Waterloo, Ont. – The Laurier Golden Hawks fell 3-1 to the Waterloo Warriors in this season's first Battle of Waterloo on Friday night. The exciting game was a hard-fought battle but the purple and gold couldn't secure the win in the first of two games against Waterloo.

Warriors forward Kassidy McCarthy opened the scoring six minutes into the first period, but that did not stop the Golden Hawks. 

Four minutes later, forward Elle Spencer roofed the puck in the top corner after a consistent cycle deep in the Warrior zone. 

The remainder of the period involved lots of back-and-forth between the two zones with exciting opportunities for both teams.  

The second period consisted of lost of sharp passes and great opportunities at both ends of the ice. The Golden Hawks successfully killed off a penalty two minutes into the period, however, with eight minutes left in the second period, the purple and gold faced another penalty kill where the Warriors took the lead. 

Acadia Carlson stood strong in goal after being faced with multiple shots and puck battles in front of the net, but Warriors forward Leah Herrfort managed to get one past her with only 12 seconds left with the advantage.

The Golden Hawks looked for a comeback in the third period to secure their first win of the season, but the Warriors came out strong with a second goal from Leah Herrfort to expand their lead to 3-1.

Laurier continued to fight hard, successfully killing another penalty. Carlson was eventually called from her net with four minutes of play remaining as the Golden Hawks made use of an extra attacker. Laurier couldn't find the back of the net though.

When asked what she was hoping to see improved in Saturday's second game against the Warriors, Manager of Women's Hockey Operations and Head Coach Kelly Paton put it simply. 

"Who can get rebounds."

Three stars

Elle Spencer – Laurier Golden Hawks (first goal of the 2022-2023 season)

Kara Mark – Waterloo Warriors (12 saves in first OUA career start)

Leah Herrfort – Waterloo Warriors (two goals)

Up next

The Golden Hawks and Warriors are back at SunLife Financial Arena Saturday, October 29 for a second game. Buy your tickets now at tickets.laurierathletics.com