The Badgers wrapped up their best-of-three quarter-final against the Windsor Lancers on Feb. 24th with a 4-3 game two double-overtime victory. The win also solidified Brock’s slot in the U Sports national championship in March.
Brock opened the series on Feb. 22nd, lining up for game one on the road, travelling to Windsor’s Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex for the initial match.
Early on, it seemed like Brock’s regular season struggles away from home might bleed into the playoffs. Cole Tymkin put the Badgers behind the eight ball right off the bat with an undisciplined slashing minor, sending the Lancers to the powerplay just four minutes in. Windsor’s Grant Spence got the offence going from there, putting the Lancers up 1-0 with a goal just over five minutes into the first frame.
Less than a minute later, the Badgers came back with a vengeance.
Zach Taylor grabbed Brock’s first goal of the playoffs to tie the game at one and, thanks to a powerplay opportunity two minutes after Taylor’s goal, found themselves in prime position to wrestle back the lead.
Badger freshman Ryan Stepien made no mistake on the man advantage, delivering Brock a 2-1 lead less than 10 minutes into the contest.
Stepien’s powerplay marker lit a fire under the Badgers and from that point on, there was little that the Lancers could do.
Jordan Stock stretched the lead to two with 11 minutes elapsed in the first, but Brock wouldn’t stop there. Repaying his team for the early penalty, Tymkin added two more goals to close the frame, both times the assists coming from regular season scoring leaders Jacob Roach and Tyler Burnie. Thanks to 14 first-period shots and an avalanche of goals, the Badgers went into the second, already blowing out Windsor 5-1.
Not keen to let the momentum falter, Brock got right back on their horse.
David Jesus of the Lancers took a hooking penalty shortly after the second-period puck drop, putting Windsor down a man yet again. On the ensuing powerplay, an assist from captain Jared Marino allowed Roach to put one past Lancer goalie, Nathan Torchia, giving Roach his fourth primary point of the night less than three minutes into the second period.
Though the scoring dried up there for both sides, the rest of game one was no cakewalk for the Badgers.
As had become commonplace for the fifth most penalized team in the province during the regular season, Brock sent themselves to the penalty box frequently throughout the game, particularly in the second period.
Brock took a total of five penalties in the second as Rylan Thiessen, Roach and Marino all earned single trips to the sin bin while Justin Brack took two. This included an unsuccessful one-minute and 33-second 5-on-3 for Windsor midway through the period, though goaltender Connor Ungar and the Badgers were able to hold on to maintain the five-goal lead.
Brock’s final penalty came halfway through the third when Ryan Stepien had two minutes and a game misconduct for a check from behind on a Lancer. Despite the ejection, the third ended with little fanfare as Brock walked away with a 6-1 victory.
While game two on Feb. 24th featured the same number of total goals, the match could not have been more different than game one in the Badgers’ return to Canada Games Park.
Staying hot, Tymkin found the back of the net again to open the scoring in the first period, depositing a rebound goal off a shot from Stepien, giving Brock the 1-0 lead four and a half minutes into the game.
Though there were prime chances from both sides, Brock held that slim lead until the very start of the second until, only 40 seconds in, Stepien took advantage of a takeaway and found time and space to score, giving him his second point of the afternoon and the Badgers a 2-0 lead.
Though Brock had built a nice lead a third of the way through the match, Windsor wouldn’t go down so easily.
The Lancers had their first bid for goal waved off when the Badgers’ net came loose from its moorings, but unwilling to be discouraged, Windsor’s Mason Kohn scored soon after, the Lancers’ first goal in over 76 minutes of play against the Badgers.
In what soon proved to be a torrential second period of scoring, Windsor’s Jake Durham and Holden Wale added goals four minutes apart, flipping the game on its head and putting Brock behind 2-3.
After letting the lead out of their grasp, the Badgers shelled Windsor in the third, outshooting them 17-9 in the period. With only 11 minutes remaining in the tilt, Brock was rewarded for their dominance. Defenceman Brandon Caruso received a pass at the point and ripped one home, tying the game at three and giving the grad student his second career goal as a Badger.
Caruso’s late goal would force Brock and Windsor to head to overtime. Both sides came close to sealing the game, peppering both goalies with plenty of shots. A late high sticking penalty by Brock’s Justin Kyle put the Badgers on a poorly timed penalty kill with four minutes left in the first overtime. Nevertheless, Brock was able to avoid a late-game backbreaker, pushing the game to a second overtime.
It would take a little over twelve minutes into the fifth period, but the Badgers and Lancers would finally get their game-winner. Zach Taylor threw a puck toward the Lancers’ net and, thanks to a deflection by Matt Duarte, Brock put the puck past Torchia, delivering them the 4-3, double-overtime victory.
Now having closed out the series against Windsor, Brock moves on to a semi-final matchup against the TMU Bold who were second in the OUA West behind the Badgers. The Bold—who finished two games behind the Badgers—had a very similar regular season to the Badgers. TMU had the second-most goals in the West (103 to Brock’s 107) and the second-fewest goals against (70 to Brock’s 67). Like the Badgers, the Bold were also exceptional at home (12-2 home record compared to Brock’s 13-1) while struggling on the road (Brock was 8-6 in away games while TMU was 7-7). After a two-game sweep of the Laurier Golden Hawks where they outscored them 9-2 cumulatively, the TMU Bold promises to be a difficult matchup for Brock.
Game one of the semi-finals will take place on Feb. 29th at Canada Games Park. For a full schedule and more information, visit gobadgers.ca.
