WATERLOO, Ont. - The Laurier Golden Hawks suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to their city rivals, the #4-ranked Waterloo Warriors, on Thursday night, bringing their four-game winning streak to an end in dramatic fashion.

Coming into the game, Laurier was looking to flip the script after suffering a tough 6-0 loss to the Warriors earlier in the season. 

From the opening minute, the Golden Hawks showed a renewed sense of determination, eager to rewrite the narrative against their rivals and continue climbing the standings. 

Laurier struck first in the opening period on their first shot on net. Elle Spencer dumped the puck into the zone, which sent Kylie Laliberte chasing down the puck off the end wall, where she made no mistake sniping it short side. 

W??: GOAL?? Kylie Laliberte goes short-side to open the scoring on our first shot of the game?? 1-0 WLU.#SoarAbove | #WLUvsWAT pic.twitter.com/rJbld35Jle

— Laurier Golden Hawks (@WLUAthletics) January 17, 2025

Reflecting on her goal after the game, Laliberte credited her teammates for the setup. 

"We were at the red line and Spencer rocketed the dump in and she told me to go," Laliberte said. "So I got on my horse and picked the puck off the end wall and I put it in. 

"I don't know, I haven't scored in a while, so that felt nice to get back on the game sheet."

Laliberte also spoke about the intensity that comes with playing against Waterloo.

"It's exciting and excellent energy when we play them just because it's a little rivalry," she said. "You want to score and you want to win. So, yeah, I think it added to it a little bit for sure."

Despite their early momentum, the Golden Hawks couldn't hold the lead. 

Waterloo struck back in the final minutes of the period. With Laurier's Brianna Bowman serving a delay of game penalty, the Warriors made the most of their power-play opportunity.

Nikki McDonald pounced on a rebound, burying the puck into the net after goaltender Kathryn Raitano lost sight of the loose puck under her glove. 

The second period saw both teams digging in defensively, with neither side able to break the deadlock. Both goaltenders made critical saves to keep the game within reach going into the final frame. 

As the clock wound down in the third period, it seemed the game was destined for overtime. 

However, with just 16 seconds remaining, a seemingly harmless dump-in by the Warriors led to Brodi Levitt finding herself alone in front of the net. She capitalized on the opportunity, redirecting the puck with a backhand deflection to score the game-winning goal.

In a last-ditch effort to regroup and even the score, the Golden Hawks pulled their goalie, but time was not on their side, and they fell just short of forcing overtime.

Despite the final result, Laurier assistant coach Nik Knezic, who is stepping in for head coach Kelly Paton as she represents Canada at the FISU World University Games, expressed pride in the teams's effort, emphasizing the importance of their process over the outcome. 

"How it ended is kind of a kick in the shins," Knezic said post-game. "But if you reflect on how we played from start to finish for the three periods, I think we're happy with it. I truly felt like we played great with our structure." 

Compared to their earlier season loss, the team's improvements were evident, proving they can compete against one of the OUA's top teams. 

"We knew [Waterloo] was great at generating rush offence and high-danger chances, so we wanted to pay more attention to our forecheck, and our forwards did a fantastic job tracking back through the neutral zone," Knezic said. "I don't think we gave up a single three-on-two today, and that's a credit to our forwards and D managing their speed."

Laurier will look to get back in the win column as they head into their next matchup against the Western Mustangs on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at Sun Life Financial Arena. 

Tickets are available now and the action will also be live on OUA.tv.