Spadafora plays overtime hero as Rams beat Guelph

GUELPH, Ont. – Mark Spadafora picked a key moment to score his first OUA goal, tallying the overtime winner as the Rams defeated the Guelph Gryphons 4-3 on Thursday night in Guelph.

The teams headed to overtime deadlocked at three goals apiece and after five minutes of four-on-four solved nothing, the teams continued to three-on-three overtime action. The Gryphons held the offensive pressure early but the tandem of Spadafora, Jason Kelly (Toronto) and Keevin Cutting (Bracebridge, Ont.) moved the puck up the ice before Spadafora scored the deciding goal.

The Rams had to play catch up all night and took their first lead when it mattered most.

Guelph's Jordan Mock opened the scoring just 4:56 into the game when he converted on a 2-on-1 opportunity. The Rams responded a minute and a half later when Domenic Alberga (Maple, Ont.) skated into the slot and his wrister beat Gryphons' goaltender Andrew D'Agostini.

On the powerplay, Guelph's Rob De Fulviis looked to centre a pass from the corner but the puck found its way into the back of the net to give the Gryphons a 2-1 advantage but with 30 seconds left in the frame, Ryerson captain Michael Fine (Toronto) picked up a rebound in the slot and made no mistake, sending the teams to the locker rooms tied at 2-2.

Neither team could find the scoreboard in the second despite a myriad of powerplay chances for both squads in a penalty filled frame.

In the third, it was Guelph's Leonard Fabbri breaking the deadlock at 13:13 when he picked up a rebound at the side of the net after several whacks at the puck. Ryerson had another quick response, however, as a shot from the point bounced around and landed on Fine's stick which he deposited for his second of the night with 4:17 remaining.

Rams goaltender Troy Passingham (Mississauga, Ont.) stopped 35 of 38 shots he faced for the win while D'Agostini finished with 33 saves for the Gryphons.

Ryerson went 0-for-5 with the man advantage while Guelph was 1-for-7.

Ryerson improves to 9-4-1 on the season and sit tied for third place in the OUA west division while Guelph loses its seventh in a row and falls to 3-9-3 on the season. The Rams are back in action on Saturday when they travel to St. Catharines to take on the Brock Badgers (6-6-1) at 7:15 p.m.

Source: Ryerson Rams