TORONTO, Ont. - The Golden Hawks picked up their first win of the new year with a 2-1 victory over the #6 TMU Bold on Thursday. The win caps off a three-win season series sweep over the Bold.

Laurier controlled much of the first period, but TMU struck first with less than five minutes to go. Jackson Doherty sent a cross-crease pass to Jacob Kamps, who put the puck past a diving Christian Propp. 

The Golden Hawks responded under two minutes later. Steven Maclean swatted the puck out from the boards to rookie Matthew Zebedee who proceeded to walk into the TMU zone, dance around a defender with an Auston Matthews-esque drag and shoot over the blocker side shoulder of Ryan Dugas. 

The second period contained the only penalties of the game, but there was only one powerplay. However, Laurier's penalty kill and Propp shut down every TMU opportunity and the game remained tied as the two squads headed into the third. 

Sullivan Sparkes broke the tie in Laurier's favour just under five minutes into the final frame. Fifth-year defenseman James Thompson fired a puck towards the net, where it redirected off of Sam Rhodes' stick, off of Dugas's pad, and onto the tape of Sparkes who was all alone in front with a wide-open net staring him in the face. 

Laurier played solid defensive hockey and Propp stopped 23 of 24 shots along the road to their ninth win of the season. 

Laurier shut down TMU's high-flying offence each time they faced each other. TMU leads the OUA West league with 68 goals and came into Thursday with scoring an average of 3.7 goals per game. 

TMU only managed to score a measly five goals against Laurier, losing each game 3-1, 4-3 and 2-1 respectively.

PLUS + Series Sweep

Laurier looked dominant in each game against the Bold. They have played some of their best hockey against the Bold, shutting down TMU's offence. 

The OUA's leading point scorer, Kyle Bollers, was away representing Canada at the FISU Games Thursday but couldn't show his dominance against the Golden Hawks, only managing an assist in two games. TMU's top five leading scorers only recorded one goal while combining for just five points in three games against the Golden Hawks.

MINUS - TMU's Ryan Dugas

Dugas was just hard to beat. Thursday night marked Dugas' first OUA start. The OHL grad looked great, shutting down high-quality scoring chances and making some stellar saves against the Golden Hawks to keep the game tight. 

PLUS + Matthew Zebedee

The rookie has been in and out of the lineup this season but has looked good in his last few appearances. He was flying on Thursday, getting involved in the physical game and lit the lamp for the second time in his last three games.

Up Next 

The Golden Hawks look to build off of Thursday's win over TMU on Saturday where they are set to host the Lakehead Thunderwolves (12-5-2) at 7 p.m. at the Sunlife Financial Arena. 

Follow the action on Twitter @wluathletics or catch all the action on OUA.tv. Tickets are also available now.