Brock LAX turkey dumps Laurentian

The Varsity Lacrosse team secured two victories over the Laurentian University Voyageurs during the Oct. 6-7 Thanksgiving Day weekend. The Badgers picked up four points to climb into a tie for second place with the Western University Mustangs with (6-1) records.

Following the sweep, the Badgers sit just four points behind the first place Guelph Gryphons with two games in hand.

In the opener, the Badgers got out to a strong start by shutting out the Voyageurs in the first quarter, scoring five goals including two each from Mark Vradenburg (Ottawa, Ont.) and Greg Davidson (Toronto, Ont.).

After Laurentian got on the board with two power play goals just 1:17 into the second quarter — both scored by Philip Romanet (Georgetown, Ont.) — Brock would rally for six goals in a row. Dustin Dunn (Peterborough, Ont.) started the run off an isolation play, beating his defender coming in off the right wing to deposit the goal in the bottom left corner.

Jordan Weedmark (Carleton Place, Ont.) proceeded to score a natural hat trick in a span of just two minutes, completing the trio by finishing a tic-tac-toe play from Brandon Staal (Courtice, Ont.) and Justin Pychel (Welland, Ont.). Goals by Dunn and rookie Midfielder Jake Lambert (Whitby, Ont.) would cap off the offensive outburst. A late Voyageurs power play marker would send the teams into half time with Brock leading 11-3.

The Badgers would go on a different kind of stretch in the second and third quarters by committing nine consecutive penalties, including some for arguing calls. At 4:40 into the third frame, Brock would be assessed three penalties in one stoppage of play, leaving Laurentian with a 6-on-3 power play.

Despite the penalties, Brock cruised to the 18-7 victory. Weedmark led all scorers with six points (3G, 3A). Staal was the top set up man recording five assists, while Dunn and Travis Gibbons (Owen Sound, Ont.) both recorded hat tricks and a helper for four point games. Senior Goalies Ian Duffy (Ajax, Ont.) and Daniel Fyfe (Etobicoke, Ont.) split the time in net for the win, combining for 17 saves.

The end result was certainly not a surprise, but the margin of victory could have been more substantial had the Badgers stayed out of the penalty box. Brock players had 17.5 minutes in penalties and surrendered six of their seven goals against while on the penalty kill, a luxury that can be ill afforded to the league’s top contenders.

On Oct. 7, the Badgers were able to make the discipline adjustment, cutting their penalty minutes down to just 4.5 minutes in the 16-11 victory.

Offensively, Brock was led by Davidson (3G, 4A) and Gibbons (4G, 2A) with impressive seven and six point games, respectively. Gage Board (Brampton, Ont.) (1G, 3A), Weedmark (2G, 1A), Dunn (1G, 1A) and Steve Nicholls (Peterborough, Ont.) (1G, 1A) all had recorded multi-point games. Duffy and Graeme McCollough (Ridgeville, Ont.) made a combined 17 stops to split the win.

The Badgers will host their final home game of the regular season on Oct. 13 against the McMaster Marauders as the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) regular season enters its final two weeks. Game time is 2:00 p.m. at the main Lacrosse field adjacent to the Walker Complex on campus.