TORONTO, Ont. - After a 4-2 loss against the Toronto in the preseason, Laurier turned the tables and ended their two-road trip to begin the regular season with a 2-0 win over the Varsity Blues on Saturday night.

The Golden Hawks came out of the gates hot, with endless chances being generated in front of the net.

The Varsity Blue's goaltender Nick Surzycia put on an absolute show battling to protect his crease.

A perfect sequence of passes from Kai Stothers to Callum Chisolm made way for Max-Antoine Melancon to finally beat Surzycia and give Laurier a 1-0 lead that carried into the second frame.

The purple and gold's special teams was a highlight of last season and is proving to have the same magic this year. Sam Williamson had smooth hands on a short-handed rush that gave Thomas Lenart an easy back-door tap-in, bringing Laurier up to a 2-0 lead just 2:28 into the second.

Zach Smith struck back for Toronto just two minutes later, cutting the Golden Hawks lead in half.

A 4-on-1 breakout chance for the Golden Hawks left Surzycia scrambling near the end of the second when Melancon struck again, giving his team a two-goal advantage for the last period.

The Varsity Blue's weren't ready to accept defeat, putting up an intense fight against the Golden Hawks that had fans on the edge of their seat.

Rylee Hlusiak managed to sneak in a power play goal for the Varsity Bluesnear the halfway mark, forcing Laurier's defence to lock down and defend their one-goal edge.

Nolan Bettens was a beast in the final 10 minutes, laying bodies and clearing pucks that left Toronto without a leg to stand on.

With less than 10 seconds left, Golden Hawk rookie Travis Verbeek closed out the game and earned his first OUA goal on an empty net.

First-year goaltender Andrew Ness made 32 saves on 34 shots to pick up his first OUA win.

"It was another night where all 20 guys contributed a highly competitive level of play," Laurier head coach and manager of men's hockey operations Kevin Forrest said after the game, while conveying how extremely optimistic the coaching staff is for the rest of the season after seeing how the players stepped up against two highly skilled teams this weekend.
 
Up Next
 
The Golden Hawks are set to play their first home game of the regular season on Thursday, October 9th against York. Puck drop is at 7:00pm at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex. Tickets are on sale now!
 
If you can't be at the game, follow the action on X at @WLUAthletics or live on OUA.tv