To win a tough road game in a hostile environment against a nationally-ranked opponent, sometimes you need a disciplined defensive mindset; sometimes you need a little luck; and sometimes you need the ability to overcome adversity.

And sometimes, you just need your goalie to steal two points for you.

Waterloo netminder Keaton Hartigan (Kitchener/) was spectacular between the pipes, and Justin Larson (Buckhorn/) scored late in regulation and again in the shootout as the Warriors earned a hard-fought 2-1 shootout victory over the fifth-ranked UQTR Patriotes Friday night in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.

Andy Smith (Rosetown/) also scored in the shootout for the Warriors, who move to 5-2-0 on the season, and a perfect 3-0-0 on the road. For the host Patriotes, now 5-2-1, Maxime Gravel scored their only goal through 60 minutes and Felix Petit was the only Patriote that was able to cash in the shootout. Hartigan made 39 saves for the win, while Marc-Antoine Gelinas turned away 28 shots in the loss.

The game also featured an astronomical 124 penalty minutes – 64 assessed to the Warriors, and 60 to UQTR. Tensions boiled over in the third period when a trio of post-whistle scraps broke out simultaneously, leading to each team being assessed three 10-minute misconducts. At one point in the third period, each team's penalty box was standing-room only.

During that borderline brawl in the third-period, a fan also appeared to attempt to rush the Warrior bench. Staff on Waterloo's bench intervened, and nobody was injured in the incident.

Coming into the game, Warriors head coach Brian Bourque stressed his desire to play a tight defensive system and avoid trading chances with the high-octane Patriotes. The game plan worked nearly to perfection in the first period, as the Warriors limited UQTR to only 8 shots in a scoreless 20 minutes.

The Patriotes came out with a little more offensive jump in the second period, but Hartigan held the game scoreless with a series of spectacular saves through the first half of the middle stanza. The teams traded man-advantage opportunities, but were far from trading shots and chances, as UQTR flexed their offensive prowess. It finally paid off just short of the 12-minute mark, when Gravel beat Hartigan to put the hosts in front 1-0.

The Warriors showed substantial pushback in the third period, as they started to generate scoring chances as tempers rose. Just seconds after Colin Behenna (Waterloo/) was assessed a ten-minute misconduct for his verbal protests of a non-call behind the play, pushing and shoving after the whistle escalated to much more. All told, 76 penalty minutes were assessed at 11:26 of the third period, and the Warriors found themselves with four extra minutes to kill off.

Led by the penalty killing of Smith, Steve Whitely (Petrolia/) and Joe Underwood (Canton/), the Warriors were able to keep UQTR off the board in what might have been the turning point of the game. With the clock nearing the 18-minute mark in the third period, Warriors captain Kirt Hill (Winnipeg/) won an offensive zone draw cleanly back to Larson, who ripped home the game-tying goal.

Overtime solved nothing, although it wasn't without drama. Hill was overaggressive on the forecheck and took a hooking penalty in the offensive zone that was again fended off by Hartigan and the Warriors' stalwart PK unit. Then, after serving his 2 minutes, Hill popped out of the box and into a breakaway opportunity that was blockered away by Gelinas.

In the shootout, the Warriors put the pressure on UQTR early and often. Larson's goal was followed by a miss from Marc-Olivier Mimar, putting the Warriors up 1-0. Then, Smith fired a rocket off the crossbar and in before Petit matched him to keep UQTR alive. After Behenna was stymied on his attempt, Hartigan got his left pad on Olivier Donovan's low shot to clinch the two points for the Warriors.

Waterloo will have little time to celebrate, as they left Trois-Rivieres late Friday night en route to their date with the defending national champion McGill Redmen in Montreal on Saturday night. Puck drop is at 7pm, and the game will be webcast live on www.ssncanada.ca.

Notes: The Warriors were 0-for-6 on the power play, while UQTR went 0-8…This was Waterloo's second win over a nationally-ranked opponent in 2012-13…The Warriors are now 3-0-0 in overtime/shootout games this season.