WATERLOO, Ont. - With the new year underway, the OUA officially announced its football schedule for the 2023 season. As the Golden Hawks continue to work in winter practices, here's a sneak peek at the season to come.

The purple and gold are coming off a campaign in which they finished the regular season 5-3 and earned their first playoff victory since 2017. With a young and talented offensive core complementing their perennially elite defence, the Golden Hawks are poised to take another step forward in 2023.

Laurier will begin the year with an early test against the Yates Cup finalist Queen's Gaels on the road on Saturday, August 26. The Gaels defeated the Golden Hawks at University Stadium in the final game of the 2022 regular season.

Laurier's home opener will come a week later during Orientation Week on Saturday, September 2. It will be a rematch of last year's OUA quarterfinals, when the Golden Hawks hosted the Carleton Ravens and won 41-13.

In week four, on Saturday, September 16, the Battle of Waterloo will be renewed, with the Golden Hawks hosting this time. The 2022 edition saw quarterback Taylor Elgersma, running back Quentin Scott, and receivers Ethan Jordan and Raidan Thorne all record career highs in passing, rushing, and receiving yards, respectively, en route to a 43-22 victory.

The next week, Saturday, September 23, the McMaster Marauders will be in town. The last time these two teams met was in 2021, when the Golden Hawks earned a shut-out 22-0 win.

Week six is Laurier's bye, and a more convenient time than last year. 

"After having the bye in week one last year and then playing ten straight weeks, we are really excited to see that our bye is in a good spot this year," said Manager of football operations and head coach Michael Faulds. "The OUA is very competitive, and every week is a tough game, but this is what you want."

After the bye, the Laurier will take a cross-province trip to the nation's capital to face the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday, October 7. The purple and gold will look to answer for last year's heartbreaking Homecoming loss, in which a last-second 55-yard goal gave the Gee-Gees the win.

Finally, in week nine, the Golden Hawks will close out the regular season against the defending Yates Cup champion Western Mustangs on Saturday, October 21. Laurier faced Western twice in 2022, with the Mustangs winning both the season opener in Waterloo and the OUA semifinal in London.

The schedule undoubtedly looks difficult on paper, with three of the Golden Hawks' four road matchups coming against the only three OUA teams to rank above them last season. Faulds' approach hasn't changed, however.

"Our players will have extreme focus throughout, and we will do a good job of never looking ahead and always trying to go 1-0 every week."