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The Warriors returned from their winter break with a matchup against the visiting Guelph Gryphons on Saturday night in Waterloo.  In a penalty filled affair, the two teams battled back and forth with the Gryphons scoring the game winning goal late in the second period, short-handed, as Guelph edged the Warriors by a score of 2-1.

The Warriors came out flying in the first half of the opening frame, putting pressure on the Guelph defence as they attacked the boards mercilessly. The aggressive play paid off when Guelph took their first penalty of the game. The Warriors however were unable to control the zone and saw Guelph's opportune penalty killers sneak out with multiple short-handed chances. The momentum of the penalty kill allowed the Gryphons to control play for the rest of the period, drawing multiple powerplays in the process.

The Warriors' took three consecutive penalties, and as time expired on the final whistle, Guelph forward Kris Belan (Florence, Ont.) drew Warriors netminder Keaton Hartigan (Kitchener/) to his left with the puck while managing to squeeze the puck past a sea of legs to the wide open Thomas Kiriakou (Richmond Hill, Ont.) who sent the Gryphons into the dressing room up by one.

The Warriors, determined to even the score, came out of the intermission hitting everything in sight but got a little over zealous with Thomas Cardiff (London/) taking a hitting from behind penalty.  Cardiff received five minutes and a game.  The black and gold were able to kill the five minute penalty and had the best chance short-handed as defenceman Kyle Sonnenburg (Waterloo, Ont.) was sprung free from a nice pass by Warriors forward Mike Veysey (Bedford, N.S.) but fired the shot over the net. 

The tenacious Warriors' forechecking paid off midway through the period. While chasing the puck into the corner, Gryphon defenseman Mark Pawlowski tripped and coughed up the puck to Veysey who threw a perfect pass out in front to Josh Schappert (Winnipeg, Man.) who made no mistake on the one-timer to tie the game at one.

With just two minutes left in the period, the Warriors were unable to capitalize on yet another power play. A clearing attempt by the Gryphon forward managed to find Guelph forward Edward Gale (Keswick, Ont.) who had just stepped out of the box.  Gale was sprung free on a breakaway with his initial shot stopped by Warrior netminder Keaton Hartigan (Kitchener) but picked up his own rebound to give Gryphons the lead 2-1 heading into the third period.

The third period saw Guelph execute their game plan to perfection. They clogged the blue line preventing the Warriors from gaining the zone time and time again. The Warriors were unable to solve the neutral-zone trap and opened 2011 with a tough 2-1 loss to the visiting Gryphons.