The Brock Badgers women’s hockey team continued their fight for the final playoff spot in the OUA West division with a road trip split after losing 5-1 to the Windsor Lancers on Feb. 7 and shutting out the Western Mustangs 3-0 on Feb. 8.
Brock Badgers 1, Windsor Lancers 5
First-year defender Sydney Hood buried the game’s opening goal, but it was the only offence that the Badgers administrated against the Lancers.
After an intense nine minutes to open the contest, Hood found the scoresheet with a riffling shot through traffic for her sixth goal of the year — which leads all Brock defenders — and put the Badgers up one.
With Brock controlling much of the first period, outshooting Windsor 14-5 in the frame, the Lancers swung the momentum in their favour midway through the second with a power play marker to kickstart a barrage of goals against Brock.
Windsor quickly added another just under seven minutes later, taking the 2-1 lead entering the third.
In the third period, the home side continued applying pressure, forcing a pair of goals in under 20 seconds with a fifth coming two minutes later, as the Lancers seized control of the contest to hand Brock their third loss in four games.
Badgers’ netminder Kennedy Lonson made 20 saves in the game with Kaedyn Gomes registering the lone assist on Hood’s goal.
Brock Badgers 3, Western Mustangs 0
Desperate for a win with only three games remaining, Badgers’ goaltender Megan Thiessen recorded her first career OUA shutout as Brock’s leading goal scorers Madison Cronkwright and Jenna Duarte provided the offensive spark.
Duarte got the offence cooking early with two first period goals.
The Hamilton native opened the scoring on the penalty kill, burying the breakaway chance blocker-side for Brock’s second short-handed goal of the season to secure the crucial one-goal lead.
Duarte then doubled the Badgers’ advantage in the final minutes of the frame, taking the puck the length of the ice to tie Cronkwright for the team-lead in goals with her seventh of the campaign and put Brock up 2-0 after the first.
But Cronkwright regained her team lead in the second with her eighth goal of the season, after her attempted pass deflected off the Mustang defender and into the net to give the Badgers the three-goal cushion heading into the third period.
In the third, it was Thiessen’s time to shine as the rookie netminder made eight of her 20 saves in the frame to seal the critical road win and keep the Badgers in playoff contention.
Brock (6-12-3-3) currently sits in sixth place in the OUA West division and are four points back of the York Lions (7-11-4-2) for the final playoff spot with only two games remaining.
The Badgers close their season this weekend with a pivotal clash against the York Lions on Feb. 14 at 12 p.m. in their home finale, before heading to North Bay to battle the Nipissing Lakers (14-5-1-4) on Feb. 15 at 4 p.m.
For more information on the Brock Badgers women’s hockey team, visit gobadgers.ca.