On Jan. 13 the Brock women’s hockey team played their first of back-to-back games at home, against the University of Waterloo and Guelph University.
The Badgers were looking for their first win of the new year and were hoping to change the narrative at home as they had just one win in the first stretch of the season.
Brock got off to a strong start dominating offensively which led to a goal just 3:41 into the game scored by Rebekah Feld and assisted by Kaitlyn Colonna and Madison Cronkwright. The goal was a product of sustained offensive zone pressure and a great pass from Colonna out into the slot to Fled who made no mistake and went low blocker on the Waterloo goaltender.
The game was back and forth for the next 10 minutes but the Badgers goal scorer Rebekah Feld took a holding penalty with 6:21 left to play in the period. Towards the end of the powerplay Waterloo rushed it into the zone for one last chance with the man advantage and Brooklyn Cole took the space out wide on the Brock defender and snapped a shot short side on Kenzie Harmison to tie the game at one.
But Brock lost no confidence as Paige Cahoon regained the Brock lead with just over a minute left in the period. Sending the Badgers to the dressing room up 2-1 after 20 minutes.
The Badgers would add one goal in each of the next two periods and Harmison had yet another strong game as the Badgers snapped their losing streak with a 4-1 win over the University of Waterloo.
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In the second half of the back-to-back, your Badgers took on the Guelph Gryphons on Jan. 14, a matinee game at the Canada Games Park. The head-to-head matchup between the two teams this season is split at one a piece. Brock winning in their home opener 2-1 in overtime and Guelph won in a shootout 4-3 at home.
Badgers got an early chance on the powerplay as Guelph took a tripping penalty just 30 seconds into the game. Unfortunately, that powerplay would be cut short as the Badgers got called for too many men on the ice just over halfway through their powerplay, moving the game to four on four.
Brock took advantage of the extra ice as Claudia Murphy opened up the scoring with just a handful of seconds left with four on four play. Brock led 1-0 2:26 into the game, scoring first for their second straight game in a row.
For the next ten minutes not many chances were had at either end as both teams played conservative dump and chase hockey. At the 12:59 mark of the period off a hard cycle by the Gryphons, the puck would make its way out front to Alexie Olivier who wristed one glove side past Harmison.
The rest of the period was a goaltender battle as Harmison traded saves with the Guelph goalie Martina Fedal. The score was tied after 20 minutes and the game looked like it was ready to open up in the next two periods.
But the second period would be riddled with penalties as each team took two as the game started to get out of control. A late second-period head contact penalty on Guelph was their second of the game and Rebekah Feld was the victim to a nasty cross-check to the head off a faceoff in the defensive zone.
Though Brock and Guelph were unable to execute on the power plays as the goaltenders matched each other with nine saves each in the second.
The whistles were put away for the third period as the referees let them play. Continued tight-checking game through the next nineteen minutes as Brock and Guelph both had their fare share of chances, Harmison this time out doing Fedal in the crease notching 12 saves to Fedal’s nine.
But a heartbreaking goal for the Badgers as Guelph’s Tianna Faccio was the one who jammed the puck by Harmison on a scramble in front to take the lead late despite a potential goaltender interference call. In the end, the refs decided there was no goaltender interference on the play and the Badgers fell 2-1 in the game and in the season series to the Gryphons.
The Badgers look to bounce back on Jan. 20 as they take on the Wilfrid Laurier University at the Canada Games complex.
Tickets for that game can be purchased here and all information regarding the women’s hockey team such as scheduling, roster and stats can be seen at gobadgers.ca.