For the first 29 minutes of their game on Saturday night, the Waterloo Warriors and Guelph Gryphons looked like they would put on an offensive clinic worthy of the 1985 Edmonton Oilers. But then, the Gryphons battened down the hatches like the 1995 New Jersey Devils.

J.P. Villeneuve's first career USports goal at 8:49 of the second period broke a 3-3 tie, and proved to be the game-winner, as the Gryphons added two empty-netters for a 6-3 victory over the Warriors at the Gryphon Centre Arena.

Guelph also got goals from Josh McFadden, Todd Winder, Reilly O'Connor, Tryg Strand, and Nick Boyer, pushing their record to 6-3-1 with their fourth consecutive win. Joey Champigny (East Angus/), Keigan Goetz (New Hamburg/), and Philip Fife scored for the Warriors, who fall back to the .500 mark at 4-4-2.

The loss also spoiled another quality start from Waterloo rookie netminder Trevor Martin (Ardrossan/), who made 40 saves on 44 shots in the Warriors net. Jason Da Silva earned the win for Guelph, making 21 stops.

The Warriors were first on the board with a Champigny marker just over two minutes into the game, but McFadden's power play goal tied it at 1-1 before the game was even five minutes old. Later in the first, Winder gave the hosts a short-lived 2-1 lead, before Goetz cashed in on a man advantage just 1:03 later to knot things up at 2-2 after 20 minutes.

The offensive barrage continued in the early stages of the middle frame, with O'Conner scoring an unassisted goal to make it 3-2 Guelph, before Fife equalized at 6:33 of the second. Villeneuve's milestone goal gave the lead back to the Gryphs, but this time, for good – Guelph took the 4-3 advantage and rode it through the rest of the second and third periods, forcing the Warriors to pull Martin late in the game for the extra attacker. With the net empty, Strand and Boyer salted the win away for Guelph.

The Warriors will now shift their focus to a short week and a date with the Ryerson Rams on Wednesday, November 15. Puck drop at the Mattamy Athletic Centre is slated for 7:15 pm.