In this past weekend’s matchup, the Golden Hawks traveled to the national capital to face the highly rated Ottawa Gee-Gees, and Brad Sinopli, considered one of the best quarterbacks in all of Canadian university football.

Despite jumping to an early lead off an Isaac Dell touchdown, Ottawa answered early with a Sinopli touchdown, followed by two field goals by Matthew Falvo, to give Ottawa the lead.
The teams traded points in the third quarter, with Laurier picking up another major and Falvo kicking two more field goals.

Going into the fourth quarter, Ottawa led just 20-14. Then, Laurier’s defense fell apart, allowing Ottawa to score three touchdowns and another field goal on their way to a 44-21 victory.
The Ottawa offense had a field day, picking up 524 yards of total offense, 309 of which came from the arm of Sinopli, who solidified his bid as one of CIS top players, with eighteen completions and three touchdowns.

Head coach Gay Jeffries expressed discontent with his team.

“We beat ourselves today,” Jeffries told Laurier Athletics. “Our kicking game was as bad as I’ve seen it, and we couldn’t generate any offense. Sinopli is as good as there is and we hung in there for as long as we could.”

For Laurier, the quarterback dilemma still does not appear to be solved, as Evan Pawliuk had a slow opening half leading to the reappearance of Shane Kelly at the Laurier quarterback position.

Kelly had a good second-half, completing 11 passes for 152 yards and one touchdown, giving Jeffries a tough decision on who to start this weekend as the Golden Hawks host Queens, last year’s Vanier Cup champions.