WATERLOO, Ont. - The Laurier Golden Hawks were unable to complete a late comeback as they dropped a 4-3 decision to the Waterloo Warriors in the first OUA men's hockey Battle of Waterloo match-up of the season Thursday night at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex.
The loss moves Laurier to 1-2 on the young OUA season.
Goaltender
Tristan Malboeuf turned aside 35 of 39 shots in defeat.
Waterloo jumped ahead early when Kyle Morey opened the scoring just 1:46 into the contest. Laurier answered on the power play less than four minutes later as
Max-Antoine Melancon finished a setup from
Ty Petrou and
Colin Maund at 5:34 to even the game at 1-1.
The teams continued to trade goals throughout an entertaining opening period. Caden Kelly restored the Warriors' lead at the 10:30 mark, but
Samuel Williamson responded just 57 seconds later, converting passes from
David Paglia and
Justin O'Donnell to tie the game once again.
The Warriors regained control later in the frame when Cory Jewitt capitalized on a Waterloo power play at 14:50, giving the visitors a 3-2 advantage heading into the first intermission.
After Laurier successfully killed off a lengthy two-man disadvantage early in the second period, Waterloo extended its lead to 4-2 on Morey's second goal of the night at 10:55.
The Golden Hawks cut the deficit back to one in the closing seconds of the middle frame. Petrou struck for his second of the game with just 16 seconds remaining, finishing another play set up by Maund and Lenart to make it 4-3 heading into the third.
Laurier pushed for the equalizer in the final 20 minutes and outshot Waterloo 15-8 in the third period. The Golden Hawks earned a power-play opportunity midway through the frame and pressed late with Malboeuf on the bench for an extra attacker, but the Warriors held firm to secure the one-goal victory.
Both teams generated 39 shots on goal, while special teams played a key role throughout the night. Waterloo finished 1-for-5 on the power play, while Laurier converted once on four opportunities.
Petrou reflected on the loss and the quick turnaround ahead.
"Obviously we've got to forget about this one. We've got another one against Guelph on Saturday and that's a big one for us. We want to come up with at least two points this weekend, so it's huge."
Thursday's contest was the first of four regular-season meetings between the cross-town rivals. The next Battle of Waterloo is set for Nov. 6 at Columbia Ice Fields.
The Golden Hawks will look to bounce back on Saturday when they host the Guelph Gryphons at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. Fans can catch the action live on OUA.tv and Radio Laurier.
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