This weekend, the Brock Badgers men’s hockey team shipped off to Thunder Bay for a back-to-back against the Lakehead University Thunderwolves.
The double-header kicked off on Friday, Nov. 11. Brock entered the weekend with five wins and three losses, one spot ahead of their opponents in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West division. Lakehead had a 4-3-2 record entering the match.
The standing-flipping potential of the games was not lost on either side as both got off to a tenacious start.
Brock drew the game’s first penalty at 3:48 elapsed, something that would ultimately cost them as the Badgers gave up a shorthanded goal less than 30 seconds later.
Brock would not sit behind for long. After drawing another powerplay for goaltender interference, the Badgers’ luck would change. At 8:17 elapsed, Cole Thiessen put one by the Lakehead goalie to tie the game at one early.
The scoring would not stop there in a high-event first period. Two minutes after tying the game, Brock would take an interference penalty of their own, putting Lakehead up a man. Lakehead made short work of the advantage; 2-1 Wolves.
A minute and a half were all it would take for the Badgers to get back in the thick of things. Tyler Rollo potted one to again tie the game, a 2-2 score that both teams would take into the intermission.
The second period, especially considering the high-octane first, was considerably more tame, at least from a scoring perspective. The Wolves and Badgers both had power plays that would come and pass; neither team could find an answer for three quarters of the period.
Finally that changed. With 13:22 passed in the frame, a full period since the game’s most recent goal, Cole Thiessen delivered. With a blue-line laser that found its way through traffic to beat Lakehead clean, Thiessen grabbed his second of the night.
As the game went scoreless for the remainder, Thiessen’s tally would stand as the game winner, giving Brock their first victory of the weekend, and goalie Andy MacLean his second consecutive win.
Saturday
Much like Friday’s game, Saturday started with an early first period goal against the Badgers. Unlike Friday, Brock would have difficulty finding their way back into the game.
Lakehead found the net just over two minutes in. After a lull and a cross checking penalty on Brock, Lakehead found themselves on the powerplay, which they promptly ended with a goal 30 seconds later.
After doing little but trade penalties for the rest of the period, Brock found themselves with a man advantage early in the second. Again however, Brock’s powerplay would hurt them giving up another shorthanded goal.
The second and early third continued more or less unchanged, with no scoring and frequent penalties.
Lakehead scored a rare even-strength goal six and a half minutes in. Brock’s Cole Tymkin finally found a response in the dying seconds of the third. With less than 15 seconds remaining, the marker would be little else but a consolation, as Brock fell 4-1 to Lakehead.
Mario Peccia manned the crease for the Badgers and despite allowing four goals had a strong effort. Peccia was peppered with 38 shots against and had a few big saves down the stretch.
After finishing the weekend even, the Badgers now sit at 6-3-0 on the season, fourth in the OUA West division.
The men’s hockey team returns to Canada Games Park this weekend to play another back-to-back with games against Wilfrid Laurier (Nov. 18) and University of Waterloo (Nov. 19). For their full schedule and results, please consult their gobadgers.ca page.
