Listowel Cyclones forward Holdyn Lansink celebrates a goal against Waterloo on Sunday. (Photo Courtesy of FS Fotos)

Listowel, Stratford enjoy an undefeated weekend, Siskins stumble

For the first two months of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League season, the top of the standings looked the same: the Waterloo Siskins, then everyone else. In the first week of November, that changed as the Siskins have dropped five straight games after previously winning seven in a row. Meanwhile, the Listowel Cyclones have reeled off 11 straight wins to take over tops in the Midwest and the Stratford Warriors quietly haven't lost since mid-October to settle into second place, dropping Waterloo to third.

Stratford began the weekend hosting Waterloo on Friday night, looking to build on their recent resurgence. The Siskins climbed out to a 2-1 lead after the first period and a 4-3 lead after the second, but the Warriors stormed back in the third with two goals from Sean Ross just 13 seconds apart to steal the lead. After Waterloo tied it at five, Tyson Moore scored for Stratford with 53 seconds left to give the Warriors the 6-5 victory. Over in Listowel, the Cyclones were playing host to the Kitchener Dutchmen. Once again it was a three-goal third period from the home side that decided the game, as the Cycs doubled up Kitchener, 6-3. Jonah White had a hat-trick and an assist while Evan Morrison made 29 saves for Listowel in the win. 

In other local games this weekend, Waterloo faltered again in Elmira on Saturday night, losing 7-4 in another high-scoring affair. Kitchener handled Brampton at home, 4-1, while Brantford edged the Redhawks in Cambridge, 5-4. Cambridge would avenge that home loss to the 99ers with a road victory in Brantford on Sunday, 5-3, while Stratford continued to roll with a 4-3 overtime win in Elmira, and Waterloo lost its third game of the weekend, 3-2, versus Listowel. 

The Cyclones currently own the longest active winning streak in the GOJHL at 11 games. The GOJHL record for consecutive wins is held by the 2013-2014 Kitchener Dutchmen, who won 25 games in a row.

Gryphons stun Gee-Gees with second-half comeback, advance to Yates Cup

The Guelph Gryphons football season looked to be all but finished as the first half came to an end in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon, trailing the Gee-Gees by a score of 18-0. Over the next half-hour of football, the Gryphons would put together one of the most dramatic comebacks in OUA playoff football history.

Ottawa opened the game with four straight scores as the Guelph offence could not materialize any threatening drive, and the defence struggled to contain big plays from the Gee-Gees. Special teams were the story for the first few minutes of the third quarter, as Guelph fumbled the ball on the second-half kick-off at the end of what looked to be a promising 41-yard return by Kiondre Smith, with Ottawa recovering in good field position. After a penalty set the Gee-Gees back, Guelph`s special teams responded in a big way. Jason Richards blocked and recovered the ensuing punt, giving Guelph the ball back at Ottawa`s 28-yard line. Two plays later, Theo Landers ran to paydirt to put the Gryphons on the board, and seemingly swing momentum into their favour. The teams traded field goals on their next drives to keep Ottawa`s lead at 11, and a Gee-Gees rouge point late in the third quarter brought the lead to 22-10 heading into the decisive fourth.

The field position game continued into the fourth as Guelph`s defence stepped up and forced a number of punts deep in Ottawa territory, giving the struggling offence a chance at a short field. Just over half way through the fourth quarter, Guelph got the ball back at midfield and began to march. The 50-yard drive was exclamated when JP Cimankinda punched in a 1-yard touchdown to make it a 22-17 game. After another short Ottawa drive gave Guelph the ball at the 49, the Gryphons settled for a field goal to cut the lead to two, making it a one-score game with just over four minutes to go. The defence came up with another big stop on Ottawa`s ensuing drive, putting the ball back in the hands of Theo Landers with under two minutes remaining, needing at least a field goal to win the game. After Landers followed a long first down completion with a sack for an 8-yard loss, Guelph was facing a must-have conversion to extend the game. The only needed 18 yards, but instead Landers tried a deep ball to Thomas Bresciani, who caught it in stride and went 59 yards for a Gryphons touchdown, putting them ahead 27-22 with 48 seconds left in the game. The defence managed one last stop, forcing an incompletion on third-down to seal the shocking comeback victory and catapult Guelph into the Yates Cup Final this weekend. 

Western beat Carleton 39-13 at home on Saturday, and will host Guelph at TD Stadium at 1 p.m. this Saturday in the 111th Yates Cup. The Mustangs will be making their third Yates Cup appearance in a row and ninth in the last 11 years. Guelph upset Western to win the 2015 Yates Cup, 23-17, also in London.