Box Score The Laurier Golden Hawks slipped past the Warriors 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at the CIF to sweep the three game series and advance to the OUA semifinals.  Hawks Goaltender Erika Thunder was clutch down the stretch making several big saves to secure the victory and series.

Waterloo gave the tough Hawks squad all they could handle but were unable to emerge victorious in what was their first home playoff game in franchise history.  The Hawks scored six minutes apart in the first period and added an early marker in the third period to walk away with the win.

Tammy Freiburger (Wingham) fired home her first of the OUA playoffs to open the scoring at the 10:02 mark of the first period.  Six minutes later Laurier padded their lead as Laura Brooker (Fergus) notched her first of the post-season on the powerplay to give her Hawks a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.  Waterloo natives Haley Baxter and Caitlin Muirhead were credited with the assists on the Brooker goal.

Waterloo would cut into the Laurier lead 24 seconds into the second period as Marissa Redmond (Ajax/) potted the Warriors first goal of the playoffs.  Assists were given to Kelly MacLean (St. George/) and Kaitlyn McDonell (Kincardine/).

The second period would remain scoreless as Laurier held a slight 2-1 lead into the third but would find the all-important insurance marker and eventual game winner four minutes into the final frame as Robyn Degagne (North Bay) put one past Waterloo keeper Rebecca Bouwhuis (Orillia/).

The never say die Warriors showed their fight in the final 15 minutes pouring on the pressure and would be rewarded with Bouwhuis out of the net at the 17:41 minute mark as a Sarah Endicott (Toronto/) point shot would be batted home by Kelly MacLean (St. George/).  Down 3-2 with less than two minutes to go both teams would exchange penalties but the black and gold could not get one past Thunder who stood tall down the stretch for the win.

Thunder made 23 saves on 25 shots while Bouwhuis was as impressive stopping 24 of 27 shots faced.  The Hawks will now await their next opponent depending on results of other playoff matches going on this weekend.