WATERLOO, Ont. - The Laurier Golden Hawks were defeated 4-2 by the #5 ranked Brock Badgers on Thursday night, remaining winless to start the season. 

Brock opened the scoring seven minutes into the first when Jared Marino beat Laurier goaltender Christian Propp with a shot between the legs. Minutes later, Marino scored his second of the night after redirecting a point shot over the shoulder of Propp and Laurier would head into the second trailing 2-0.

Laurier's defenseman Adrian Nabuurs cut the deficit in half with a one-timer set up by Evan Benwell and Matt McJannet with less than five minutes remaining in the second on a dominant Laurier powerplay. The goal was Nabuurs' second powerplay goal in as many games. 

The Golden Hawks came out of the second intermission buzzing. Two minutes into the third, Caleb Rich beat Brock's Aiden Hughes to tie the game at two. 

Five minutes later though, Brock would break the tie when Jacob Roach scored on a wrap-around that just barely beat Propp. Roach would also score the final goal of the game to secure a victory for the visitors.

The loss might have been Laurier's fifth straight, but things are beginning to come together for the Golden Hawks. Laurier hung with Brock all game, even completely dominating them at times. 

Laurier's Interim Head Coach and Manager of Men's Hockey Operations Kevin Forrest, who was interim head coach of the Brock Badgers last year, knows from experience what kind of team the undefeated Badgers team is. 

"That's a top team that is going to be competing for another championship this year", he said. 

"I couldn't be prouder of the way our guys hung in there and played some of the best hockey I think we've played since the season started", he continued. "To compete and hang with a top team like that, you've got to take the positives from that and hope its something we can build on."

The special teams remained effective when they were called upon. Laurier's powerplay has started to heat up, striking once in each of their last four games. Their penalty kill, which was tested twice, remains perfect. Laurier's penalty killers were puck magnets, blocking anything they could get in front of.

The backbone of the penalty kill, Christian Propp, stopped 31 of 34 shots against tonight. Propp, who has started every game this season, plays a critical role in keeping games close. It doesn't go without notice by his teammates. 

"Propper gives us a chance to win every night", said forward Sullivan Sparkes.

Laurier will look for their first win again on Saturday against the Lakehead Thunderbirds at 7 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase online and the game will be streamed live on OUA.tv