The Brock Badgers men’s hockey team lost both games of the weekend, falling 4-3 to the TMU Bold on Jan. 10 and 5-2 to the Toronto Varsity Blues on Jan. 11 in heartbreaking fashion.
Brock Badgers 3, TMU Bold 4
Jordan Stock, Zack Stringer and Jonah Boria each found the back of the net for the Badgers, but it wasn’t enough to withstand a late surge by the Bold in a 4-3 defeat.
After TMU’s Jordan D’Intino opened the scoring less than a minute in, Brock answered back with a pair of goals in quick succession. Stock tied the game at one by deflecting Ryan Thompson’s point shot in the crease before Stringer gave the Badgers the one-goal lead by crashing the net and pouncing on a rebound in front.
With Brock up a goal entering the second, Boria doubled the Badgers’ advantage with a laser of a shot through the net-front traffic, but the 3-1 lead was short-lived.
The Bold’s Tyler Savard cut the TMU deficit in half minutes later with a powerplay goal that shifted the momentum of the game.
TMU scored twice in the opening moments of the third, one by William Portokalis and another by Kevin Gursoy on the powerplay, to give the home side the one-goal edge.
But the Badgers remained relentless on the forecheck, outshooting the Bold 14-3 in the period — 35-30 in the game — in search of an equalizer.
Brock’s best chance came in the dying seconds of the game as Ryan Stepien, who already recorded two assists in the game, was awarded a penalty shot after a Bold player illegally played the puck with their glove in the crease.
However, TMU netminder Ryan Dugas got the better of Stepien on the breakaway try as the Badgers fell 4-3 for their second consecutive loss and first defeat of the calendar year.
Brock Badgers 2, Toronto Varsity Blues 5
With their sights set on ending the losing streak, Zack Stringer and Holden Rogers scored for the Badgers in the first but Toronto showcased their superiority with a 5-2 comeback win.
As was the theme in Friday’s matchup against TMU, the Varsity Blues buried the game’s first goal just over a minute into the contest off the stick of Ben Dirven, but the Badgers responded.
Rookie forward Stringer notched his ninth of the year on the powerplay to extend his goal-scoring streak to three games, re-directing Rogers’ wrist shot into the open cage to level the game at one.
Stringer then returned the favour to Rogers, assisting on his team-leading 12th goal of the campaign — which is tied for fourth-most in the OUA — as the third-year forward poked at the loose puck in front to give the Badgers the 2-1 lead.
However, the lead didn’t last long as the Varsity Blues’ Julian Recine scored with two seconds left in the period to even the game at two apiece entering the second.
After a scoreless second period full of chances and excitement, Toronto broke the deadlock with five minutes remaining in the third as Aiden Reeves scored the go-ahead goal.
Despite the Badgers outshooting Toronto 10-6 in the third and 36-28 in the game, Reeves’ late goal stood as the game-winner as the Varsity Blues added two empty-netters to hand Brock their third straight loss, losing 5-2.
Next, the Brock Badgers (7-12) open their 2025 home schedule at Canada Games Park against the York Lions (3-15) on Jan. 16. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m.
For more information on the Brock Badgers men’s hockey team, visit gobadgers.ca.