he Laurier women’s soccer team has captured first place in the OUA West division, a reflection of their successful start to the season. After a productive Saturday on the road, the Golden Hawks faced controversy in their game at home on Sunday against the Brock Badgers.
On Sep. 16th, the squad travelled to St. Catherine’s to face Brock and were dominated by the Badgers in the first half. Laurier pushed through to tie the score in the first 45 minutes and successfully scored four goals in the second half, leading them to a 5-2 victory. The fight displayed by the Golden Hawks in a physical and strenuous game is a testament to their collective perseverance.
Only 24 hours later, the Golden Hawks took the field to host the Badgers on their home pitch in Waterloo. Both teams faced the barrier of fatigue after playing a challenging 90 minutes the previous day.
Despite this, Laurier was controlling the games’ tempo in attempt to obtain their fourth victory of the season. The first goal of the game was scored by Brock’s midfielder, Brianna Bishop. Laurier’s Mackenzie Forte took this setback and used it as motivation to quickly tie the score in the 21st minute.
In the second half, Laurier maintained the majority of possession time, creating more scoring opportunities. The intensity on the field steadily grew as the game progressed with no change in score. In the 67th minute, Jyanessa Sealy beat the Badgers to a rebounded shot in the box and scored Laurier’s second goal of the game.
However, this taste of victory would be short-lived for the Golden Hawks, as the game was called off in the 73rd minute due to thunderstorms at the field. According to OUA Rules and Regulations, “If a game is suspended after the 75th minute mark, the result shall stand.” With less than 2 minutes of regular time away from achieving 3 points, the game was called off.
Only time will determine if Laurier receives a win for their hard-nosed effort against the Badgers or if another 90-minute game must be played to determine the outcome of the matchup.