TORONTO, ON – The Guelph Gryphons’ line of Tori Verbeek, Hannah Tait and Jamie Magoffin proved to be too much for the TMU Bold as they combined for six points in a Gryphons 3-1 win over the Bold.
Both TMU and Guelph came off wins in their recent games. It was clear that the Gryphons were not fazed by the trip to Toronto. At the end of the first period, the shots were 14-1 in favour of the Gryphons. Slow starts have been killing the Bold this season.
“Obviously, Guelph got the jump on us in the first period. I’m really happy with how we sorted it out and made a good push in the second and the third.” Lisa Haley said of her team’s slow start to the game. “I think the consistency factor weighed in there. They’re a great team and it doesn’t take much to make you pay.”
It was a low event first period for the TMU Bold offence as they registered their first shot on goal with six minutes remaining in the 1st period while the Gryphons were up to 10 shots at the time.
The Gryphons would strike first as Lauren Griffin made the first save, but Tori Verbeek, who has haunted the Bold, scoring five points in her last three games against the Bold (one goal, four assists).
It’s spooky season for the Bold at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, and another player that’s been scary has been Jamie Magoffin. Before Saturday afternoon’s contest, Magoffin had four points. She is now up to six points against the Bold with a goal and an assist in the first period.
The sloppiness of a first period continued for the Bold as with 45 seconds left; the team was trying to break out of the defensive zone when the Gryphons created the turnover, which set up a 2-on-0 about 10 feet away from Lauren Griffin.
Once again, they made the first save and miraculously got a piece of the puck on the rebound attempt but Jamie Magoffin got enough of it to double the Gryphons lead.
The 2nd period was much better for the Bold. After their stout penalty kill went to work and limited the Gryphons scoring opportunities, Gaby Gareau would skate down the right wing side and shoot it glove side to get the Bold on the board.
“My line has been working well together. I do think that coming into this game with Baxter scoring two yesterday and myself scoring today. That it’s a sign that things are working for us.” Gaby Gareau told the media after the game
For all of the compliments the Bold penalty kill have been getting, their powerplay needs a ton of work. The Bold have yet to convert on the powerplay and stand at 0-19. Those are opportunities you must score on. It’s quite frightening to have so many chances and not yet convert on them.
“There’s some opportunity there for us to try to grab some momentum. Everybody’s a bit frustrated that we haven’t been able to find the back of the net on that.” Lisa Haley said frustrated by the powerplay. “We’ll take a deep dive into what’s going on there and see where the gaps are.”
Just under nine and a half minutes remaining in the final period. The Gryphons had gained pressure in the offensive zone. Hannah Tait found Reese Coffey at the point as she would shoot it through a screened Griffin to put the Gryphons up 3-1.
“Back-to-back road games. We’re going to need to get those six points. We’re kind of far behind in the standings right now.” Gareau stressed the importance of next weekend’s games against the Queen’s Gaels. “That’s definitely going to be an important weekend for us.”
Pags’ Points
- Powerplay. Something has to change. Maybe it’s as simple as the team getting a player screening the goalie and firing a shot from the point. But 0-19. That’s terrible.
- Penalty Kill. The penalty kill continues to be the Bold’s best part of their game. Nothing needs to change there.
- Gaby Gareau. Back to back fantastic games from the 2nd-year forward. I would expect her to have another strong performance this weekend against Queen’s. Her line fits the style that she plays.
- PWHL. We finally got some clarification from Lisa Haley as to what is going to happen with Hailey Irwin. Haley told the media that Hailey Irwin is on “leave of absence” so she is free to come back if she would like. I will follow up with Lisa Haley as the season goes on. If things do change and Irwin does stay with PWHL Ottawa, then the team will look to hire a full-time coach.