ST. CATHERINES, ONT. – The Golden Hawks were in St. Catherines for the second time in the past two weeks to take on the Brock Badgers. Unlike their last tilt, it was Laurier who would skate away with a 1-0 overtime win.

The Golden Hawks came into this one looking to play spoilers for Brock's playoff changes, with the Badgers sitting tied with Western for the fourth and final playoff spot in the OUA West. The Badgers currently hold the spot though with one extra regulation win. 

Aiming to respond to the 3-1 loss to Brock just 15 days prior, the Golden Hawks did not let up from the opening faceoff. Even with being rewarded with an opportunity on the powerplay, the purple and gold were unable to open the scoring in the first 20 minutes. At the other end, all ten Badgers shots were stopped by goaltender Acadia Carlson to keep the score tied at zeros heading into the second period.

Nearly the entire second period was played with ongoing penalties as the Golden Hawks had a cumulative of six penalty minutes while the Badgers totalled 10 minutes in the box. The Golden Hawks searched for the powerplay tally with multiple opportunities, however, the Badgers successfully killed them all off, holding the Golden Hawks to seven shots by the end of the second. The purple and gold performed similarly as Carlson made numerous saves to keep her team alive on the penalty kill, finishing off a scoreless second period.

The third came and went as both teams fought hard in each others' zones to get one past the goaltenders, however, both the Badgers and the Golden Hawks were unable to get a goal on the board for their team. 

Neutral zone puck movement was persistent from the Badgers yet the purple and gold put up a wall on defence, allowing only four shots to get through to Carlson. 

With only two shots on goal themselves, Laurier spent little time was spent in the offensive zone. However, the purple and gold were able to hold off long enough in the third to push the game to overtime.

The Golden Hawks were looking for their first win in seven games, as they put pressure on the Badgers during the three-on-three overtime. The Badgers dominated puck possession for the first two minutes of play, however, the Golden Hawks came rushing into the offensive zone, and with a pass from Mackenzie Marshall, captain Arielle MacDonald got her third goal of the season on a backhanded shot to win the game for her team.

Saturday's victory also gave Carlson her third shutout of the season, which ranks as sixth-most in the OUA. She also ranks second with 480 saves this season.

With approximately 14 minutes of powerplay time in this game, the manager of women's hockey operations and head coach Kelly Paton noted that her team "played disciplined, which led to powerplay opportunities". 

However, in hopes of taking advantage of the powerplay opportunities in the team's remaining games, Paton stated that some areas for growth include "improving the quality of shot attempts, with a stronger presence at the net."

Three Stars

Acadia Carlson – Laurier Golden Hawks: saved 26 shots to earn the shutout

Arielle MacDonald – Laurier Golden Hawks: her third goal of the season was the game-winner

Kenzie Harmison – Brock Badgers: recorded 15 saves and a .930% save percentage

Up next:

The purple and gold are taking a road trip to Kingston next week to take on the Queen's Gaels on Friday at 7:30 pm.

Follow @WLUAthletics on Twitter for live updates and watch live on OUA.tv.