WATERLOO, Ont. - The Laurier Golden Hawks dropped a 3-1 decision to the Toronto Varsity Blues in OUA men's hockey action on Friday at the Waterloo Memorial Rec Complex.
Toronto opened the scoring early, striking just over a minute into the first period when Brandon Santa Juana finished a setup from Ryan Evenhuis and Rylee Hlusiak.
The Blues carried much of the play through the opening frame and had two power-play opportunities, but Laurier's penalty kill held firm.
The Blues doubled their lead at 4:48 of the second period. Christian Stevens converted on a passing sequence from Sean Clarke and Sam Marit to make it 2-0.
Laurier had a chance to respond on a power play midway through the frame but failed to generate a shot. Toronto later earned two more man-advantage opportunities, both of which were turned aside by the Golden Hawks' penalty killers.
Toronto added insurance early in the third. Clarke scored at 2:31 after taking feeds from Owen Hollingsworth and Thomas Gangl, extending the lead to 3-0.Â
Laurier broke through at 13:54 of the third when rookie forward Ethan Szabo (2) redirected a pass from Thomas Lenart, with rookie Travis Verbeek also drawing an assist.
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That wrapped up all the scoring as the Golden Hawks were unable to close the gap further. The team also went 0-for-3 on the power play.
Toronto out-shot Laurier 40–27. Golden Hawks rookie goaltender Andrew Ness made 37 saves in the loss, continuing a strong start to his debut season.
Laurier's penalty kill, ranked seventh in the OUA entering the game, was perfect again, holding Toronto scoreless despite four opportunities.
Up next:
Laurier (9-4-0-1) returns to home ice Saturday to face the Lakehead Thunderwolves (8-4-1-0). Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. with tickets available at tickets.laurierathletics.com
The game will be streamed live on OUA.tv, with updates on X at @WLUAthletics.
