The Waterloo Warriors and Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks took the ice Wednesday night for their final matchup against one another, with the winner taking the season series 2-1.
The match was a special one, as the Battle of Waterloo took place at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, with plenty of fans in attendance to watch the classic rivals battle it out in a late night special. The Golden Hawks, with a chance to make the playoffs this season, looked to keep the momentum going after beating the Windsor Lancers four days prior, while the Warriors continue to attempt to extinguish the everlasting losing streak that has plagued their season.
The first period showed the bad blood that stirs when these two teams face-off, with multiple penalties against Waterloo being called and a few small spars, including a 10-minute penalty against the Warriors’ Connor Lovie for misconduct. However, it was Tyler Davis of the Golden Hawks who would snap a one timer past the Warriors’ Dan Murphy to put the Hawks on the board early.
The Warriors also had their share of opportunities, with a couple breakaway opportunities, but the Hawks’ Christian Propp would not let any shots past and kept the score at 1-0 heading into the second period.
It only took 34 seconds for the Golden Hawks to tack another goal on the board, as Thomas Lenart would sneak the puck over Murphy’s pad to double their lead.
But the Golden Hawks wanted another, and they were able to find it a couple minutes later thanks to Eli Reimer’s rebound shot in front of the Warrior’s net.
A 3-0 deficit did not sit well with the Warriors, and they pushed hard to get back to within reach. Thanks to Cole Fraser, they would finally get one past Propp to get the Warriors on the board.
But the Warriors would only be able to cherish this momentum for 20 seconds, as the Golden Hawks regained their three-goal lead with a shot from Sam Rhodes.
After a back and forth second period with tons of scoring on both sides, the Warriors needed to click on all cylinders in the third period to earn a victory. It started out strong; Adamo Santia wasted no time to get things going, scoring Waterloo’s second goal of the game less than a minute into the last period.
The Warriors also played cleaner hockey, being careful not to rack up penalties, as the Warriors could not afford being short-handed when needing to get the puck past Propp.
Despite a strong and hard-played third period, the Golden Hawks secured their win after Rhodes slapped a puck across the ice for an empty net goal, ending the Warriors’ chances of a comeback. With a final score of 5-2, the Golden Hawks chance of a playoff appearance remains in the picture, while the Warriors are running out of games to end their streak as they sink to the bottom of their division.
