Box Score WATERLOO, Ont. - The Laurier Golden Hawks exchange goals in the first two periods, but the Western Mustangs shut it down in the third and secure a 3-2 victory.
The beginning of the first period was a close battle, with both teams showing speed and shot attempts, but no real offensive chances either way. In the middle of the frame, the Mustangs had a couple of opportunities in tight, but Laurier's starting goaltender Matt Williams (Upper Tantallon, Ont.) made two excellent saves to keep the game scoreless. It was Williams' second start of the season - with both coming against Western.
In transition after the save, the Golden Hawks entered the opposing zone with sustained pressure. Eventually, captain Zack Dybowski (Kitchener, Ont.) found the back of the net for his first goal of the year on a beautiful passing play courtesy of Matt McJannet (Courtice, Ont.) and Caleb Rich (Callander, Ont.).
For both McJannet (1-4-5) and Dybowski (1-4-5), it was their fifth point of the season, and they took the tie for the team lead in points.
However, the Mustangs come back with steam and score less than four minutes after the Golden Hawks to tie the game at one. Laurier fought hard to get pucks on the net, outshooting Western 19-12 in the opening period.
Early in the second, Anthony Sorrentino (Woodbridge, Ont.) found himself in the penalty box on a tripping call but sprung out to find the puck as it expired to spark a two-on-one with Sullivan Sparkes (Waterloo, Ont.). Leading goal scorer Sorrentino potted home the backdoor open net for his fourth goal of the season and joined the three-way tie for the team lead in points (4-1-5).
Western struck back quickly again, bringing the game back to all square in under four minutes. The visitors kept up the pressure leading to a partial break, but Williams shut the door with a pad stop.
A sustained cycle led to Western's go-ahead goal right at the midway point of the game. After the goal, Western began to control the pace of play, with most chances going their way.
Laurier was able to draw a penalty late in the second, but a strong Mustangs’ penalty-kill limited the Golden Hawks’ chances to the outside. Maintaining the pace of shots, Laurier finished the period up 30-21 in shots but down 3-2 in the score column.
The Mustangs came out firing to start the third. A blocked shot by Kyle Gentles (Ajax, Ont.) from in-close to start the period though was a critical defensive play to keep the game close.
Relentless on the attack, Western continued to produce quality scoring chances, but Williams was up to the task; once by squeezing the puck high to the blocker side and coming to the top of his crease to stand tall and deny a chance with the glove on the other.
With just over five minutes to go in the game, Western got caught with two penalties on the same play, gifting Laurier a full two-minute 5-on-3. However, over-passing and an excellent penalty kill from Western limited Laurier’s chances to one scramble in front that fizzled away.
Western gained momentum from that sequence and locked down defensively for the rest of the game while controlling the play in Laurier’s end. With 1:40 to go, Laurier called a timeout and pulled the goalie for the extra attacker but couldn’t materialize anything after the face-off.
Icing the puck for a second time, Western was forced to call a timeout with 34 seconds left. Recovering the puck after a lost face-off, Laurier managed to get set up for one last chance, but a Mustang stick broke up a cross-ice pass to negate the opportunity.
Laurier outshot their opponent for the third straight game. Still, Manager of Men’s Hockey Operations Greg Puhalski didn’t mince words after the game.
"Even though we had over 40 shots today, too many of them were from the outside and not enough good scoring chances, like against Windsor," Puhalski said. “I don’t think our effort level was there tonight. We’ll look to bring it on Saturday.”
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Laurier
D Zack Dybowski (Kitchener, Ont.)
The captain opened the scoring for Laurier with his first goal of the season and joined a three-way tie for the team lead in points with five (1-4-5).
Western
D Austin Osmanski (East Aurora, NY)
Scored the game-winning goal in the second period with a nice finish in close, taking sole possession of the team lead in points with seven (1-6-7).
NEXT UP
The Golden Hawks will look for revenge on Saturday in a matinee game against Western in London at 3 pm. Catch the game live on OUA.tv
