Waterloo, ON – Last night the Laurier Golden Hawks (OUA Mid West 2nd, 12-11-1) faced off against the Brock Badgers (OUA Mid West 3rd, 8-16-0) in Game 1 of the OUA playoffs. The Hawks defeated the Badgers 5-2 at the Waterloo Recreation Complex.
This will be the third time these teams have faced off against each other this season. In their first game, Brock defeated Laurier 3-5. In the second game, the Hawks defeated the Badgers 3-2.
The scoring started off early with Scott Thompson (Lucan, ON) scoring for Brock 28 seconds into the first period. He was assisted by Joe Forte (Welland, ON) and Steve Pederson (Cambridge, ON). Invigorated by their early success, Brock kept putting pressure on the Hawks, but were denied by goaltender
Justin Day (Sarnia, ON).
In the second, some heavy hits and aggressive play got both teams into penalty trouble. Brock suffered five penalties, where Laurier had only three. The Golden Hawks capitalized on their opportunities and scored two power play goals. Markers went to
Bryan Kazarian (Owen Sound, ON) and
Richard Colwill (Arthur, ON). They were assisted by Kazarian, Colwill and
Kevin Corso(2 assists, Waterloo, ON).
With the score 2-1 going into the third, the Badgers turned up the heat on the Hawks. A penalty to
Rob Grant at 3:41, put the Hawks on the defensive. However, good penalty killing and solid goaltending kept the Hawks in the lead. Midway through the period, the Hawks broke out and to score twice.
Bryan Kazarian scored unassisted at 7:13 and then again at 10:29, assisted by
John Jarram (Kitchener, ON) and
Tim Parsons (Kitchener, ON). Not to be outdone, the Badgers scored at 13:52. The goal was scored by Matt Rock (Fergus, ON), assisted by Mike Collin(Kincardine, ON) and Joe Forte. To put the final nail in Brocks coffin,
Kevin Corso scored an empty net goal unassisted at the end of the game.
Highlights for the night would be
Bryan Kazarian's hat trick and one assist for Laurier.
Justin Day also had a great night making 25 of 27 saves.
Next, the Golden Hawks will travel to Brock to play game two of the first round of OUA playoffs on Saturday, February 22nd at 7:30. If Laurier takes that game they will advance to the next round of the OUA playoffs. However, if Brock takes the game then the third and final game will be played back at Laurier on Monday, February 24th at 7:30.
Great Job Hawks!
