective divisions, Toronto in the East behind the Nipissing Lakers (16-6-2-4) and Waterloo second in the West behind the Gryphons.

Both the Varsity Blues and Warriors gain berths in the U Sports national tournament.

• Guelph Sports Journal