Box Score

Forget seven – on Saturday night, the Waterloo Warriors' lucky number was eight.

Mike Moffat (Waterloo) and Chris Chappell (Pickering) scored third-period goals to lead the Warriors to their eighth straight win, as they toppled the eighth-ranked McGill Redmen 2-1 on Saturday night at the Columbia Icefield Arena in Waterloo.

It was Waterloo's twelfth win of the season, matching their win total from each of the past two seasons. The victory moves the Warriors to 12-6-1, good for third place in the OUA West division. Meanwhile, the loss was McGill's second in a row, as they fell to 13-5-0 on the season. The Redmen are still looking for their first win of 2015.

Waterloo goaltender Mike Morrison (Hamilton) continued his hot streak, making 32 stops in the win. Since being pulled in a game against Nipissing on November 1, Morrison is 7-1 with a 2.20 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage. Karel St-Laurent took the loss for McGill, turning aside 31 shots in defeat.

It was one of the rare days where the conditions inside the frigid Columbia Icefield Arena were warmer than outdoors, and the visitors looked cold in the game's opening shifts. But as the period wore on, the ice began to tilt against the Warriors, and Morrison was called on to fend off the McGill advances. Finally, with 14 seconds left in the first frame, the Redmen got on the board when leading scorer Cedric McNicoll beat Morrison through the five-hole for a 1-0 McGill lead after 20 minutes.

The middle stanza was a textbook entry in playing with the lead on the road, as the Warriors couldn't generate anything offensively. The most noteworthy occurrence of the goalless second period was a scary moment involving Warriors captain Joe Underwood (Canton), who caught a Morrison clearing attempt in the mouth and was down for several minutes.

Bloodied, bandaged, and sporting a full cage, Underwood's third-period return seemed to rejuvenate his mates. The Warriors came hard and fast in the final frame, and they finally found the board when Moffat jumped into the rush as the trailer, took an Anthony Tapper (Marmora) feed, and ripped a high wrister home to even the score at 1-1.

Then, with less than five minutes to play in regulation, Waterloo's newly –formed top trio struck for the eventual game-winner. Hitting the neutral zone with speed, Matt Kennedy (Oro Medonte) made a cross-ice feed to Colin Behenna (Waterloo). With his time and space being eliminated quickly, Behenna made a gorgeous pass to a streaking Chappell, who fired a snap shot past St-Laurent before crashing into the boards.

The Warriors endured a white-knuckle finish that included two icing calls while the McGill net was empty, but the Warriors got some key shot-blocks in the closing seconds to secure the win.

Waterloo will now prepare for their first road contests of 2015, with a  pair of contests against East division opponents next weekend. First, the Warriors will face the UOIT Ridgebacks on Friday, before taking on the Queen's Gaels on Saturday night. Puck drop for both games is set for 7:30pm.

Notes: The Warriors went 0-3 on the power play, while McGill went 1-for-4…Warriors forward Tommy Tsicos (Barrie) made his CIS debut, while Sam Caldwell (Cape Breton) returned from his out-of-province co-op work placement to play in his first game since November 15, 2013…This was Underwood's 100^th career regular-season game, in which he has 15 goals and 72 points.