TORONTO, Ont. – The Laurier Golden Hawks recorded their second straight shutout with a 1-0 victory over the TMU Bold at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on Friday night. With the win, Laurier sits alone atop the OUA standings with 41 points.
Sarah Howell got the start between the pipes for Laurier and turned aside all 23 shots she faced to earn her ninth career shutout.
The Golden Hawks struck early, opening the scoring just four minutes into the game on their top-ranked power play. Cycling the zone, Elle Spencer banked the puck off the boards to Ella Jackson in the circle. Jackson drove the puck toward the slot and fired a shot that was initially blocked, but Clara Chisholm – who leads the OUA in scoring with 21 points (7-14–21) – jumped on the loose puck and buried it.
While the early goal proved to be the eventual game-winner, Laurier's manager of women's hockey operations and head coach, Kelly Paton, acknowledged that the performance had its inconsistencies.
"There's a lot of layers, and I think we've done a good job up to this point of establishing what we feel is the norm for us," said Paton. "But today, certain areas underperformed in what we would say our expectations are. Across the group, it was a collective piece of some poor decision-making on the puck and then some effort on the tracking."
Despite those challenges, Laurier's special teams and goaltending proved decisive.
"The good news is that our power play is continuing to put us in a position to win, and Sarah Howell was obviously solid in net," Paton added. "But at the end of the day, when you're only up by one goal, you're never going to feel comfortable."
Both teams tightened up defensively as the game wore on, with Howell and TMU netminder Sydney Pyburn making key saves to keep the contest within reach. Only three penalties were called, resulting in extended stretches of even-strength play.
Paton noted adjustments made in the third period, particularly around puck decisions and net-front presence.
"We talked about a couple of adjustments in the third regarding our forechecking pieces, but then also put some discussion in the room around our shot decision making," she said. "Today we really lacked traffic around the net front. If you're gonna shoot from the high slot and not have any traffic, then we're probably not gonna get the outcome we're looking for."
Laurier sustained pressure in the closing minutes, restricting TMU's chance to pull Pyburn for an extra attacker. When the Bold finally did so with just over a minute remaining, the Golden Hawks held firm to secure their eighth straight win.
The Golden Hawks return to action tomorrow afternoon with a familiar matchup against the York Lions, whom they faced last Saturday in Fergus. With another opportunity to secure valuable points, Paton emphasized the importance of a quick reset.
"I think it's going to be a good challenge for us," she said. "It's a quick reflection from tonight's story, and then moving forward for tomorrow, having a better mindset around the things we need to apply and execute."
Puck drop at Canlan Sports is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EST.
