Lancers shock Hawks in regular season finale

Last year it was the York Lions, this year it was the Windsor Lancers.

For the second straight season, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women’s hockey team had their perfect season spoiled in the final game of the year, as they suffered their only defeat of the campaign, falling 2-1 in over time to the Lancers on Monday afternoon.

The Hawks took the lead just over eight minutes into the game, and held it until the final two minutes of the third period, when Windsor’s Kiely Barnett scored to send the game to over time. The goal also ended Hawks’ goalie Liz Knox’s opportunity to break the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) record for career shut-outs.

The Lancers’ Ashley Kirby scored mid-way through the extra frame, ending the Hawks’ season on a losing note, and vaulting her team into the playoffs.

Despite ending their regular season with a defeat, the Hawks’ 26-0-1 record easily keeps them in first place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) standings -12 points ahead of the second-place Queen’s Gaels- and also grants them a first-round playoff bye.

Looking for their seventh consecutive OUA championship, the Hawks will begin their post-season with a home game on Thursday, Feb. 25, against the lowest ranked team remaining after York, Guelph, Toronto, and Windsor, take part in the first round this weekend.