LONDON, Ont. - On Thursday morning, the Golden Hawks headed to London for an important match-up against Western in front of 1,000 School Day Game fans in attendance. The home side used the extra support to their advantage, escaping with a 3-2 win in overtime.
With Laurier clinging to third place in the OUA West but just two points separating the teams in the standings, the Golden Hawks battled back from a two-goal deficit to get at least a point to remain in their current spot - for the time being.
This was the second time this season these two teams went head-to-head, with their first meeting producing a six-round shootout that saw Laurier forward Erin Wolfe get the winner for the purple and gold.
The Golden Hawks were looking to get back in the win column after losing their last two games against the Nipissing Lakers and the Toronto Varsity Blues.Â
The first period began with Laurier dominating possession, forcing the Mustangs to take an interference penalty just three minutes in. After killing off the penalty, the Mustangs' Alyssa Wouda skated the puck into the Golden Hawks zone and fired a wrist shot past Laurier's netminder, Acadia Carlson, for her fifth goal of the year to it 1-0 Western.
Just over halfway through the first period, Mustang Avry Pedersen raced down the ice on a breakaway but was shut down by Carlson. On the ensuing rush, Yasmina Tomkin fired the puck across the ice to Arielle MacDonald but she was stopped by Western's goaltender, Brooke Vaccari.Â
With six minutes left in the period, the Mustangs had a shot on net that was saved by Carlson. However, Emma Campbell found her way through the traffic with the rebound to it 2-0 for the Mustangs, scoring her first career OUA goal.
As Laurier was looking to change the script, they came back on the ice with a chip on their shoulder and dominated the play throughout the second period.Â
Early in the frame, the Golden Hawks had a 3-on-1 turned away by Vaccari. Minutes later, fresh off the bench after a change, Laurier rushed down the ice toward the Western goal. Kylie Laliberte took a shot on net which ricocheted off Vaccari's pads, but Laliberte buried her rebound to put the Golden Hawks on the scoreboard, cutting the deficit in half. It was Laliberte's fourth goal of the season.
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The Mustangs were looking for an attempt to retaliate against the Golden Hawks' goals but were shut down time after time by Acadia Carlson.Â
With five minutes left in the second period, Laliberte passed the puck over to MacDonald for a shot on net. The rebound was buried by Laliberte for her second goal of the game, tying things at two. It was the first two-goal game of Laliberte's OUA career.
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Heading into the third, the Golden Hawks started the third period on a penalty kill due to a tripping penalty Elle Spencer took in the final seconds of the second period. The special teams unit did a solid job ending that opportunity.
After many chances for both teams throughout this period, Western took a tripping penalty seven minutes in. The Golden Hawks had several opportunities on the power play, which currently ranks second in the OUA, and dominated the play in the Mustangs' end for the entirety of the period but could not get a shot passed Vaccari.
Halfway through the period, the Mustangs had a great chance to take the lead, but a big kick save made by Carlson stopped that from happening.Â
Later in the period, Western set up a passing play right in front of Laurier's net, which resulted in a collision with Carlson in her crease and a disallowed goal.
After an intense twenty minutes, the game remained tied - forcing overtime.
Extra time was short and not so sweet for the Golden Hawks, despite being filled with chances for the Golden Hawks, including Claire Jackson walking the puck over the blue line for a drive towards goal before being shut down by Western's netminder.
The Mustangs sent the crowd into a frenzy after converting on a 2-on-1 with first-year Arnica Bulmer finding the back of the net.
In the back-and-forth battle between the two goalies, Laurier's Carlson, made 25 saves while Western's Vaccari recorded 27.
The Golden Hawks are now 9-6-1-1 in their season and have lost three games in a row.
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THREE STARS:Â
1st Star: Arnica Bulmer, Western Mustangs – game-winning goal
1st Star: Kylie Laliberte, Laurier Golden Hawks – two goals
3rd Star: Brooke Vaccari, Laurier Golden Hawks – 27 saves
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Up Next:
The Golden Hawks are headed to St. Catherines on Saturday night to face the Brock Badgers for the first time since their home opener.Â
Puck drop is at 7:00 pm at Canada Games Park as Laurier wraps a four-game road trip to start 2024.
Follow @WLUAthletics on X for live updates and watch all the action live on OUA.tv
