WATERLOO, Ont. - "There's winning pretty and there's winning ugly. And that was definitely winning ugly." 

No matter the aesthetics of the game, head coach Phil Murphy was happy to see his team earn the victory in Friday night's first round OUA playoff matchup. After a slow start, the Golden Hawks dominated in the second half to take a 33-8 victory over the Waterloo Warriors. 

Under the lights at University Stadium, the visiting Warriors came out of the gates with intensity, cheered on by a vocal group of fans who made the trip down University Avenue into enemy territory.  

Waterloo put tons of pressure on Laurier, keeping the ball deep in the Golden Hawks end. They came within feet of the try line just five minutes in, but Laurier held strong on defence to keep the game scoreless and get the home crowd on their feet. 

The purple and gold managed to advance the ball several times throughout the half, but costly turnovers and penalty trouble kept them out of the red zone. Josh Tinney finally broke through for the game's first try in the 32', but the Warriors answered right back to tie the game at 5-5 heading into halftime. 

Now with the wind at their backs, it didn't take long for Laurier's offence to get going. Adam McNee let a kick fly from just short of midfield that angled into touch less than ten yards short of the try line. The Golden Hawks recovered the lineout and Alex Levia quickly scampered in for a try. McNee made the first of his four converts to extend the lead to 12-5. 

Waterloo kicked for posts to cut into the lead, but Laurier was just getting started. Isaac Kelly's try was quickly followed by Ben Foote, and suddenly it was 26-8 Golden Hawks. 

"The guys have really, really stepped up and did work on their fitness this year," said Murphy. "We knew that we'd wear them down eventually." 

Facing a big deficit, the Warriors had no answer for the rolling Golden Hawks, and rarely even ventured past midfield in the second half. Keeping the ball deep in Waterloo territory, the purple and gold were able to grind away the clock until finally Matthew Bagiamis added a final try in the last minute of play. 

"Definitely not the way we were expecting the game to go, but a win's a win," said fifth-year 8-man Dylan Di Girolamo, echoing his coach. 

The Golden Hawks move on to the OUA semifinals, where they'll face the top-seeded Guelph Gryphons, who defeated Laurier in the OUA final last season. 

"We're going to build off of that second half," said Di Girolamo. "We know we can't come out against Guelph like we did in the first half here, we need to be better, and that's what we're going to work on." 

"To get to get to nationals, you have to go through the best teams," said Murphy. 

"Until last year, we'd never beaten Queen's, and we beat Queen's last year. We've never beaten Guelph, so let's see what happens." 
 

TOP PERFORMERS 

Waterloo Warriors 

Third-year prop Stratton Windsor was a force all night for the Warriors, making big tackles, stealing lineouts, and controlling mauls. 

Laurier Golden Hawks 

Even after breaking the ice with his try, Josh Tinney continued to be a one-man wrecking crew, advancing the ball through swarms of Warriors and making crucial clear-outs. 

UP NEXT 

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Varsity Field in Guelph. Follow along @WLUAthletics on X for live updates and catch all the action on OUA.tv.