WATERLOO, Ont. - The #6 seed Laurier Golden Hawks defeated the #3-Toronto Varsity Blues 5-2 in Game 2 of their OUA West first round series on Saturday afternoon to advance to the Queen's Cup quarterfinals for the first time since the 2010/11 season.
 
Laurier's Thomas Lenart broke the ice, scoring on a beautiful wrap-around attempt in the first period to put the Golden Hawks on the board 5:57 into the first.

M?? P1 - Thomas Lenart wraps the puck into the net to give the Golden Hawks a 1-0 lead!@LaurierHockey | 1
@Varisty_Blues | 0 #SoarAbove | #WLUvsTOR pic.twitter.com/uOgHvmnWGD

— Laurier Golden Hawks (@WLUAthletics) February 17, 2024

The full 20 minutes were played at even strength. Laurier's Christian Propp held down the fort as he turned away all 12 of Toronto's shots in the first.

The Golden Hawks' momentum from the first carried over into the middle frame. Just 43 seconds into the second, Conor Ali made a great move to beat Toronto's Jett Alexander to give the Golden Hawks a 2-0 lead.

M?? P2 - What an effort! Conor Ali makes it 2-0 Laurier early in the second!@LaurierHockey | 2@Varsity_Blues | 0#SoarAbove | #WLUvsTOR pic.twitter.com/sjsoPHYL2W

— Laurier Golden Hawks (@WLUAthletics) February 17, 2024

 Laurier's lead was further extended to 3-0 less than a minute later when Nick Guinta scored on a long shot for his fourth goal of the playoffs.

M?? P2 - Nick Giunta makes it 3-0 with a long shot!@LaurierHockey | 3@Varsity_Blues | 0#SoarAbove | #WLUvsTOR pic.twitter.com/gJ62XoWukG

— Laurier Golden Hawks (@WLUAthletics) February 17, 2024

These two quick goals were enough for Toronto's staff to pull Alexander from the net and put in rookie netminder Rayce Ramsay.

Evan Benwell put home a rebound to give the Golden Hawks a four-goal lead. Benwell has a point in each of Laurier's three playoff games (1G 2A).

M?? P2 - Evan Benwell! It's 4-0 Golden Hawks!@LaurierHockey | 4@Varsity_Blues | 0#SoarAbove | #WLUvsTOR pic.twitter.com/Newq7PsSWG

— Laurier Golden Hawks (@WLUAthletics) February 17, 2024

In the dying minutes of the second frame, Nicholas Wong scored to get the Varsity Blues on the board and back to within three goals of the Golden Hawks.
 
Billy Moskal scored for the Varsity Blues to make it a 4-2 game 6:53 into the third period.
 
With their season on the line, the Varsity Blues made a push and pulled their goalie with over three minutes left in regulation.
 
Thomas Lenart sent the puck down the ice and into the empty net to put this game out of reach in favour of the purple and gold.
 
Toronto's Owen Robinson scored a futile last-second goal to make the game 5-3 and the Golden Hawks would hold on to defeat the visitors. It's the team's 12th win in their past 14 games, going back to the regular season.
 
Christian Propp stopped 37 of 40 shots sent in his direction. UofT's Jett Alexander and Rayce Ramsay saved stopped 14 of 17 and 17 of 18 Golden Hawk shots respectively.
 
Laurier was dominant for the majority of the game, and manager of men's hockey operations and head coach Kevin Forrest felt much the same way, but acknowledged the skill of the Varsity Blues squad.

"When Toronto decided that their backs were against the wall and decided to step it up a notch, they made a good hard push until we managed to find the empty net," he said.
 
Lenart, who scored the game's opening tally, described how "it's always good to start with the first goal. I gets the boys going and takes the momentum away from the other team." 

"Coming in as the six seed, we were the underdogs, so it was exciting."

Plus + Playoff Series Win

This is a huge step in the right direction for the Golden Hawks.
 
"I am really happy to see the boys get rewarded for the work they've put in the last several weeks," said Forrest. "We were in a pretty big hole in November, but we just kept working and believing we could turn it around. The mindset and effort has been there for weeks now. It's a nice payoff."

Plus + The Lenart-Rhodes-Reimer Line

This line was particularly dominant tonight. When they got the puck into a cycle, they created several dangerous scoring chances and the cycle is what led to the first goal.
 
"I have two awesome linemates," said Lenart. "When Reimer gets the puck down low, he's great at protecting it and getting us possession. (Rhodes) is something special. When he gets the puck, it seems like he can do whatever he wants with it."

Up Next

The Golden Hawks switch their focus from the University of Toronto to the #2-seed TMU Bold. The Golden Hawks split their season series with the Bold this season. The Golden Hawks won the first match-up 4-1 in November and the Bold put up seven on Laurier in January.
 
"On paper, they are the best team in the league, so they will be a tough challenge for us for sure," said Forrest. "We have to make sure why we have beaten them in the past and what's made us successful."
 
"Nobody thought we were going to make playoffs anyway, so why not keep going? There is a lot of belief in our room, so we aren't worried about the outside noise."
 
Game 1 of Round 2 against TMU is at the Mattamy Athletic Center in downtown Toronto on Wednesday February 21 at 6:15 pm.

The Golden Hawks will host Game 2 at RIM Park's Pillers Ice Pad on Friday February 23 at 7 pm. Tickets are on sale now. 

Game 3, if necessary, will be back in Toronto on Sunday February 25 with a 6:15 pm puck drop.