Last season’s match-up against the Laurier Golden Hawks saw the Varsity Blues storm back to secure a come-from-behind win at home. The Golden Hawks waited nine months for a chance at revenge, playing spoiler in the men’s hockey home opener.

Not to be denied from a different outcome, the Laurier fended off late-game flurries from the Blues, who took a 4–2 loss. The Golden Hawks remain undefeated in the ongoing OUA Men’s Hockey Regular Season at Varsity Arena. 

What happened?

The game started slowly for both teams as the Blues delivered intensity on the boards with crushing hits, while the Hawks remained cohesive in defending their blue line to deny the Blues any looks at the net. Laurier got on the board first after forward Max-Antoine Melancon dumped a goal off a rebound from defence Kai Stothers’ shot to put them ahead 1–0. 

The Blues’ penalty kill stopped the Hawks’ power play three times in the first period. With the man advantage, however, the Blues allowed a goal on a breakaway opportunity. Centre Thomas Lenart rushed in a two-on-one situation before nailing a goal off of forward Samuel Williamson’s feed to give the Hawks a 2–0 lead.

The Blues finally found the scoresheet after defence Mark Cooper swung a pass to the positioned forward, Zach Smith, for a one-timer slapshot in the middle of the faceoff circle to trim the deficit, 2–1.

The Hawks struggled to gain possession the whole game, but proved to be lethal on odd-man rushes. Forward Bryce Sutherland intercepted the puck on the way to an assist for Melancon’s second goal to repossess a two-point lead, 3–1.

Trailing 3–1 in the final period, forward Rylee Hlusiack found the puck on a power play scramble and fired it across the net to cut the deficit to one. The goal brought the score to 3–2, rejuvenating the home team hopefuls as cheers echoed in the arena with ample time to mount another comeback.

Looking for their equalizer, the Blues fired on all cylinders as each succeeding shot brought more nerves to spectators. The crowds held their breath as the Blues pulled their goalie for a sixth attacker. Yet, Laurier’s goalie, Andrew Ness, denied any attempt made by the Blues. 

An undropped puck in a crucial faceoff frustrated coach Ryan Medel and the Varsity Blues as Travis Verbeek went on a breakaway opportunity and buried an empty net goal, which sealed the win for the Golden Hawks.  

“We felt [like] the faceoff puck didn’t hit the ice. It got caught up in the equipment and went back. That’s why that should have been a re-dropped puck that’s getting flown dead. I didn’t really get an explanation. That was kind of the frustration, they should have redone the faceoff,” Medel said when asked about the referee’s call in a post-game interview with The Varsity.

What’s next?

The Blues sit at fourth place in the West Division with a 1–1 record, while the Hawks maintain a clean slate of 2–0, which is good enough for second place in the same division. The Blues will welcome the Western Mustangs on Thursday, October 9.

“We have to tighten up. We saw good things in the offensive zone as the game went on in terms of possession and creating offence off O-zone time. But as I’ve said, we have to tighten up. There’s a lot of parity in the league, so we have to be willing to play in tight games, and it starts from defending and playing without the puck,” Medel added.