TORONTO, Ont. - The Golden Hawks struck on the man advantage three times on Saturday night, lifting them to a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues.

Grayden Gottschalk also scored and Patrick Brown added three assists to help the Golden Hawks get back into the win column  and a game over .500 as they head into the holiday break.

Looking to respond after Friday night's loss against York, early penalties forced Laurier to begin the game on their heels. U of T outshot Laurier 14-3 in the opening frame but couldn't solve Christian Propp. 

The Varsity Blues struck first as Owen Robinson scored 9:02 into the second period. From then on, Christian Propp shut the door, stopping 28 of 29 shots in his fourth win in a row and seventh of the season. The latter ties him for sixth in the OUA.

Chayse Herrfort picked up his first goal of the night on the power-play less than two minutes after Robinson's icebreaker. Adrian Nabuurs' shot missed the net but deflected off the end boards and back in front of the net onto Herrfort's stick. 

The fourth-year scored his second goal of the game in the third period on a five-on-three by parking himself in front of the net and banging home the rebound, losing his helmet in the process.
 

M?? P3 - Chayse Herrfort strikes again!

Golden Hawks | 2@Varsity_Blues | 1#SoarAbove #WLUvsTOR pic.twitter.com/8SAikwsVtY

— Laurier Golden Hawks (@WLUAthletics) December 4, 2022

Later, Patrick Brown and Grayden Gottschalk displayed their wheels by getting behind Toronto's defenders and connecting on a cross-crease pass to extend Laurier's lead on the power-play. 

Laurier capitalized on three of their eight power-play opportunities on Saturday and the penalty kill was a perfect three-for-three. 

At the beginning of the season, after their first loss against Windsor, Interim Manager of Men's Hockey Operations and Head Coach Kevin Forrest said, "if we clean some things up, we might start surprising some people." 

It's safe to say that Laurier have put the conference on notice. The Golden Hawks have hit their stride, going 8-3-0 since beginning the season 0-4-1.

Heading into the break, the power-play is firing at 22.2% and currently sits fifth in the OUA. Laurier also sits tenth in the league boasting an 86.0% penalty kill efficiency.

Patrick Brown leads the team with 10 points through 15 games, but the offence has been spread throughout Laurier's forward lines. Four players (Evan Benwell, Sam Rhodes, Sullivan Sparkes and Caleb Rich) are all tied for second-most with nine points.

The Golden Hawks are off until the New Year. Their first game of 2023 will be on the road on January 7 when they take on the Brock Badgers at Canada Games Park. Catch all the action live on OUA.tv