GUELPH, Ont. - The Gryphon women's hockey team soared to a 5-2 victory over the Western Mustangs this afternoon (Jan. 14) in front of a packed house at the Gryphon Centre.
 
The win lifts the Gryphons to 13-3-1 while the loss drops the Mustangs to 7-11-0.
 
Kaitlyn Mora (Guelph, ON) and Jenna Lanzarotta (Mississauga, ON) each netted two goals, while Emily Corbett (Toronto) chipped in for one. Stephanie Nehring (Oshawa, ON) played a solid game for Guelph, stopping 16 of 18 shots.
 
Mora opened the scoring for Guelph at 6:58 into the first period with help from Kim Wong (Mississauga, ON) and Tam Bell (Guelph, ON). Western replied, tying the score 1-1 at 11:06 with a goal from Katelyn Gosling (London, ON), assisted by Marianne Filson (Denfield, ON) and Tara Cation (Caledon, ON).
  Guelph's offence and defence was operating on all cylinders going into the second period.  Corbett wired a centering pass from Hilary Walsh (Nepean, ON) and Adrianna Prosdocimo (Brampton, ON) past Western netminder, Olivia Ross (Huntsville, ON) to secure the lead at 3:36.
 
Lanzarotta scored her first of the night on a power play with help from linemates, Jessica Pinkerton (Oshawa, ON) and Michelle Sabourin (Pickering, ON) at 19:14. Guelph finished the second period strong with a 3-1 lead over the Mustangs.
 
The Mustangs entered the third period looking to make a comeback and caught a break when Ally Galloway (Kitchener, ON) scored at 13:54 to come within one of the lead.
 
With six minutes left, the Gryphons were feeling the pressure and called a time out to regroup. Mora came through and scored an insurance goal at 17:34, assisted by Bell and Erin Small (Pickering, ON). In an act of desperation, Western pulled their goalie to take a one-man advantage over the Gryphons on the ice, which backfired when Lanzarotta scored her second goal of the evening on an empty net.
 
The Gryphons secured the 5-2 decision over the visiting Mustangs to maintain their second place rank in the OUA standings.
 
The Gryphons will host the Windsor Lancers Sunday January, 15 at 2:00 p.m. The girls will look to continue their winning streak and close in on the Golden Hawks for the number one spot atop the OUA standings.