Box Score Saturday night at the Columbia Icefield Arena began with such a celebratory tone. The Nipissing Lakers made sure it didn't end that way.

The Lakers executed their neutral zone defensive game to near perfection, and goalie Kirk Rafuse made 30 saves as Nipissing frustrated the Warriors into a 2-1 defeat on Saturday night.

Connor O'Donnell and Brogan Bailey scored for the visiting Lakers (3-9-0), who got their first road win in six attempts this season. Andy Smith (Rosetown/) responded for Waterloo, who falls to 5-5-1 on the season. Warriors keeper Justin Leclerc (Saskatoon/) made 23 saves in the loss, while John Chartrand replaced an injured Refuse for the final 91 seconds of the game, contributing one save to the Nipissing cause.

The evening began with plenty of pomp and circumstance, as the Warriors hoisted their OUA West division championship banner from a year ago. The Warriors also recognized the 40th anniversary of the 1973-74 University Cup championship team, and they began their new All-Canadian banner series by honouring legend Ron Hawkshaw, the first All-Canadian in Waterloo history.

After the red carpets were rolled away, both teams seemed to start tentatively. The first frame was with very few stoppages and featured end-to-end play, but it also featured very few top-notch scoring chances. The game remained scoreless after 20 minutes.

The Warriors found penalty trouble mid-way through the second period, as minor calls on Justin Larson (Buckhorn/) and Jeff Einhorn (Red Deer/) put Waterloo down two men. Only 14 seconds into the 5-on-3 advantage, O'Donnell caught Leclerc leaning and slipped a shot through the five-hole to put Nipissing up 1-0 after two periods.

The Warriors were buzzing to start the third, but a bad bounce and a turnover in their own zone led to the disc ricocheting in off of Bailey and past Leclerc to make it 2-0 Lakers early in the final frame. Just over one minute later, Smith drew the Warriors to within one when, after a glorious glove save from Rafuse, the puck popped out of his glove and straight up. Smith whacked it out of mid-air to cut the Lakers lead in half.

Try as they might, the Warriors never got closer in the third. When Rafuse was injured on a goal mouth scramble with 1:31 left in regulation, Waterloo head coach Brian Bourque decided to pull his netminder and get pucks towards the cold keeper. However, the staunch neutral zone play of the Lakers proved too much for the Warriors, as they fell 2-1.

The Warriors will now head back out on their second Qubec road trip in three weeks, as they will face Ottawa on Friday night before heading to Montreal to take on McGill on Saturday.

Notes: The Warriors went 0-for-2 on the man advantage, while Nipissing went 1-for-4…Hawkshaw is also the first player ever to be named an All-Canadian with two schools (Hawkshaw went to Law School at Osgoode Hall and played for York)…Warriors forward Tyler Norrie (Simcoe/) made his CIS debut, playing alongside Kain Allicock (Markham/) and Jarred Parent (West Montrose/).