At a time of year where every point matters, the Waterloo Warriors men's hockey team overcame some late adversity for their gutsiest two points of the season.

Jacob Cascagnette (Kitchener/Ottawa 67's, OHL) scored the only shootout goal, and Julian Sime (Mississauga/North Bay Battalion, OHL) made 33 stops – plus three in the shootout – to lead the Warriors to a 2-1 victory over the Windsor Lancers on Saturday afternoon.

Jack Scanlan (Penetanguishene/Stratford Warriors, GOJHL) scored in regulation for the Warriors, who find themselves in the thick of the OUA West playoff race as the regular season winds down. The win moved Waterloo to 9-11-1 on the year, as they sit in the eighth and final playoff spot – just two points up on ninth-place Western, and two points behind seventh-place Laurier.

Meanwhile, the Lancers rescued their first point of 2020 with a tying goal by Ryan Barbosa in the dying seconds of regulation. Windsor actually came away with a pair of road victories against Laurier and Waterloo on the first weekend in January, only to have those results wiped out by forfeits due to the use of a suspended player. But even though the standings page lists a Warriors win, the black and gold avenged the 8-1 drubbing at the hands of the Lancers on January 4 with an inspired road effort.

Scanlan opened the scoring on an odd-man rush when he converted a feed from Cam Nicoll (Loretto/Newmarket Hurricanes, OJHL) to give the visitors an early lead. From there, the Warriors played a near-flawless road game – they blocked shots, killed penalties effectively, and held the Lancers to just 15 shots over the final 40 minutes of regulation.

But with under 30 seconds to play, Andrew Cordssen-David (Washington Crossing/Georgetown Raiders, OJHL) was assessed a checking-from-behind major, giving the Lancers a chance to tie things up 6-on-4, as goalie Jonathan Reinhart headed to the bench. With just over 12 ticks left on the clock, Barbosa's point shot found its way through traffic and past Sime to knot things up at 1-1.

With over four minutes of power play time left – and having scored six man-advantage goals against the Warriors last weekend – it looked as if the Lancers were poised for the overtime victory. But Waterloo's 4-on-3 penalty kill was outstanding, as they kept the Lancers to the outside and blocked shot after shot – and when Windsor was able to generate a solid chance, Sime stood tall in the Waterloo net.

In a final piece of adversity, Connor Cole (Kitchener/Kitchener Dutchmen, GOJHL) was assessed another minor penalty just 48 seconds after killing off the major, sending the Lancers back to another power play. But again, the Warriors' penalty kill unit – with Sime's brilliance – saved the day. Despite playing 6:12 of the seven-minute overtime session down a man, Waterloo had sent the game to a shootout.

Cascagnette opened the scoring, and Windsor captain Ben Assad nearly knotted it up immediately, but rang a shot off the crossbar behind Sime. But the second-year goaltender shut the door on the remaining Lancers shooters, solidifying the 2-1 win for the black and gold.

The Warriors now head back home for a pair of massive contests this weekend, as they'll host the Guelph Gryphons on Friday, January 17 at 7pm before hosting the York Lions on Saturday, January 18 at 7pm.

In a special ceremony before Saturday's game, former Warriors goaltender and 1990 national player of the year Mike Bishop will have his All-Canadian banner raised to the rafters of the Columbia Icefield Arena.