The War is far from over, but the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks won the first battle.

Kyle Morrison, Derek Schoenmakers, and Trevor Sauder had three points apiece as the Golden Hawks took the first leg of the Battle of Waterloo with a 7-3 decision over the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday night at the Columbia Icefield Arena.

The win moves the Hawks even with the Warriors in the standings, as each team has 8 points on the season. Laurier improved to 4-5-0 on the year, while the Warriors saw their record fall to 4-6-0.

Daniel Perigo (Truro) scored a goal and added an assist for the Warriors, and Cam Nicoll (Loretto) potted his first career CIS goal in the defeat. Mike Morrison (Hamilton) started the game between the Waterloo pipes, but he was replaced by Chris Hurry (Summerland) after allowing 3 goals on 11 shots in the first period. Hurry stopped 17 of 20 shots, and was saddled with the loss in relief of Morrison.

The Warriors carried the play for much of the first period, but they couldn't solve Laurier goaltender Vinny Merante early on. The Hawks led 2-0 by the game's 13-minute mark, and they carried a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

Laurier scored the game's next 3 goals to go up 6-1 before the Warriors got markers from Perigo and Phillip Fife (Oromocto) in a 38-second span in the third. But 6-3 was as close as Waterloo would get, and Laurier's Greg Cerilli salted away the game with an empty-netter in the closing minutes.

The Warriors will now embark on a three-game road trip starting next Friday night in Oshawa against the UOIT Ridgebacks. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30pm.