The Waterloo Warriors started the new year on the same note in which they ended 2015 – a winning one.

Joey Champigny (East Angus) and Colin Behenna (Waterloo) scored the tying and go-ahead goals just 1:59 apart late in the third to propel the Warriors to a 3-2 victory over the Ryerson Rams on Friday night in Toronto.

The win is Waterloo's fifth in a row, and it lifts the Warriors above the .500 mark at 9-8-0. Champigny and Behenna added assists on each other's markers, while Cam Nicoll (Loretto) also scored for Waterloo in the victory.

Michael Fine and Mitch Gallant scored for the Rams, who slipped to 9-10 on the season. Waterloo completed the season sweep over the Rams, following a 3-0 home victory back in November. Warriors goaltender Mike Morrison (Hamilton) turned aside 30 shots in the win, while Ryerson's Taylor Dupuis made 30 stops of his own in a losing cause.

The Rams opened the scoring early in the first when Fine beat Morrison on the power play before the game was even six minutes old. The Rams hung on to the one-goal advantage until late in the second, when Nicoll broke down the right wing and squeezed one through Dupuis to even the score at 1-1 after 40 minutes.

With less than 7 minutes to play, Ryerson broke through with what they thought would be the difference-maker – just as the Warriors killed off a penalty, Gallant batted home a rebound at the doorstep to edge the hosts ahead 2-1.

But just 22 seconds later, Champigny executed a gorgeous drag move and a sniped wrister, beating Dupuis cleanly to draw the Warriors even once again. Then, just when it looked like the game was destined for overtime, Andrew Smith (Kitchener) found Behenna in the high slot, and the team scoring leader made no mistake for the 3-2 lead and the eventual game-winning goal.

The Warriors will now look to extend their winning streak to 6 games when they return home for the first time in 2016, as they face the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday night at the Columbia Icefield Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7pm.