The Badgers were back at home for their third home game straight, and ready to take on the Laurier Golden Hawks on Jan. 20. This is their second matchup of the three-game season series in which Brock won the first game 2-1 in a shootout.
The Badgers got off to a quick start registering the first shot on goal and cycling the puck well in the Laurier zone. Both goalies were tested early as Kenzie Harmison faced a two-on-one just five minutes into the game as well as Laurier goaltender Kayla Renaud.
Just ten minutes into the game, Laurier gained the zone cleanly, making it yet another two-on-one against Harmison, but this time, Kylie Laliberte beat Harmison on the back door pass. Brock’s streak of scoring the first goal is over at three games.
But that goal did not deflate the Badgers bench, as just three minutes later, Brock headed to the power play due to their hard work on the cycle. Off the faceoff, Ella Krushelnicki took a wrist shot off the faceoff which Claudia Murphy tipped past Laurier goaltender to even up the score, 1-1.
The rest of the period was a lot of neutral zone play and not much offensive zone pressure was sustained by any team. After twenty minutes, Brock and Laurier were tied 1-1, each with four shots on goal aside.
To start the second period the Badgers continued to dominate the offensive zone time but this led to many odd-man rushes for the Golden Hawks. Harmison was forced to make two glove saves on back-to-back three-on-two rushes keeping the Badgers tied halfway through the game.
Just minutes after Harmison’s clutch saves, Mikalyla Flanagan made a nice move to gain the blue line before shooting one low on the Laurier goaltender. Flanagan beat the defenders to the net and managed another whack at it but Reneud stood strong shutting the door on what could’ve been a huge goal for the Badgers.
Brock spent the majority of the period in Laurier’s end which led to a goal with two minutes and 35 seconds left in the period. A Rebekah Feld pass from the corner found Madison Cronkwright in the high slot whose seeing-eye shot found a way past Reneud to give the Badgers their first lead of the game.
The Badgers held on for the remainder of the period and led 2-1 heading into the last 20 minutes of hockey. Through 40 minutes the Badgers not only led in the game but also led in SOG, outshooting Laurier 17-12.
One minute into the third period Brock took their third penalty of the game and would look to keep their penalty kill at 100%. They did only allow one shot on the powerplay and had the best offensive chance as well with a two-on-one that saw Cormier get robbed by the Laurier goalie.
Brock used the momentum from the penalty kill to eventually score at the halfway mark of the third period. Another shot from the point found a stick in front, this time it was Mikayla Flanagan who tipped it past Feuneud to extend the lead to 3-1.
Laurier had most of the possession down the stretch but they were unable to solve Harmison. The Badgers would win in convincing fashion, 3-1, finishing their three game homestand with two wins and one loss.
The women’s hockey team is back in action on Jan. 27 and 28 against TMU and Nipissing University. Those games can be streamed on OUAtv.
All information regarding the Badgers such as schedule, roster and stats can be found here.
