WATERLOO, Ont. — The Laurier Golden Hawks men's hockey team fell 3-1 to the Waterloo Warriors on what doubled as Senior Night at the Battle of Waterloo finale for the 2025/26 regular season.

Waterloo opened the scoring just 19 seconds into the first period when Cole Fraser beat goaltender Tristan Malbeouf low, finishing a setup from Gavin Wood to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead.

Despite the quick strike, Laurier settled in and traded chances through the remainder of the opening frame.

The Golden Hawks went to the penalty kill at 15:22 when Ty Petrou was assessed a minor for boarding, but the penalty killers held Waterloo without a shot on its lone first-period power play.

The Warriors doubled their lead midway through the second. At 9:19, Liam Fedak capitalized during a net-front sequence, converting a pass from Fraser, with Emmett Pierce also drawing an assist.

Laurier had opportunities to respond with three power plays in the contest, including two in the second period following minors to Jordan Hendry and Dan Murphy. However, the Golden Hawks were unable to generate a breakthrough, finishing 0-for-3 with the man advantage.

Waterloo extended its lead to 3-0 at 12:05 of the third period when Sam McKinney scored unassisted off the rush, slipping a shot through the five-hole.

Laurier broke through late on the power play. After a series of third-period penalties, including a double minor sequence to Adamo Santia and a misconduct and minor to Kallaway Mercer, Thomas Lenart converted with the extra skater at 17:37. Lenart finished a backdoor feed from Bryce Sutherland, with Lucas Chard also picking up an assist.

The late goal cut the deficit to two, but the Golden Hawks could not draw closer, as Waterloo secured the victory.

"It's frustrating when the opportunities are right there and we're outplaying our opponents but can't seem to get the result we want," said Lenart.

Golden Hawks head coach and manager of operations Kevin Forrest echoed that sentiment, noting that the group's effort level remains strong heading into the final stretch of the regular season.

The game marked the fourth meeting of the season between the cross-town rivals, with Waterloo winning the season series 3 games to one. 

Up next:
Laurier wraps up the regular season still looking to lock down a playoff spot in the OUA West. They head out on the road for a back-to-back, starting in York on Friday night (7 pm), before heading to Guelph on Saturday (at 7:30 pm). 

Catch all the action live on OUA.tv