University of Waterloo Warriors quarterback Tre Ford scrambles for yardage. Ford has led the Warriors back to the OUA playoffs this with his remarkable play this season. (Photo by Waterloo Warriors Athletics)

Golden Hawks narrowly miss OUA playoffs, Warriors to visit Ottawa this weekend 

The top six are set in the Ontario University Athletic football conference, and while one local team returns to the playoffs, another missed out due to a devastating Week 9 loss. The Waterloo Warriors finished fifth in the OUA with a record of 4-4, and will travel to Ottawa to put face the Gee-Gees in the first round of the postseason. Laurier, meanwhile, will miss the dance after dropping a must-win game against Carleton last Friday afternoon, 22-10. Laurier’s record matched Waterloo’s and Carleton’s at 4-4, but the loss head-to-head with the Ravens drops them to seventh in the standings. 

Western and McMaster earned first-round byes finishing first and second, respectively, as the Mustangs enjoyed another dominant season, going an undefeated 8-0. Ottawa hosts Waterloo in the four-five matchup, while Guelph will welcome Carleton on Saturday after finishing in third place. Queen’s, Toronto, Windsor and York join Laurier on the outside looking in, all of which had below-.500 records, other than the Golden Hawks. It will be a bitter pill to swallow for the purple and gold, but they made it much closer than their 1-3 record heading into Week 5 would have suggested. Waterloo, on the other hand, limps into the playoffs having lost its last three games, but can set up a date with McMaster next week if the Warriors can knock off the Gee-Gees. Kick-off for both games goes at 1:00 pm on Saturday afternoon. 

Dutchmen take over first place in GOJHL Midwest 

The Kitchener Dutchmen have strung together a nice stretch of victories in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, and now sit atop the Midwestern Conference standings. The Dutchies took down the Warriors in Stratford on Friday night, 6-2, before using overtime to beat Elmira at home on Saturday, 2-1. 

Sean Kawalec scored a hat-trick and Dawson Garcia added four assists for Kitchener in Friday’s win, while Kawalec assisted on the tying goal and scored the overtime winner against the Sugar Kings on Saturday, continuing his torrid point-scoring pace this season. Lucas Patton was excellent for the Dutchmen on Saturday, stopping 29 of 30 Elmira shots. Also on Friday night, the Waterloo Siskins beat the Bombers in Brampton, 4-2, with Brock Krulicki, Sam Shakes and Austin Adamic all chipping in a goal and an assist, and the Listowel Cyclones handled the Cambridge Redhawks, 4-1 at home. Evan Morrison stopped 34 shots for Listowel in the victory. 

The Siskins earned two more valuable points on Sunday afternoon, beating the Brantford Bandits at home, 6-2. Shakes and Adamic had two points each again for Waterloo, as the Siskins move a point shy of Brantford for seventh in the Midwest. Stratford got back in the win column by shutting out Brampton, 3-0, with Cole Melady scoring twice and Tyler Parr stopping all 35 shots he faced, and the Sugar Kings beat the visiting Cyclones, 4-1, thanks to a two-point effort from Tyson Hillier. 

With the Dutchies now in first place, Elmira sits one point back in second place, followed by Listowel, Cambridge, Stratford and Brampton, before Brantford and Waterloo round-out the eight-team conference.