Men’s Hockey clinches postseason berth

The Brock University Men's Hockey team was not going to be accused of getting ahead of themselves, even if a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity awaited.

The Brock Badgers won a wild back-and-forth contest over the York Lions by a score of 5-4 on Jan. 20. The game featured four lead changes and needed overtime for the Badgers to finally put the Lions away.  The win was even more impressive considering the Badgers would travel to Hamilton on Jan. 23 to play an outdoor game against the Waterloo Warriors as a part of the American Hockey League's (AHL) Winter Classic festivities.

The Brock faithful gave the Badgers some big support before the team hit the road, as the Seymour-Hannah Centre was sold out as a part of the Investors Group corporate night. The Brock sponsor bought all 1,500 tickets and distributed them throughout the community, and also partnered with Brock Athletics for a food drive in support of Community Cares.

Brock opened the scoring on the power play with Thomas Stajan's (Mississauga, ON) ninth goal of the campaign from Kaine Geldart (Kingston, ON) and Matt Abercrombie (Sarnia, ON) at 6:18.

Every time the Badgers scored a goal, however, it seemed like the Lions were there to answer. It took York only nine seconds to tie it back up as Ryan Andersen (Wainwright,  AB) picked up his first of two markers in the game unassisted.

Jesse Messier (Keswick, ON), 12th in OUA scoring, put the Lions up 2-1 just 32 seconds into the second frame, but Abercrombie would respond late in the period to tie the game at 2-2 going into the second intermission.

Ryan Allen (Fort McMurray, AB) tallied a pair in the third period, but Brock could just not separate themselves in a game with no lead greater than one goal.

And after the Lions tied the game with less than five minutes to play in the third, things seemed dire for the Badgers when Jake Laplante (Mississauga, ON) was served a 10-minute misconduct and two minute minor for checking to the head.

However, the Badgers maintained focus despite mounting frustration. Brock survived the penalty kill and sent the game to overtime where the barn burner tilted back in Brock's favour. This gave rise to the game's hero, Isaac Smeltzer (Estevan, SK), who walked in from the point and wired a wrist shot past David Blair (Ajax, ON) on the power play.

Six Badgers had multi-point nights, supported by Kurt Jory's (Brandon, MB) 18 saves. Blair made 29 saves on 34 Brock shots in the loss.

The victory gave the Badgers a season high three game winning streak and gave them momentum heading into the inaugural OUA outdoor classic. The win also clinched a playoff spot for the Badgers, who now have only six games remaining following the 3-1 loss Waterloo in Hamilton.

Brock now sits in fifth place in the OUA West with 23 points, and can finish no worse than eighth place with the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks now eliminated.

The Badgers will next host the Waterloo Warriors and Lakehead Thunderwolves Jan. 25 and 27, respectively. Both games will take place at the Seymour-Hannah Centre at 7:15 p.m.