WATERLOO, Ont. - The atmosphere to begin Saturday's Homecoming matchup against the Ottawa Gee-Gees was lively, and a close, back-and-forth defensive showdown kept the sold-out crowd engaged despite the cold and the rain.
Unfortunately, the Golden Hawks faithful didn't leave University Stadium with the result they wanted, as an incredible 55-yard field goal from Ottawa's Campbell Fair with zeros on the clock gave the garnet and grey the win, 21-18.
Not quite living up to their moniker, the Gee-Gees were somewhat slow out of the gate, and allowed big gains through the air on the first two plays to get Laurier into field goal range. After tying his career-long 41-yard field goal last week, Dawson Hodge nearly did it again, this time drilling one home from 40 yards out to put the Golden Hawks up 3-0.
Carrying a 4-1 lead into the second quarter, Laurier's defence continued to impress. They played well all game, but were nearly perfect in the first half, holding Ottawa to just one point.
After a diving 35-yard reception from Raidan Thorne got the Golden Hawks into Gee-Gees territory, the first major of the game came on a screen pass to Tanner Nelmes. Excellent blocking allowed Nelmes to maneuver his way into the endzone from the Ottawa 32-yard line for his second touchdown of the season.
Trailing 11-1 at halftime, Ottawa looked motivated to start the third quarter, as Hodge's kickoff was returned 49 yards by Charles Asselin to give the Gee-Gees excellent field position.
A few plays later, Ottawa offensive lineman Sam St-Jean suffered an injury, leading to a 29-minute delay. St-Jean was taken off the field in an ambulance but was responsive and able to move his extremities.
Without their starting left guard, the Gee Gees were still able to march down the field and close the gap with a 39-yard touchdown reception by J-P Cimankinda.
Leading 11-8 with one quarter to play, Laurier couldn't quite get their offence going against an Ottawa defence that ranks third in the OUA. A field goal three minutes into the fourth tied the game for the Gee-Gees.
Then, with just over two minutes to play, the Golden Hawks seemed to have stopped the Ottawa advance at midfield on a nice pass break-up by Nico McCarthy. However, a controversial pass interference call gave the Gee-Gees a first down. Just two plays later, Amlicar Polk caught a pass from Ben Maracle and ran into the endzone to complete the 41-yard major.
Down a touchdown with 1:55 on the clock, Laurier put together what might have been their best drive of the season so far. They picked up seven first downs, including four in a row, before capping it off with a touchdown run from Quentin Scott, his third of the season.
"The mentality was, we're not going to get seven points on one play, so let's concentrate on that next first down," said Head Coach and Manager of Football Operations Michael Faulds.
"Our guys did a good job of focusing in, and then as we got a couple first downs, you could feel the energy rising on our sideline. I'm proud of how they executed on that drive."
The following drive from Ottawa might have been equally impressive, however, as they fought their way into field goal range thanks mostly to 13 and 17-yard rushes from Cimankinda. Laurier could only watch as Fair's kick just barely made it through the uprights.
"There's no sugarcoating it, it's a tough loss," said Faulds. "But at 2-2 we get to pick ourselves up. We've got half the season remaining and as you see looking at the scoreboards around the conference, the OUA is kind of up for grabs right now."
"We've got to watch the film, learn from it, and then pick ourselves up and bring our morale up again."
TOP PERFORMERS
Laurier Golden Hawks
Defensive back Nico McCarthy led the Golden Hawks in solo tackles (six) and total tackles (nine). He also had a highlight-reel pass break-up to keep Ottawa out of the endzone early in the fourth.
Ottawa Gee-Gees
J-P Cimankinda was a workhorse on offense for the Gee-Gees, rushing for a career-high 147 yards on 23 carries. Meanwhile, he also led Ottawa in receiving yards with 61, for a total of 208 offensive yards.
UP NEXT
The 2-2 Golden Hawks will be in Windsor Saturday October 1 at 7 p.m. to take on the 2-2 Lancers. Follow @wluathletics on Twitter for live updates and catch all the action at
OUA.tv.
Laurier's next home game will be October 15 at 1 p.m. against the Guelph Gryphons.
Tickets are on sale now.
