WATERLOO, Ont. - Laurier co-captain
Thomas Lenart's four-point night drove a late comeback as the Golden Hawks fell in the shootout during the second rendition of the Battle of Waterloo on Wednesday night at Columbia Ice Field.
The result keeps the Golden Hawks at .500 in a competitive OUA West Division, with a 3-3-2 record eight games into the 2026-27 season.
The Warriors opened the scoring halfway through the first period with Braeden O'Keefe scoring his first OUA goal to give Waterloo the lead going into the second.
The Golden Hawks struck back on the power play with Branden Ruskowski scoring his first OUA goal, getting the rebound off a huge slapshot from the point by Lenart to tie the game at 1-1.
Waterloo ramped up the pressure in the second, scoring three more goals to Laurier's single tally off an odd-man rush put up by
Spencer Caines, who netted his second of the season, once again assisted by Lenart.
The third period saw the Golden Hawks take the reins as, with the net empty,
Brendan Ruskowski potted his second of the game off a clever pass from
Anthony Francella on the blue line.Â
Travis Verbeek tied the game at four after a scramble for the puck out front, giving Lenart his fourth assist of the night.
With overtime solving nothing, the game moved to a shootout, which saw Sam Williamson's goal countered by Waterloo's Kaiden Kelly's in the fifth round.
After a
Connor Haynes miss, Waterloo forward Corey Jewitt iced the game for the Warriors in the sixth.
Despite the four goals allowed in regulation, Laurier netminder
Andrew Ness stopped 30 of 34 shots faced en route to yet another 30+ save performance for a Laurier goaltender.
Lenart's four assists tonight brought him up to eight on the season with six in his last five games, with Laurier rookie
Brendan Ruskowski putting up his first and second career OUA goals.
The Golden Hawks will have the rest of the weekend off before turning their attention to the Windsor Lancers at home on Friday, November 13, at the Waterloo Memorial Rec Complex. Puck drop is at 7:00 pm.
Tickets are on sale at tickets.laurierathletics.com.
Subscribers can catch the action live on OUA.tv, while fans can also listen on RadioLaurier.com.
