The Brock Badgers played two games this past weekend, looking to add to a seven-game win streak and improve from third overall among all U Sports teams.
Brock’s first matchup came on Friday, Nov. 24th against the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold, the third-place team in the OUA’s West Division.
The Badgers’ previous win, a close 4-2 affair over the nationally ranked University of Toronto, elevated the Badgers to a 14-1 record and third in the country, the highest national ranking our men’s hockey program has ever achieved.
Neither Badgers nor Bold generated a first-period goal. The game was a tight-checking match at puck drop, but one that kept both goalies on their toes, both facing 10 shots in the first frame.
Brock’s Cole Tymkin would eventually get the scoring started in the second, putting home a loose puck sitting in the slot after a rebound. However, Brock’s lack of discipline let the Bold right back into the game.
Back-to-back tripping penalties from Rylan Thiessen and Jacob Roach gave TMU a two-man advantage that the Bold made good use of.
TMU’s Kevin Gursoy scored just as the first penalty ended to tie the game at one, and they wouldn’t stop there. Only a minute and a half later, the Badgers would give Bold leading-scorer Kyle Bollers enough time and space behind their net to pull off a beautiful Michigan goal in front of a shocked home crowd, giving TMU a one-goal lead.
Shortly after, the Badgers got a powerplay opportunity of their own, creating the right situation for Jared Marino to score and restore the two-goal tie.
Brock’s leading scorer Jacob Roach found the net early in the third. Standing as the lone goal in the frame with only five minutes remaining, it appeared that the Badgers might scrape out a one-goal win. TMU had other ideas, pulling out a tying goal late in the period.
However, TMU’s tying goal seemed to do little but light a fire under the Badgers. Roach restored the lead with his second of the game 50 seconds after TMU’s goal, while Ethan Sims and Tyler Burnie would chip in two more for good measure, securing a 6-3 win that was significantly closer than the final score suggested.
Goalie Connor Ungar helped steady the ship throughout the match, making 43 saves, including 20 in the second period.
On the 25th, the Badgers headed for Waterloo to play the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, the fifth-worst team in the OUA.
However, if the Hawks really were as bad as a -9 goal differential indicates, the Badgers didn’t get the memo.
Laurier got on the board under two minutes into the game and held the one-goal lead into the second period, despite only recording four additional shots in the period to Brock’s 12.
The Hawks strengthened their hold on the game in the second, recording a shorthanded goal 10 minutes into the period and adding another six-and-a-half after that. Jonah Boria cut into the lead with under thirty seconds remaining for Brock’s first of the game.
The Badgers’ deficit was not for lack of trying, jacking a game-high 22 shots on goal in the period.
Though the pressure was intense, it never came to a head the way it did against TMU. Laurier reclaimed the three-goal lead early in the third. Jordan Stock brought some life back into the game with a shorthanded goal of his own with four minutes remaining, but the two-goal deficit was simply too much to overcome. Laurier scored their fifth goal of the night on an empty net, winning 5-2.
The Badgers head out on an Ottawa road trip for their next two games, playing University of Ottawa on Dec. 1st and the Carleton Ravens the next day. For the Badgers’ full schedule, please visit gobadgers.ca.