The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s hockey team put in a strong effort Friday night, when they clashed with their rivals from across University Avenue, the Waterloo Warriors.
The Columbia Ice Field was packed and the hockey fans were not disappointed as both teams put on a great show. It was anyone’s game with the lead changing three times and ultimately going into overtime.
The Warriors, however, gave their home crowd something to really cheer for after winning the game 4-3.
Laurier started the game off quickly, taking the lead early off a goal by Brendan Woods, with assists coming from Greg Trichilo and Greg Cerilli. However Laurier ran into penalty trouble and Waterloo capitalized on the power play, evening the score with seven minutes left in the first. The period ended tied, with Laurier goalie Duncan Long making some very impressive stops.
“Duncan really played well for us,” Laurier head coach Greg Puhalski said. “He gave us a chance to hang in there all game.”
In the second period, Laurier came out firing. They killed off a penalty and gained the man advantage. The momentum seemed to be going their way, but then Waterloo scored a nifty short-handed goal to take their first lead of the game.
Both teams’ goalies made some terrific saves in the second, and it looked like the period was going to end with Waterloo leading 2-1, but Laurier stuck a last-minute dagger to tie the game going in to the third period.
Scoring for Laurier was centre Ryan Lopes, assisted by Peter Maclntosh and Tanner Olstad.
Both teams really upped the tempo in the third period. Laurier forward Brent Vandenberg scored a power play goal to give the Hawks their second lead of the game with five minutes left to play.
But the defending Ontario University Athletics (OUA) champions answered quickly with a goal to tie the game again. With three minutes left in the game, it looked like it was headed to overtime, but with 30 seconds left Waterloo was awarded a penalty shot.
Duncan Long came up huge for Laurier again making a glove side save, and regulation finished sending the game to overtime.
Ultimately, the Warriors scored a minute and 15 seconds into the five-minute sudden-death period.
“It’s been a struggle for us to get any points, we managed one here which gives us a starting point heading into next weeks games,” Puhalski said.
The Golden Hawks will try to pick up the momentum as they look for their first win of the season. They will go on the road and take on the Concordia Stingers this Friday in Montreal. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
