Through the first five-plus periods of their 2021-22 season, the Waterloo Warriors offence was snake bitten. But in the third period of their game against the Guelph Gryphons on Friday night, they got a shot of antivenom.
Jacob Cascagnette (Kitchener, ON) scored the game-tying marker late in the third, then followed it up with the only goal of the shootout to give Waterloo their first victory of the season, a 3-2 triumph over Guelph at the Columbia Icefield Arena.
Chase Campbell (Waterloo, ON) also scored for the Warriors, who finally broke through and found some offense following a tough 1-0 season-opening loss to the Windsor Lancers a night earlier.
Dan Murphy (Waterford, ON) claimed his first career OUA victory, turning aside 32 shots in regulation and overtime, while adding three more saves in the shootout.
The Gryphons got goals from Lucas Chiodo and Luke Bignell in the loss, as the defending Queen's Cup champions fall to 0-1-1. Starting goaltender Gabe Mollot-Hill made 31 saves on 32 shots before leaving the game due to injury, while his replacement, Tanner Wickware, stopped 7 of 8 shots.
The Gryphons drew first blood in a penalty-filled first period, as Chiodo beat Murphy for a 5-on-3 tally just past the midway point of the first period. Then, just after another 2-man advantage expired, Bignell added another power play goal in the period's final minute, giving the Gryphons a 2-0 lead after 20.
Dan Murphy
The middle frame featured just about everything except a goal – the physical play ramped up, and both goaltenders made big saves to keep the scoreboard stagnant after 40 minutes.
When the Warriors were penalized with under nine minutes to play in the third, their fortunes looked grim. But, thanks to an incredible shorthanded effort, the Warriors turned a possible final nail into the momentum swing they needed: First,
Dave Comeau (Fredericton, NB) won a loose puck and shoveled it down the ice, where rookie
Jack Phibbs (Hagersville, ON/) pursued. Phibbs gained possession, protected the puck, and drew a defender before finding the cutting Campbell, who made a beautiful move to the backhand to beat Mollot-Hill and cut the Gryphons lead in half.
Then, on a power play of their own with just over three minutes to play, the Warriors completed the comeback when
Markson Bechtold (Strathmore, AB) drove the net and spilled a rebound out to the trailing Cascagnette, who buried it behind Wickware to make it 2-2.
The seven-minute 3-on-3 overtime session was tension-filled, and the Warriors had a chance to end it on a power play, only to come up emptyhanded. In the shootout though, the hosts finally secured the extra point – Cascagnette went post-and-in on the first shootout attempt for the Warriors, while Murphy was a perfect 3-for-3 in shootout saves to secure the win.
The Warriors will now take their 1-1-0 record on the road for the first time this season, as they'll visit their crosstown rivals, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, next Thursday, November 11. Puck drop is slated for 7pm at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex.
