The Lancer men's hockey team stayed alive in the post season following a 4-3 win over the Guelph Gryphons Saturday night at South Windsor Arena.
 
The Lancers laced up their skates and took to the ice for what could have been their last game of the season. After sneaking in to the playoffs, they lost their first game of a best of three series Thursday night in Guelph, 3-1. Making matters worse, starter Johnathan Reinhart was out of commission after taking a puck to the face in game one. The Lancers jumped out to an early lead, however it was a pair of goals in the third period that forced a game three.
 
GAME STATS
 
Matt Badour put forth a solid effort in net, making 21 saves on 24 shots. Guelph's Andrew Masters made 19 stops on 23 shots.
 
The penalty kills units both had busy days. Guelph killed all four penalties they served and Windsor only allowed one goal on six penalties.
 
Guelph also won the shot battle, firing off 35 shots to the Lancers' 32 shots.
 
GAME FLOW
Facing elimination, the Lancers opened the scoring midway through the first period when Todd Ratchford was able to beat the Gryphons Andrew Masters unassisted to give Windsor the lead early.  Ben Assad doubled up the Lancers lead when he was able to get one past Masters with some help from Nathan Veres and Kody Gagnon. The Lancers went into the first break with a 2-0 lead.
 
Unfortunately, they don't call a 2-0 lead the worst lead in hockey for a reason as it evaporated fast. With five minutes left in the second period, the Gryphons finally broke through and got one past backup goalie Matt Badour when Trevor Morbeck scored. Less than a minute later, Guelph's Todd Winder tied the game.
 
With just 20 minutes left, the Lancers needed just one goal to keep their playoff hopes alive. Kyle Hope gave the Lancers the lead just over halfway into the third period and Ian Parker banged home a rebound to give the Lancers a two goal lead.  The Gryphons scored once more late in the third but couldn't tie the game. The Lancers lived to play another day with a 4-3 victory.
 
UP NEXT
Up next the Lancers head back to Guelph for the third and final game of their series against the Gryphons. The puck drops Sunday, Feb. 18 at 7:30pm and the game can be seen live at OUA.tv.