The 2023-24 season officially wrapped up on March 27th with the Brock Badgers Awards Gala, celebrating another fantastic season for Brock’s athletics program. At the ceremony, Connor Ungar of the men’s hockey team was handed one of the night’s most prestigious awards: Male Athlete of the Year.
Many of Brock’s teams found great success this year.
The Badgers had 15 national championship appearances along with 26 provincial playoff appearances and were able to make good on several of these opportunities, winning two national titles and four provincial titles.
This success, of course, would not have been possible without some standout performances from individual Badgers.
Brock athletes walked away from the 2023-24 season with 17 major awards, 26 All Canadian selections and 81 provincial All Star selections.
In recognition of all their accomplishments, the last individual award given out was the Male Athlete of the Year.
Though there were four other worthy contenders, Connor Ungar, the rookie sensation goalie for Brock’s men’s hockey team, was ultimately crowned the winner for this year.
“I’d really like to thank Brock University and the hockey program for a first-class experience, but more specifically my coaches for giving me every opportunity to accomplish these individual accolades,” said Ungar in his acceptance speech.
“But with that said, the only thing better than accomplishing something on your own, is accomplishing something as a team, and this year we accomplished so much as a hockey team and made so many great memories that will last a lifetime.”
In one season and only 33 regular season and playoff games, Ungar has already entrenched himself as one of the top athletes to come through Brock’s hockey program.
Ungar made his first start as a Badger on Sept. 16th , 2023, shutting-out the Ohio University Bobcats in a 7-0 rout of the American team. After that game, Ungar was given the reigns to Brock’s starting job and never let go.
Ungar followed up his first appearance with a second consecutive shutout in front of a packed Meridian Centre as the Badgers beat the Guelph Gryphons in the 2023 Steel Blade Classic. Working off some of their early-season rust, the Badgers threatened to lose their one-goal hold on the game in the second period. However, thanks to Ungar shutting the door on some bad turnovers and transition opportunities, the Badgers held on to win 3-0, setting the tone for the rest of Ungar’s time with the program and giving him a stellar introduction to the sold-out Badger crowd.
Throughout the rest of the season, Ungar only saw his save percentage drop below .900 seven times, adding three more shutouts after the Steel Blade Classic. While Ungar’s great play continued into the playoffs, Brock was unfortunately left empty-handed. Ungar was one of the few bright spots in the Badgers final game of the season where, despite surrendering three goals, Ungar still made 41 saves, sporting a .935 save percentage.
Brock’s Male Athlete of the Year adds to a long list of awards that Ungar has secured in his short time at Brock. Ungar was named the OUA goaltender and the rookie of the year for both the OUA and all of U Sports. Ungar was one of the top goalies in the entire country, ending up with 767 saves, a .932 save percentage and a 2.15 goals-against average, good for third, fifth and ninth respectively.
Ungar also set a new program record for wins with 20, upsetting the record previously held by Logan Thompson, a current goaltender for the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights who was nominated for the NHL’s Calder Trophy last season.
This will unfortunately be Ungar’s one and only season with the Badgers, as on March 18th, he signed an NHL contract with the Edmonton Oilers.
While Ungar certainly earned this recognition, four other Badgers also had strong cases.
Garette Saunders of the wrestling team also had a dominant year by all measures. Saunders won gold medals at both the provincial and U Sports championships and was consequently named both and OUA First Team All Star and a First Team All Canadian. Saunders was one of the key players in Brock’s wrestling team winning their eighth consecutive provincial title and ninth consecutive national title.
Most impressive of all, Saunders finished second at the 2023 Canadian Olympic Trials, earning a spot on Team Canada’s roster as an alternate.
In his second consecutive Athlete of the Year nomination, Michael Ivanov netted the Badgers a bronze medal at the national championships. Ivanov also followed up his 2022-23 OUA Rookie of the Year season with a first placefirst-place finish at the OUA championships.
Connor Dodds of the rowing team was Brock’s fourth nominee after winning gold at both the provincial and national levels. Dodds won gold in both the lightweight men’s eight and the open men’s single at the OUA championships and added another at the CURC in the lightweight men’s four. Dodds earned All Star selections at both championships.
Capping off a banner year, Dodds also finished third in the lightweight men’s quadruple sculls at the 2023 U23 Rowing Championships.
Steven Commerford of the men’s rugby team rounded out the nominees. The centre was a focal point of the 5-0-1 Badgers, leading to being named the OUA Player of the Year and a First Team All-Star selection.
