Box Score They were on their back foot from the opening whistle, and there was no digging the Marauders out of their early hole Sunday. Two goals against in the first six minutes of their OUA quarter-final against the Guelph Gryphons sunk McMaster, as the Marauders dropped a 3-1 decision to crash out of the conference playoffs.

The two teams had played one another tightly in two regular season meetings in 2016, with just two goals to show between them in a pair of draws. But Guelph rose to the occasion Sunday, with Justin Springer getting the home side off to a flyer with a goal in just the second minute of play. Alex Zis followed four minutes later to heap the misery on Mac.

Guelph completed the dominant opening half when Youssef Zaghoul fired home in the 33rd to give his side a 3-0 lead, and all but end McMaster's hopes of a third consecutive trip to the OUA Final Four.

There was nothing doing for the visitors in the second half, and by the time rookie striker Dusan Kovacevic found the back of the net in injury time, it was too little, too late for the Marauders.