WATERLOO, Ont. - The Laurier Golden Hawks scored four goals in the third period in a 5-4 overtime win in the play-in game on Sunday evening against the Nipissing Lakers to punch their ticket into the Queens Cup playoffs.
The Lakers opened the scoring early in the first period. Payton Vescio was the goal scorer for the Nipissing, Charlie Johnson, and Charles Farmer picked up the assists.
The Golden Hawks had two opportunities to even the score in the first but were unable to solve Nipissing's penalty kill and netminder Reece Proulx.
The Lakers continued to put on the pressure and scored their second goal halfway through the second period. Proulx shut the Golden Hawks out for a second period and the Golden Hawks trailed 2-0 heading into what could have been the final period of their season.
The tide began to turn in the Golden Hawks' favour in the third period. Patrick Brown found fourth-year forward Nick Guinta all alone in the slot, Giunta's shot went under the glove of Proulx and into the back of the net to give the Golden Hawks life at 5:07 in the third.
Three minutes later, Nipissing's Charles Farmer scored to re-establish the Lakers' two-goal lead.
Nick Giunta beat Proulx with a backhand for his second goal of the game at 12:57 to bring the Golden Hawks back to within one. First-year Thomas Lenart and Eli Reimer had the helpers.
Just 15 seconds later, Evan Benwell gave the puck to Callum Chisholm at the blue line. Chisholm's stick exploded as he released his shot, but the puck was able to find its way into the back of the net and, just like that, the game was 3-3.
Laurier gave Nipissing a chance to retake the lead on the power play. Harrison Caines capitalized on a rebound that was kicked his way to give the Lakers a 4-3 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
Lenart was high sticked hard enough to draw blood at 3:32, so the Golden Hawks would get a four-minute power play opportunity to tie the game and send it into extra minutes.
The Golden Hawks were all over the Lakers on the power play, but Austin Proulx stood on his head to deny them from tying the game. As the seconds died down, Laurier's Patrick Brown was denied by Proulx, but first-year defenseman Isaac Sooklal was waiting on the doorstep to put home the tying goal with 6.4 seconds left on the clock.
The Golden Hawks' third-period momentum carried into the extra frame.
"When we came in the room after the third period, the vibe was completely different. Our guys felt like they were not going to be denied," said Laurier's manager of men's hockey operations and head coach Kevin Forrest.
Fourth-year Conor Ali drew two Lakers towards him in the Nipissing zone and found Brown wide-open in the slot. Brown shot it and found five hole on Proulx to send the Golden Hawks into the Queens Cup playoffs.
"We made a good hard push to go and tie it after they got that late powerplay to go up 4-3," said Forrest. "You worry a goal like that might deflate guys, but it did the opposite and made us lean in even more and not quit."
"We knew that once we got one and watched them get deflated, we knew that we had to pounce and that's exactly what we did," said Brown. "Going into that overtime after [Sooklal's], goal we knew that it was our game."
Christian Propp stopped 30 of the 34 shots he faced Sunday night.
Plus + Third Period Push
The Golden Hawks could not be stopped on Sunday. Once they got momentum, they ran with it. Laurier's line of Conor Ali, Nick Giunta and Patrick Brown combined for eight points on the night. Ali had three assists, Nick Giunta had two goals, and Brown had two helpers and scored the game-winner.
Plus + Playoffs
"It's been a crazy ride coming off the break and it's certainly getting crazier now," said Forrest.
With the win over Nipissing, the Laurier will face the University of Toronto in the first round.
The Golden Hawks have faced off against the University of Toronto twice this season, with the Varsity Blues coming out on top both times. However, both of those games were played in mid-October and early November.
The purple and gold have looked like a new team coming out of the break and looking to get revenge on the Varsity Blues.
"It'll be a good contest," said Brown. "They haven't seen us since the second half and we've been on a roll lately and anything can happen. I'm just excited to get going."
"[Toronto] is an elite team, so it'll be a good tough test for us," said Forrest. "But it's been a year where most nights are a pretty good test for this group and we're really starting to go now."
Laurier will visit the Varsity Blues on February 14 for game 1 of the series. Game 2 will be back at the Sun Life Financial Arena on Saturday, February 17th at 3:30 pm. If necessary, game 3 will be back in Toronto on Sunday night.
Tickets for game 2 are on sale now. All the action can also be seen live on OUA.tv
