For the second straight weekend, the Waterloo Warriors men's hockey team earned a home-and-home split with a heated rival.

The Warriors skated past the Guelph Gryphons 5-1 on Thursday night, while the Gryphs responded with a wild 6-4 win in a rollercoaster rematch on Saturday night at the Columbia Icefield Arena.

On Thursday, five different Warriors scored goals, and Julian Sime (Mississauga/North Bay Battalion, OHL) made 32 saves in a decisive road victory for Waterloo. Connor Lovie (London, ON), Markson Bechtold (Strathmore, AB), and Tate Popple (Brandon, MB) all had two-point nights in Waterloo's most lopsided victory of the year, while a pair of Warriors, Dan Walker (Sudbury, ON) and Jake Heerspink (Regina, SK), each scored their first career U SPORTS goal. Connor Bramwell scored the only goal for Guelph, who spoiled Sime's shutout bid late in the third period.

Walker opened the scoring with a quick-release wrister, and Sime's brilliance paced the visitors early on – Guelph outshot Waterloo 16-9 in a physical opening period, but the Warriors carried a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

The hard-nosed play continued into the second, but the Warriors were able to fight through and extend their lead. First, Nick Chyzowski (Kamloops, BC) bounced one in off the back of Guelph goaltender Colton Incze to make it 2-0. Then, Heerspink – a converted defenceman playing in just his fourth game as a forward – finished a pretty two-on-one passing play with Popple to extend the lead to 3-0. As the period expired, the rough stuff ramped back up – a scrum at the buzzer resulted in 32 minutes in penalties being assessed.

As tempers continued to rise, Popple ripped home a short-side shot to make it 4-0. Then, Cascagnette rounded out the Warriors scoring when he weaved through traffic and slid a beauty backhand through the legs of Incze. Bramwell scored in the closing minutes as the animosity continued – all told, 110 penalty minutes were assessed between the two teams, setting the stage for a spirited second half of the home-and-home.

However, the first period of Saturday's game seemed to bring cooler heads. Guelph again carried the play early, but Sime was terrific once more, and the Warriors jumped to an early lead thanks to a shot by Tyler Beauparlant (Freelton, ON) that squeezed through Incze. Lucas Chiodo responded on a power play for Guelph, but three consecutive Waterloo penalty kills and some more Sime excellence kept the score at 1-1 after 20 minutes.

The Guelph power play might not have gotten on the board, but they were able to manufacture a shorthanded goal, as Matt Timms pounced on a rebound to give the Gryphs the lead. Then, midway through the frame – and after a scramble in front saw Cascagnette denied in a bid to tie things up – Guelph's Ted McGeen scored twice on the same shift, 22 seconds apart, to give the Gryphons a 4-1 advantage after two periods.

The Warriors would push back though, and Popple cut the lead to just two when he crashed the crease and shoved home a rebound to make it 4-2. Shortly thereafter, the fireworks erupted when Popple drove the net hard again with the puck and crashed into Incze. The Gryphons took exception, and a lengthy melee ensued in front of the Guelph net. When the dust settled, the play resulted in three major penalties, three game misconducts, and four 10-minute misconducts, with the Gryphons on a five-minute power play.

The Warriors penalty kill was up to the task, though, and they killed off the major, which included two full minutes of five-on-three time. The kill sparked Waterloo, as Cascagnette and Alex Gritz (Cranberry Township, PA) scored in a span of 42 seconds to square things at 4-4 late in the third.

Unfortunately for the hosts, the Gryphons re-took the lead with just over two minutes to play in regulation, when Lucas Chido marched down the middle of the ice and roofed a backhand over an outstretched Sime. Bramwell added an empty-netter to complete a two-point night, and the Gryphons earned the home-and-home split.

The Warriors now sit at 3-5-0 and will wrap up the 2021 portion of their schedule when they host the Windsor Lancers on Saturday, December 4 at 4pm.