WATERLOO, Ont. - The Golden Hawks were looking to complete the home sweep and their second three-game winning streak of the season this past weekend. Instead, the #7-ranked Nipissing Lakers spoiled those plans Saturday by defeating Laurier 7-6 in a back-and-forth game on Laurier Hockey Alumni Night.  

The Golden Hawks came into the game with back-to-back shutout wins, while the Lakers were coming from a home-and-home split with the York Lions. 

The pace was quick right out of the gate between these two teams, who faced each other back on January 5 in North Bay. But unlike that 9-3 Laurier loss, it was the Golden Hawks who struck first just fifty-two seconds into the game. 

Elle Spencer sauced the puck over to Brianna Bowman who buried the puck in Nipissing's net, getting her second OUA career goal, and first of the season. 

Just a minute later, Nipissing's Katie Chomiak fed the puck to Maggie McKee who made her way past Laurier's starting netminder, Acadia Carlson, to tie the game. 

Less than two minutes later, Arielle Macdonald sent a shot from the blue line over the shoulder of Chantelle Sandquist, regaining the lead of the game. 

Shortly after, Malory Dominico, of the Lakers, scored an unassisted goal to tie the game at 2-2.

With four minutes left in the first period, Malory Dominico scored her second of the night and allowed the Lakers to take the lead for the first time this game, 3-2. 

The second-period start replicated the first when Ella Jackson scored just 1:16 into the game, getting her third goal of the season, and making it a 3-3 game.

The Lakers had an opportunity to take the lead when the puck was bouncing on Laurier's goal line, but Carlson sprawled on the puck before it could cross the line. 

Halfway through the period, after a battle for the puck, Emerie Maltby snuck one past Lakers netminder Sandquist, for her second goal of the season, making it 4-3 for the Golden Hawks.

Less than a minute later, Nipissing's Emma Thomas scored her fourth goal of the season, tying the game, 4-4. 

Not long after, Chloe Davidson ripped a shot off the chest of Sandquist, and Hayley Szymanowski buried the rebound, taking the lead, 5-4.

As the second period was coming to an end, things got physical when the Golden Hawks were trying to bury a rebound, resulting in many players on the ground and the puck in the net, however, the whistle had blown before, therefore, the goal was waved off. 

Heading into the third period, the energy and fight continued between both teams.

Six minutes into the final frame, Malory Dominico raced towards Laurier's end on a breakaway and tucked the puck past Carlson to tie the game once again, earning herself a hat-trick. 

Halfway through the third period, Ashley Taciuk shot the puck at Carlson, which bounced off her chest, and Taciuk was able to bury her rebound, making it 6-5 for the Lakers. 

Two minutes later, Dominico stepped up with her eleventh goal of the season and her fourth goal of the game, giving the Lakers the first multi-goal lead. 

With four minutes left in regulation, Jackson raced down the ice and scored a beautiful goal, making it 7-6 and giving herself the first two-goal game of her OUA career.

Bowman's assist on the play also marked the first three-point game of her OUA career.

In a last-minute attempt to tie the game, Laurier pulled their goalie, but to no avail. The Lakers won this high-scoring, intense game, 7-6. 

Laurier's manager of women's hockey operations and head coach Kelly Paton mentioned after the game that it was important that the Golden Hawks win their game the previous night against the Lancers in order to use it as motivation to stay neck-and-neck with the Lakers during Saturday's game, which is exactly what unfolded in the sixty intense minutes.

Paton also pointed out the talent that comes from some of the rookies on the team this year, such as Claire Robinson on defence, while also mentioning that "Jersie Lindley and Ella Jackson out front are really starting to grow into a role as younger players". 

Before the game, Paton and the other coaching staff described their upcoming schedule as a "three-headed monster, with Nipissing, Guelph and then Toronto as three teams that are currently in the top ten of the OUA, so it's going to be a challenging week". 

The Golden Hawks head into the week's action holding down third place in the OUA West at 11-7-1-1, which has them six points up on fourth-place Western and four points behind second-place Waterloo.

Three Stars

1st Star: Mallory Dominico, Nipissing Lakers – 4 goals

2nd Star: Ella Jackson, Laurier Golden Hawks – 2 goals

3rd Star: Hayley Szymanowski, Laurier Golden Hawks – 1 goal, 1 assist. 

Up Next

The Golden Hawks are headed to the Royal City on Wednesday to face the top team in the OUA, the #3-ranked Guelph Gryphons. The season series between the two teams is split 1-1, with each team winning on the road.

Puck drop at the Gryphon Centre Arena is scheduled for 7:30 pm. Follow @WLUAthletics on X for live updates and find all the action live on OUA.tv