The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team fell 7-4 to the Laurier Golden Hawks in Game 1 of their OUA Playoff series on Wednesday (Feb. 14) night at Varsity Arena.

The Golden Hawks secured an early advantage, with three straight goals in the first period from Nick Giunta, Eli Reimer and Conor Ali. Laurier extended their lead to four early in the second period with a goal from Samuel Williamson. 

Down 4-0, the Blues closed the gap with three goals to cap off the second period. Third-year forward Ben Woodhouse was first on the board for the Blues midway through the period, before captain Cole Purboo added another goal three minutes later. With rookie forward Julian Recine open after the faceoff, the Stittsville, Ont. native scored off a pass from teammate Nick Grima, cutting the Golden Hawks lead to one.

Laurier opened the scoring in the third period with a goal from Isaac Sooklal, but Recine responded with his second goal of the night to bring the Blues within one with under three minutes remaining. However, Laurier secured two empty-net goals in the final two minutes of play, giving them a 7-4 win over the Blues in the first game of the series.

The Blues are back in action on Saturday (Feb. 17) when they face-off against the Laurier Golden Hawks in Waterloo, Ont. for Game 2 of the series. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on OUA.tv.