The Brock women’s hockey team looked to get back in the win column with back-to-back games at home on Dec. 2 and 3 against Nipissing University and the University of Waterloo.
The game against Nipissing did not get off to the most fantastic start, as the Badgers went down a player early when Ashly Robitaille was sent to the sin bin for body checking. The Badgers did manage to kill off the penalty but could not get much going offensively after not managing a shot on goal through the first five minutes of play.
Brock goaltender Hsu had to stand strong like she has all season, posting a 1.26 GAA and a .953 save percentage through her first seven games, both 3rd best in the OUA. But just over two minutes later, the Lakers would score first off a rebound from a point shot that was hammered home by Madison Desmerais.
The Lakers continued to pressure the Badgers the rest of the period, outshooting them 14-4 and not allowing them to get anything going in the offensive zone. To start the second period, the Badgers looked a little reinvigorated starting to sustain pressure in the Lakers zone.
Just under halfway through the period the pressure paid off. A puck held in at the blue line by the Badgers led to a Claudia Murphy shot from the top of the circles that deflected off a Laker defender and into the back of the net. 1-1 with half of the game to play and all of the momentum on the Badgers side.
The next five minutes, the Badgers continued to influence the pace of the game, but could not find the back of the net as the Laker goalie Chantelle Sandquist shut the door. With just a few minutes left in the period, Allison Moore took a tripping penalty to put the Lakers on the powerplay with 3:32 left to go in the period. And just over thirty seconds later, Nipissing’s Lana Duriez potted one on a net front scramble putting them up 2-1.
The Badgers were unable to answer before the end of the period as they headed into the third down one despite outshooting the Lakers nine to eight in the second.
To start the third, the Badgers had many chances off the rush and cycled the puck well in the Nipissing zone. But Chantelle Sandquist shut the door, her best save being a glove save robbing the Brock forward back door.
Sandquist’s play led to the Laker counter attacks and on a three-on-one the other way: Katie Chomiak buried a Maggie McKee back door pass to put the Lakers up 3-1 with just over 12 minutes left. Brock had two chances on the powerplay at the end of the game but were unable to capitalize. The Badgers fell 3-1 on the first of their back to back games despite Hsu’s incredible efforts making 26 saves on 28 shots.
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On Dec. 3 the Badgers played the University of Waterloo in a matinee matchup that saw the Badgers score first taking the 1-0 lead just 25 seconds into the game. Yet that would be the highest point of the game as the Badgers surrendered six consecutive goals throughout the next 59 minutes and lost the game 6-1.
The Brock Badgers have now lost three in a row for the second time this season and are 1-7 at home. Their next contest is not until 2023, when they take on the University of Windsor Jan. 6 and 7 for a chance to win the season series.
The Badgers’ schedule and roster can be found here.
