GUELPH, Ont. - It's one for the record books for Laurier's men's curling program. 

The team's 26th straight win at the OUA curling championships hosted by the Guelph Curling Club - dating back to the 2019/2020 season - saw the Golden Hawks raise the provincial trophy for an unprecedented fourth straight and 13th time overall. 

Led by head coach Matt Wilkinson, the Laurier rink of fourth Sam Mooibroek, third Kibo Mulima, second Wyatt Small, and lead Ben Pearce scored six unanswered points, with four of those coming by way of steals between the fifth and eighth ends, to win Sunday afternoon's final 6-3 over the Brock Badgers.

"It's been a ride," said Wilkinson, reflecting on the tournament that saw the Golden Hawks outscore their opponents 42-15 before facing a very stiff test in the Badgers. 

Brock went up 3-0 after three ends before the Golden Hawks got two back with hammer just before the fourth end break. Laurier scored four more times en route to victory.

"I was starting to think during the fourth (end) that this game was probably going to be a roller coaster ride similar to last year," he said. "We had to take some chances and (Brock) got a bit of half-miss on their last rock and we still had to make a nice shot to get our two. Everyone took a deep breath after that and we just started going from there."

In that moment, Mooibroek recalled thinking "It showed no matter what, we can pull out a win."

"That game was not looking pretty. We weren't playing the greatest, but we played gritty. It was good work from the guys to admit we were in a pretty terrible position and just say, you know what, we have to take the necessary risks."

"We needed to swing the momentum a little bit and we got ourselves back in the game," he said. 

For Mooibroek and his teammates, it was also the third consecutive OUA title they've won together as a group.

"I think that's special," he said about the unique achievement. "Everybody on the team has won three in a row now. It's tough for teams to stay together this long and have this kind of success.

"We've learned a lot about ourselves this year. We've been most honest with each other than we've ever been and I think everybody's working towards the same goal."

Wilkinson, a Brock alum who both played and coached with the Badgers, admitted mixed feelings facing his alma mater but was quick to praise the tough challenge they presented the Golden Hawks.

"It's always great playing them in the final and better when we win," said Wilkinson with a laugh. "I'm good friends with the coaching staff and they're good guys and the programs are great and well run,"

Having reached the OUA final, the Golden Hawks also booked a ticket to defend last year's U SPORTS title at the upcoming national curling championships in Fredericton, NB from March 12-16.

"It's going to be tougher to win this year than last because it's always tougher to come in and repeat," said Wilkinson, matter-of-factly. 

Aside from looking to raise a U SPORTS banner for consecutive years, there's an extra incentive this time around as it's also a qualifier to represent Canada at the 2025 FISU World University Winter Games in Piedmont, Italy. 

"The goal is to qualify for (the FISU Winter Games)," said Mooibroek. "Every step of the way, we've really proven to ourselves that we can do whatever we put our minds to."

"We're going to take it one game at a time and see how it goes."