Box Score The Waterloo Warriors men's hockey team did not get off to the start they wanted in game one of the OUA West division finals against the Windsor Lancers. So in order to get the finish they wanted, they had to put in a little overtime.

Josh Woolley (Cambridge/)'s goal 2:20 into the first overtime session capped off a furious third period comeback, giving the Warriors an epic 3-2 win over the Lancers and a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-three OUA West division final.

CIS scoring champion Justin Larson (Buckhorn/) scored both goals in regulation for the Warriors, including the equalizer with 88 seconds remaining in the third period. Defenceman Joe Underwood (Canton/) added two assists for Waterloo, and Keaton Hartigan (Kitchener/) was once again a stalwart in the Warriors net, making 26 saves for the win.

Steve Ferry and Spencer Pommels potted markers for the host Lancers, who struck on the game's first two power play opportunities in the opening period. Parker Van Buskirk steered aside 27 Warriors shots in the loss.

The Lancers wasted no time getting on the board in the first period, as Ferry, named the OUA West defenceman of the year earlier in the day, beat Hartigan just 9 seconds into Windsor's first power play of the evening. On their next man-advantage opportunity midway through the period, Spencer Pommels unleashed a rocket top shelf over Hartigan's glove, making the score 2-0 Lancers after one period.

The score remained 2-0 Lancers throughout the second period, although momentum began to swing towards Waterloo as the game went on. The Warriors outshot the Lancers 10-5 in the middle frame, and Van Buskirk made a number of big saves to keep the Waterloo scoresheet clean for 40 minutes.

Waterloo's second period pressure finally paid dividends in the opening minute of the third, when Larson shoveled the backhanded rebound past Van Buskirk to make the score 2-1. As the Warriors took more chances to find the equalizing goal, they surrendered a number of odd-man rushes the other way. However, Hartigan made some key stops and Windsor hit two goal posts in the final stanza.

Waterloo head coach Brian Bourque called his timeout before an offensive zone faceoff with 1:33 remaining, and he was able to draw up a play that tied the game. Off the faceoff, Underwood snuck a point shot through traffic and into a mass of players in front of the net.  The puck would deflect off of Larson past Van Buskirk to send Waterloo's bench into a frenzy, and send the game to overtime.

After Hartigan again stood tall early in the overtime period, Woolley grabbed his second game-winning goal in three games when he jumped all over a puck that took a lively bounce off the back boards and slid it between the legs of a  screened Van Buskirk to end game 1.

With the series lead, the Warriors will now return home for game two on Saturday night, with a chance to secure the OUA West division crown and a trip to the University Cup national championship tournament. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30pm at the Columbia Icefield Arena, and the game will be streamed live on www.ssncanada.ca.

Notes: Windsor went 2-for-3 on the power play, while Waterloo went 0-for-3...earlier in the day, Larson was named an OUA west first team all-star, Underwood was named to the second all-star team, and Colin Behenna (Waterloo/) was named to the OUA west all-rookie team…With his assist on Woolley's overtime winner, Blake Chartier (Winnipeg/) notched his sixth point of the postseason. He had 5 in 28 regular season games…this was the first postseason game in which Waterloo did not score first.

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