The Lancer women's hockey team opened the second half of the season with a pair of losses to the visiting Guelph Gryphons over the weekend at the Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex.
 
Windsor dropped their first game on Friday by a narrow 1-0 margin, before losing 4-2 to the Gryphons on Saturday afternoon.
 
FRIDAY
With a high energy start to the game after not being able to compete for 2 months, both teams demonstrated lots of physicality and eagerness in the game. At the 14 minute mark of the frame, Lauren lanni found a way past the blue and gold's Kristen Swiatochik and earned the team an early lead. 
 
In the second period, the teams continued with numerous turnovers but neither opportunities would go the team's way. Ashley Maitre found good opportunities for defensive plays with contact on Maya Graham. Throughout the period, the Gryphons and the Lancers still could not find the edge for a scoring opportunity and the score remained 1-0.
 
The last period had both teams trying to shift their momentum on the offensive side. The largest scoring opportunity came from Jaden Cherry but Guelph's Martina Fedel was able to make the save and redirect the shot even with lots of traffic in front of the net. The goal would not come in the last period for the Lancers to advance and the visitors swept the game with a final score of 1-0.
 
Swaitochik made 16 saves in the loss, while Fedel earned the win with 19 total saves.
 
SATURDAY
The first period got off to a slower pace for both teams after a high intensity game the night before. Elissa Benjamin capitalized on multiple good passes to try to move the puck into the Guelph zone, but the Lancers were not able to finish off plays. Finally, the team was able to get the early lead they were looking for with a goal by Elizabeth Coleman and put them first on the scoreboard. Windsor held the advantage 1-0 over the Gryphons after the period.
 
The Gryphons started to push the pace and keep the Lancers on defense. Guelph's Jamie Magoffin was able to find a way past Swaitochik and led the team with two goals to takeover the lead into the second period. Midway through the period, Brielle Caruso was able to extend their lead as the blue and gold struggled to make offensive plays. With the pressure on, Maggie Peterson showed the Gryphons they were not ready to give up easily and scored past Martina Fedel. The score gave Guelph the lead, 3-2 into the last period.
 
With the last period to push the pace for the Lancers, Windsor needed to fight back and battle for the puck. After Paige McArthur was taken out from underneath her feet, the blue and gold had a chance to close the gap with a penalty shot. Unfortunately, Martina Fedel held her ground and didn't budge to let the puck through and the Lancers could not find any other offensive plays with time running out. The Lancers dropped a final score of 4-2 with back-to-back wins by the Gryphons.
 
Swaitochik had 22 saves overall in the game.
 
UP NEXT
The blue and gold will face off against the Waterloo Warriors in a home-and-home series. Puck drops at 7:00pm in Waterloo on February 18th and at 7:30pm on Saturday, February 19th. Saturday's game is also the Lancers annual Breast Cancer Awareness game. Both games can be seen live at oua.tv.