On one of the coldest nights of the year, the Brock Badgers women’s hockey team welcomed the Waterloo Warriors to Canada Games Park in a Western Conference clash with playoff positioning in the balance.
Coming into the game, Waterloo sat one place above Brock in a loaded Western Conference, featuring four out of the best five teams in the OUA. The Warriors had gone 9-1 in their last 10 games, riding one of the hottest streaks in all of Ontario sports, while Brock was fresh off a tough 3-0 loss to Nipissing at home.
Right out of the gate, Brock was playing with a fire beneath them, applying immediate pressure on the forecheck and not allowing Waterloo to get comfortable. However, just when players were beginning to get settled, Allison Moore was called on a questionable head contact penalty, putting the Warriors on the power play two minutes in.
Brock didn’t let this penalty faze them, as they were able to halt any attempt at a power play setup that the Warriors tried putting together. One partial break from Waterloo’s Carly Orth was all they could muster, and the game was back to even strength just like that.
The energy in the arena seemed to shift after both teams traded big hits with no calls to show for it. A particular section of the crowd featuring members of the Brock men’s rugby team was especially fired up as the game became more physical for a moment.
Halfway through the period, there were no big chances for either team, although both sides had no problem entering the other’s zone. The neutral zone was as open as it could be, and it was taken advantage of on numerous occasions.
This trend came back to bite Brock after two Warrior forwards crossed the left side of the blue line uncontested, leading to a golden opportunity for Gracey Smith, who sent a shot short side and over the goalie’s shoulder to score her first goal of the season and put the visitors up 1-0.
Not too long after that goal, Sarah Hirst would commit a silly cross-checking penalty, putting Brock on the power play and a chance to tie up the game with eight minutes to go.
It was the Warriors who looked elite on the penalty kill, not giving Brock any chance to breathe with the puck. It didn’t help that the Badgers weren’t able to connect on any pass, looking out of sorts for most of the advantage.
Nonetheless, just seconds after the power play faded, Brock would come down into the offensive zone on the left side of the slot and fire a shot on net. Three rebounds later, and Kaedyn Gomes would pot home her third goal of the season, knotting the game up at 1-1, electrifying the Badger crowd in the process.
By the end of the period, the shots were 13-3 in favour of the home team, though it stood as a relatively even matchup so far.
Just under two minutes into the second frame, Brock was on the attack. Moi Moi Luu let go of a point shot that spawned five whacks at a rebound in front of the net before being cleared away. Kaedyn Gomes would follow this up with another Brock penalty, this time for holding, three minutes in.
Waterloo was able to get set up in the offensive zone for more than enough time to score, however, the Badgers were stout and didn’t allow any chances for their opponent to go back ahead.
10 minutes into the period and both teams were playing slightly passively, each waiting for the other to make a crucial mistake. This was until Brock sprang out into an odd man rush, leading to a golden opportunity for Marisa Freeman to put the Badgers up with a wide-open slap shot just feet away from the goalie. Lauryn Busseri would make an incredible stop to keep the game even at one a piece and prevent a potential Badger run.
Just seconds later, Tia Lascelle found herself wide open on a breakaway, but was denied by Megan Thiessen. Both goaltenders shut down two of the game’s best chances, not allowing anything easy to get by.
With just over five minutes to go, Brock was in full control of the game until a late turnover in their own end led to a shocking Waterloo goal scored by Sarah Hirst. That was Hirst’s third goal of the season and a critical one for the game, edging Waterloo ahead by just a goal.
Despite trailing in shots 23-16, the women in gold led 2-1 heading into the final 20 minutes.
Not even a minute into the period and Orth would lay a huge hit out of nowhere, setting the stage for four-on-four hockey after a late second-period Brock penalty extended into the third. This marked the start of a long stretch where the Badgers looked gassed.
The Warriors were skating laps around the home team, culminating in three chances that were inches away from extending the lead. Two missed tap-ins, a shot that rang off the crossbar, and Brock was holding on for dear life.
Any chance the Badgers had was smothered by Busseri, who was battling the entire game to that point to keep her team alive.
Fast forward to the midway point of the period, and Sarah Bestic would unleash a slap shot from the point, beating Thiessen and extending the Warrior lead to 3-1.
With only 10 minutes remaining, Brock needed something fast.
Help came in the form of a slashing penalty committed by Teagan Gray with eight minutes left that put the Badgers on a much-needed power play.
Two minutes later, as the power play was expiring, the puck found its way in front of the Warrior net where Busseri was inches away from covering the puck before Randyll Strongman would poke it home to bring Brock back within one goal.
With time ticking away, Brock was on the cusp of defeat before Avery Diljee cut through two defencemen in front of the net and scored far side just inside the post, igniting the home crowd and tying the game up with just three minutes to go.
It was now anyone’s game, and all the momentum was on Brock’s side.
With under two minutes to go in the game, Waterloo was in control in the offensive zone, looking for any opportunity they could get to escape with a win. That opportunity came as Nikki McDonald had the puck behind the net, looking to pass it in front to a teammate, but the puck took a deflection off a Badger in front and rolled into the net.
Whether it was a bit of luck or the confidence of a team that had won nine games in a row, the Warriors found a way to score late and hold on to the win in one of the craziest games of the season for both teams.
With the win, the Warriors extended their winning streak to double digits at 10 and separated themselves from Brock in the standings by five games. As for Brock, they fought back late to tie the game but couldn’t close it out, dropping their second game in a row, falling to 10-9.