Brock’s men’s hockey team was shut out in the first round of the U Sports National Championship, bringing their strong season to an unfortunate end.
Due to their OUA bronze medal game loss to McGill, the Badgers drew the eighth and final seed in the U Sports playoffs, landing them in a first-round matchup against the top-seeded University of New Brunswick (UNB) Reds, the most dominant team in Canadian university hockey.
Heading into the match, UNB was riding a season-long winning streak, going a perfect 30-0 in the regular season and 5-0 in the Atlantic University Sports (AUS) playoffs. However, the Reds have not only been finding success recently. In addition to claiming their sixth straight AUS title on March 5th, they are also looking to defend their 2023 national title. If successful this year, UNB will have won five of the last seven U Sports national championships.
Having lost three straight games and faced with a juggernaut, Brock was bound for a tough go right from the puck drop.
As promised, the Reds immediately put the Badgers to work. Though Brock had been known for their hot starts all season, this time it was their turn to feel the full brunt of the Reds’ force from the opening whistle.
UNB descended on Brock with relentless pressure, peppering goalie Connor Ungar with plenty of early chances. Despite looking strong early, Ungar was beaten by a shot six minutes in when UNB’s Austen Keating—the second leading scorer in the nation during the regular season—made a slick backhand feed off the half-wall to teammate Cody Morgan in the slot who ripped the puck over Ungar’s blocker.
The Reds maintained their heavy offensive pressure throughout the first and, late in the period, found an opening to add to their one-goal lead.
Falling victim to old habits, Brock took a penalty when Ryan Stepien was called for boarding, a situation made worse when Christophe Cote took a slashing minor while killing the penalty, subjecting the Badgers to a first-period 5-on-3.
Nearly a minute into the two-man advantage, the Reds hemmed the exhausted Badgers group deep into their defensive zone with excellent passing. UNB’s Brady Gilmore received the puck in the right corner, wound up into the high in the slot and sent the puck to Benjamin Corbeil at the left dot who had to settle it down before dishing it to Kade Landry for a wide-open one-timer from the top of the right circle. Ungar had no chance to slide across as the Reds made it 2-0 on the powerplay.
Brock managed to avoid a third goal against through the entire second period, but that had more to do with Ungar’s miraculous play than anything else. After two periods of play, Brock sat behind by an astounding 30-8 in shots, still two goals in the hole.
Throughout most of the third period, the game progressed in much the same fashion. While still only down 2-0, the Badgers generated only four shots on goal while continuing to rely on Ungar who faced 15 shots in the period, three more than Brock would end up with in the entire contest.
UNB eventually found their third goal of the night with three minutes left to play in the third thanks to a goal from Corbeil. Corbeil would collect his second goal of the night barely over a minute later, firing the puck into the empty net for an insurance marker at 18:07 in the third. That goal would just about wrap it up for the Badgers, losing 4-0 in the U Sports quarter finals.
Despite the dispiriting loss, there were still plenty of positives for the Badgers this week.
Ungar—Brock’s player of the game against UNB after stopping 41 of 44 shots—was named the U Sports Rookie of the Year on March 13th. The award adds to what has already been a fantastic year for Ungar. Ungar already won several awards in the OUA for Rookie of the Year, Goaltender of the Year and First-Team All-Star. Ungar also set a new program record for wins with 20, a record previously held by Vegas Golden Knights goalie Logan Thompson when he played at Brock in 2019. Additionally, Ungar finished third in U Sports in saves (767), fifth in save percentage (.932) and ninth in goals against average (2.15).
Ungar was not the only Badger to receive national accolades. Brock’s regular season leading scorer Jacob Roach was named to the U Sports All-Canadian Second Team where he joined Ungar. Sophomore Badger defenceman Jonah Boria was named to the U Sports All-Rookie Team, also joining Ungar in that recognition.
Though this unfortunately marks the end of Badgers hockey for the year, Brock had an excellent season to build off and have many pieces in place to continue growing as one of the top hockey programs in Canada.
To continue to follow along with the U Sports National Championships, visit usports.ca or go to CBC to watch live.