HALIFAX – Goaltender Andrew D'Agostini made 41 saves for the University of Guelph Gryphons as they advanced to the semi-finals at the 2015 University Cup with the 3-1 win over the University of Calgary Dinos on Thursday afternoon at Scotiabank Centre.

"They outplayed us for chunks of the game, but he [D'Agostini] helped save the day. We were able to push back and score some timely goals," Gryphon head coach Shawn Camp said in the post-game press conference.

"Coming into today, we knew we would be playing a very good team. D'Agostini had been very good in the playoffs and he was very good today," said Dinos head coach Mark Howell. "You need to play 60 minutes to win at this tournament and unfortunately for us, we could not find the back of the net or the consistency needed."

With the win, the Gryphons moves on to face the Windsor Lancers (No. 7) or UNB Varsity Reds (No. 2) in one CIS University Cup semi-final, which is scheduled for Saturday, March 14. The Dinos' tournament comes to an end with the loss.

The Gryphons, OUA champions, garnered the first quality scoring opportunity of the game when defenseman Nicholas Trecapelli rang a slap shot off the goal post behind Dinos starting goaltender Kris Lazaruk early in the first period.

A few minutes later, the Dinos thought they got on the board when Cain Franson re-directed a point shot behind D'Agostini, but the marker was waved off because the puck was struck with a high stick.

With the man advantage, the Gryphons made it 1-0 late in the first period on a nifty three-way passing play, which Teal Burns completed from the slot on the doorstep of the Dinos' crease. Nicklas Huard and Trecapelli assisted on goal at 19:19.

The Dinos held a 12-8 shots-on-goal period in the first 20 minutes.

In a scoreless second period, both goaltenders made quality saves, with Calgary outshooting Guelph 13 to 10.

At the 56-second mark of the third period, Chris Collins, his team's player of the game, scored the equalizer for the Dinos on a stellar individual effort. After alluding a pair of Gryphon defenders and skating in over the blue-line, the forward beat D'Agostini with a wrist shot. Kodie Curran garnered the lone assist.

The Gryphons regained the lead with 15:09 left in the third period, when Carlos Amestoy jumped on a Dino turnover and walked in over the blue-line before beating Lazaruk with a blast just inside the goal post. The goal was unassisted.

With less than four minutes remaining, at the 16:57 mark, Seth Swenson notched an insurance marker. From the doorstep, he beat Lazaruk with a backhander from in tight. Huard and Burns, who both had two points in the game, contributed the helpers.

Calgary pulled their goaltender for most of the final three minutes but were shutdown by the Guelph goaltender despite numerous quality chances in the slot.

Dino captain Kevin King said his team "peppered" D'Agostini with shots.

"But we couldn't find the back of the net," he added.
Calgary outshot Guelph 43-26. The Gryphons were one-for-four on the power-play, while the Dinos were scoreless on four chances with the man advantage.

SCORING SUMMARY

Official Boxscore:  
http://en.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice/2015/boxscores_champ/20150312_z3f7.xml

FIRST PERIOD

1. GUE Teal Burns (1) (Nicklaus Huard), 19:21 PP

PENALTIES:

Kambeitz (CGY) tripping, 4:34;
Huard (GUE) high sticking, 9:33;
Mock (GUE) interference 11:02;
Wintoneak (CGY) hooking 11:19;
Gibb (CGY) checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct 18:02;

SECOND PERIOD

No scoring

PENALTIES:

Wintoneak (CGY) high sticking 0:10
De fulviis (GUE) checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct 9:24
O'Connor (GEU) interference 14:53


THIRD PERIOD

2. CGY Chris Collins (1) (Kodie Curran), 0:56
3. GUE Carlos Amestoy (1), 16:57
4. GUE Seth Swanson (1) (Nicklas Huard, Teal Burns), 16:57

PENALTIES:

No penalties.

GOALS (by period)
GUE 1-0-2: 3
CGY 0-0-1: 1

SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
GUE 8-10-8: 26
CGY 12-13-18: 43

POWER PLAY:
GUE 1-4
CGY 0-4

GOALTENDERS
GUE – Andrew Dagostini (W, 1-0, 43 shots, 42 saves, 1 GA, 59:36)
GUE – Keith Hamilton (0 shots, 0 s saves, 0 GA, 0:24)
CGY – Kris Lazaruk (L, 0-1, 26 shots, 23 saves, 3 GA, 57:32)

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
GUE: Andrew Dagostini
CGY: Chris Collins

REFEREES: Jon Langille, Mario Maillet

LINESMEN: Nicolas Melanson, Mike MacDonnell

ATTENDANCE: 3738