TROIS-REVIERES, Que. - The Golden Hawks received a rough welcome to La Belle Province on Friday night, falling 6-1 to the reigning OUA champion UQTR Patriotes.
With a handful of Laurier's players from Montreal and the surrounding area, this game was a special one, but unfortunately not a great result.
The first period started strong, with Callum Chisholm giving his team a 1-0 lead early into the first assisted by Sam Rhodes and Tyler Davis.
Although the Patriotes' Charles Beaudoin quickly tied things up, Laurier did not lose its momentum and continued to battle.
An optimal opportunity to get ahead in the first was lost during the purple and gold's five-minute power play chance. What could have been a turning point in the game was an offensive struggle that the visitors ultimately paid for.
After being out with a wrist injury, Max-Antoine Melancon was eager to make his post-injury debut in his hometown in Quebec. Unfortunately, Melancon left the ice during the first period, with his wrist seeming to cut his time on the ice short once again.
Momentum seemed to be fading in the second period but was quickly deflated when Felix Lafrance scored on the power play.
Frustration was evident and tensions escalated once the halfway point in the second frame hit.
Felix Lafrance scored his second of the night with just three minutes left in the period, making it 3-1 heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Unnecessary penalties cost Laurier their ability to compete and changed the tide in favour of UQTR.
Although the Golden Hawks have shown promise defensively since the start of the season, the competitive edge seemed to be lost last night with early mistakes coming back to haunt the team.
Defensive mistakes had Golden Hawks goaltender Tristan Malbeouf tied up at the net an additional three times during the last period.
With an opening goal from Ludovic Soucy being scored just 50 seconds in, and another power-play goal from Vincent Milot-Ouellet just eight minutes after that.
The six infractions against Laurier in the third period alone, including two major misconducts, sealed their fate in the five-goal defeat, with Vincent Milot-Oullet ending it with his second of the night at 17:04.
"Average is never good enough in our league. Strong defence combined with hard work and high compete for the full 60 minutes is what it takes to play well", Laurier head coach and manager of men's hockey operations Kevin Forrest expressed after the game.
While he was happy with how the first period went, the lack of consistency in Laurier's game was what made for a tough loss.
Game Notes
Laurier needs to look to clean up the penalties they're taking overall, especially against tough teams like UQTR.
By allowing an excellent team to have an advantage, it becomes another level of challenge to stay in the game. There were a total of 13 infractions in the game last night against the Golden Hawks, which they hope to cut down Saturday against McGill.
Up Next
Laurier faces off against McGill on Saturday looking to get back into the win column and erase the early mistakes made Friday night. Puck drop is at 5:30 pm in Laval, Quebec.
Follow the action on X (formerly Twitter) at @WLUAthletics or live on OUA.tv.
