Box Score For the final 15 minutes of their game against the Brock Badgers on Friday night, the Waterloo Warriors men's hockey team was badly outplayed. Luckily for the Warriors, their utter dominance in the first 45 minutes was enough to claim a victory.

In a game they once lead 8-1 early in the third period, the Warriors scored five second-period goals and withstood a furious comeback late in the game to claim a 9-5 win over the Badgers in the first game of the 2014 calendar year Friday night in St. Catharine's.

Justin Larson (Buckhorn/) scored a goal and added three assists in the victory, while a trio of Warriors – Brett Mackie (Whitby/), Colin Behenna (Waterloo/), and Joe Underwood (Canton/) – each notched three points. The Badgers scored four straight goals in the third period before Underwood salted the game away with an empty-net tally.

It was the third straight victory for the Warriors, their longest winning streak of the season. Mike Morrison (Hamilton/) made 27 saves in the Waterloo net for the victory, while Adrian Volpe turned aside 15 shots and took the loss for the Badgers in relief of Dalton McGrath.

While both teams were coming off the same five-week exam and Christmas break, the Warriors certainly looked the more prepared of the two clubs early on. Mackie opened up the scoring less than four minutes in, and only McGrath's heroics – and one goal post – kept the Waterloo lead to one early on.

But pressure was relentless, and the Warriors finally got their second goal of the night from an unlikely source – checking forward and penalty kill specialist Jarred Parent (West Montrose/) cashed on a scramble down low to make it 2-0 Waterloo after one period.

Volpe replaced McGrath to start the second period, but the Warriors kept coming, and Colin Behenna (Waterloo/) made it 3-0 for the visitors on a pretty passing play from Mackie and Larson. When Brock forward C.J. Dickson's tip-in made it 3-1, it looked as though the game would be tight entering the final stanza. But the Warriors had other ideas.

Waterloo scored four goals in a span of 5:07, including three goals in just 2:10 to crack the game wide open. First, Mackie went top shelf for his second of the game, followed by a power play marker from Andy Smith (Rosetown/) just 1:34 later. One Ryan Molle (Calgary/) holding penalty and 36 seconds after the Smith tally, Chris Chappell (Pickering/) cashed shorthanded to make it 6-1. Larson ripped home a goal in the period's waning moments to complete the surge and make the score 7-1 after 40 minutes.

After Anthony Tapper (Marmora/) made the score 8-1 for the Warriors just two minutes into the third period, the Badgers began a surge of their own. Brock got goals from Josh Schram, Sammy Banga, and Thomas Stajan in a span of just 2:54 to cut the Warriors lead to 8-4. When Badgers defenceman Dan Tanel made it 8-5 with less than two minutes to play, the Badgers pulled Volpe to try to complete the miracle comeback. Instead, the Warriors sealed the victory when Underwood scored into the empty net at 19:35 of the third period.

The Warriors will now enjoy a rare Saturday off as they get set to re-open their home schedule for 2014 when they host the York Lions next Friday night. Puck drop from the Columbia Icefield Arena is slated for 7:30 pm.

Notes: The Warriors went 1-for-2 on the power play, while the Badgers went 0-for-5…This was the third straight game the Warriors scored at least 6 goals…Chappell's goal was his 16^th of the season in just 16 games, putting him in a tie for first in the nation in goals.