Box Score WATERLOO, Ont. - The Laurier Golden Hawks are up a game in the 2021/22 edition of the men’s hockey Battle of Waterloo after a convincing 4-1 on Thursday night at the Waterloo Memorial Rec Complex. 

Rookie Christian Propp (Burlington, Ont.) made 28 saves in his second start of the season, recording back-to-back wins in his first two starts as a Golden Hawk. The lone Warriors’ goal came through a heavy screen from captain Connor Lovie (London, Ont.) at 2:16 in the first period.

Propp shut the door for the rest of the game, increasing his season save percentage to 0.931. His performance also included a windmill save in the third period to keep the game at 3-1.

The Warriors came out strong to start the first period. However, Laurier built momentum off the aforementioned saves from Propp, eventually leading to multiple sustained offensive zone possession for the Golden Hawks. 

Laurier continued to apply the pressure with odd-man rushes and intense cycles on the forecheck. One such rush, led by Bair Gendunov (Toronto, Ont.), saw a beautiful deke lead to Grade-A chance on net. However, after a face-off win in the Warriors’ zone, Sam Rhodes (Powhatan, VA) committed his first penalty of the game with a trip behind the Waterloo net.

On the first of four penalty kills, Laurier managed to keep the Warriors to the outside and limited chances to near zero. The best opportunity Waterloo had was in the dying seconds of the man advantage when Propp was forced to make a glove save.

Unfortunately, the ensuing five-on-five play wouldn’t last long as Rhodes got caught with a retaliation slash in the last two minutes of the period. Smelling blood in the water, Waterloo tried to end the period strong and take a considerable lead into the intermission. Still, Laurier’s penalty kill was once again able to keep the Warriors at bay.

With 43 seconds of powerplay time to start the second period, Waterloo came out firing again. Trying to capitalize on Laurier’s slow start, the Warriors had multiple close scoring opportunities. But, again, their best chance came in the last seconds of the powerplay, where Propp stretched out his pad to shut down a back door opportunity.

Just over three minutes into the period, the Golden Hawks picked up some energy and began to tilt the ice in their favour. Gendunov followed up his chance in the first to get his second goal of the season with a gorgeous dangle to tie the game at one. Matt McJannet (Courtice, Ont.) picked up his second assist of the season to set up Laurier’s first goal of the game.

The game was officially in the Golden Hawks’ talons, as the fire was lit and Laurier kept up the offensive attack. Rhodes intercepted a stretch pass from Waterloo only three minutes after the first goal and found Anthony Sorrentino (Woodbridge, Ont.) open in the slot. He made no mistake sniping home his second of the season.

As Laurier maintained the pace in the offensive zone, they drew their first power play of the game. The fourth-ranked powerplay in U SPORTS wasted little time as Connor Ali (Brampton, Ont.) found captain Zach Dybowski (Kitchener, Ont.) on the point, who then made a swift slap pass to the streaking Sorrentino at the back-door of the net for his second of the game.

Ali picked up his third assist in as many games, while Dybowski added to his points total, making it four to start the season. Dybowski and Sorrentino are now tied for the team lead in points.

Laurier controlled the pace of play as they took a commanding 3-1 lead with three unanswered in five minutes. However, an aggressive slash from Cole Waugh (Riverview, N.B.) was Laurier’s third stick infraction in the offensive zone. The Golden Hawks managed to kill the penalty, but not without giving some momentum back to the Warriors, who finished the period strong.

With a wide-open second period, both teams slowed the pace in the third, with Laurier’s defence shutting down any opportunity for the Warriors to get back in the game. 

Patrick Brown (Midland, Ont.) took Laurier’s fourth penalty with another offensive zone trip. But, once again, the penalty kill stood firm and kept Waterloo to the outside and kept the shooting lanes clear for Propp to make the save when necessary.

Waterloo took a late penalty to give Laurier their second man-advantage of the game, but the Golden Hawks played conservatively to limit opportunities for the Warriors to get a shorthanded goal, which sparked their opponents' comeback against Guelph.

The Warriors pulled their goalie with 1:30 left to go in the game, which resulted in some sustained pressure in Laurier's defensive zone. Waterloo's shooters were kept to the outside and forced to take low-chance shots.

After a Warriors timeout, Justyn Gurney (North Delta, B.C.) found a loose puck on the sidewall and streaked down the left wing to pot home the empty-net goal. The tallywas his second goal of the season and sealed the victory for the Golden Hawks.

After the game, Manager of Men’s Hockey Operations & Head Coach Greg Puhalski commented that he was impressed with his team’s effort "to keep the other team’s powerplay predictable.” 

"Everyone was reading the play well and keeping to their assignments - which simplified the situations for everyone,” Puhalski said.

With a 2-0 record to start the season, Laurier's first-year goaltender commended his veteran teammates after the game.

"The transition to OUA hockey has been seamless, with a big credit to the guys for showing me the ropes on how to balance school and hockey,” Propp said.

Looking to make the most of his final season as a member of the Golden Hawks, Sorrentino potted the eventual game-winner in his final home opener. 

“We have a really good division this season, but what I like most about our team is how hard we compete,” Sorrentino said. “There’s no giving up on this team.”

The next contest between the two teams will be in the new year with a home-and-home on January 13th and 15th.


PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Laurier
Anthony Sorrentino (Woodbridge, Ont.) - Center
The lone fourth-year player for the Golden Hawks picked up two goals, including the game-winner and a powerplay goal, to take the team lead in goals and tie the team points race (3-1-4).

Waterloo
Connor Lovie (London, Ont.) - Defenceman
The Warriors' captain scored the lone goal for his team to start the game and logged heavy minutes on the powerplay.

NEXT UP
The Golden Hawks will look to make it two straight wins on home ice when they take on Windsor (2-1-0), who lost their first game of the season on Wednesday to Guelph. Get your tickets today and take in the action. The game will also be live on OUA.tv.