TORONTO, Ont. – After wrapping up the preseason with an even 3-3 record, the Golden Hawks opened their women's hockey 2026/27 regular season at the University of Toronto's Varsity Arena, falling 3-2 to the Varsity Blues in overtime.
Laurier broke the ice midway through the first period when
Estee Fodor tipped a point shot from
Sydnie Miller past Toronto netminder Lyla McKinnon.
Late in the frame, the Varsity Blues capitalized on a power play opportunity when a high-bouncing puck fell to Abby Whitworth. She fired it home through the chaos at the net front, beating both
Sarah Howell and the end-of-period buzzer.
Toronto pulled ahead at the start of the third when a pass from Taylor Delahey deflected off Petra Klimes' foot and into the back of the net for another power-play goal to make it 2-1.
After a couple of fruitless late power plays of their own, Laurier pulled its goalie in search of an equalizer.
Caryss Kehl found
Alexa Giantsopoulos with a cross-ice pass, and Giantsopoulos made no mistake, beating McKinnon glove-side to tie the game with 1:22 left in the third and force overtime.
"She's been adding a lot of value in our room," said Laurier's manager of women's hockey operations and head coach
Kelly Paton. "She's been a huge addition for us, knowing that we graduated a pretty big class last year."
Giantsopoulos joins Laurier this season as a transfer from York, and tonight marked her first official goal as a Golden Hawk. She was announced as an assistant captain alongside
Kylie Laliberte prior to the game, with
Clara Chisholm named captain.
"We needed time to assess what leadership was needed, and then also give the players in our room opportunities to lead and take on new roles," Paton explained. "We're really happy and excited for those two to be in the assistant captain role and help support Clara."
Just over two minutes into overtime, Emma Elders, fresh off the bench, found herself all alone with the puck and beat
Sarah Howell cleanly on a breakaway to claim victory for Toronto.
"I thought it was pretty even for the most part around generating chances," said Paton. "Obviously, special teams played a pretty big factor in where we landed with the outcome, with them getting two power-play goals."
"Definitely some things to work on, but effort was pretty good across the board. We'll take the point and look to reset on Saturday."
The Golden Hawks will begin a five-game homestand with their home opener against the TMU Bold on Saturday, October 17, at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex.
Puck drop is at 3:00 pm, with tickets available at tickets.laurierathletics.com. Stream the game live on OUA.tv.Â
