Men’s Hockey slay Lancers, fall to Ridgebacks

It has been a tale of two teams this season for the Brock University Men's Hockey team. In their two wins heading into the Oct. 21 game against the Windsor Lancers, the Badgers had outscored their opponents 12-5, but in their two losses they allowed 12 goals and could only muster four themselves.

"That's been the challenge for us this year. Back-to-back good performances," said Head Coach Murrary Nystrom.

It was the Dr. Jekyll Badgers who showed up for the Friday night contest, defeating the Lancers by a score of 4-1.

Thomas Stajan (Mississauga, ON), the team's leading scorer, shined for the Badgers, scoring the game's first goal and later adding two assists. Stajan now has nine points in five games and is in the Top-10 in Ontario University Athletics Association (OUA) scoring.

Before the end of the first period, the Badgers scored twice more. At 5:44, Stajan tossed a harmless puck on net, but Windsor starter Dan Savelli (Burlington, ON) couldn't handle it, and Sean Jones (Newmarket, ON) banged in the rebound, chasing Savelli from the game. Brock freshman Dylan MacEachern (Mississauga, ON) then scored at 15:59, giving the Badgers a 3-0 lead.

Brock goalie Kurt Jory (Brandon, MB) has had a tough start to the season, going 1-2 with a 5.00 goals-against-average before Friday, but put in a stellar performance for the Badgers, stopping 32 shots in total, the most important of which came while Brock was killing a four-minute penalty during the second period. Jory made a few excellent saves on a handful of dangerous chances, stopping the Lancers from making any sort of comeback.

That four-minute penalty kill could represent a turning point for the Badgers this season, as they have now won two in a row and sit third in the OUA West Division.

"[The penalty kill] really gave us a boost," said Nystrom. "It's an area of the game we take a lot of pride in. We haven't been at the level we want to be or need to be yet this season, but I thought that stretch of time indicated how good we can be. It's something to build on for sure."

The Lancers' lone goal came short-handed, as Evan Stibbard (Windsor, ON) broke in alone and beat Jory at 10:52 of the third period, cutting the lead to 3-1.

A scary play occurred late in the third period as Brock defenceman Anthony Geldart (Kingston, ON) was hit from behind into the boards by Windsor's Ryan Green (Essex, ON), who was not penalized on the play. Geldart was forced to leave the game. After the game Coach Nystrom said Geldart required a few stitches, but the injury was not considered serious.

The game was physical, but aside from the hit from behind, it was largely clean, and both teams exchanged big hits throughout the game.

The Badgers sealed the win at 19:42 of the third frame, with the Lancers' net empty, MacEachern scored his second goal of the game and third of the season.

Unfortunately, Mr. Hyde reared his head Oct. 22 on the road in Oshawa as the Badgers gave up two goals in the final minute of the third period to lose 4-3 to the UOIT Ridgebacks. Sean Jones (Newmarket, ON) opened the scoring for the Badgers and MacEachern looks to be heating up with another two-goal performance. Brock outshot UOIT 41-31.

The men in red next hit the ice Oct. 27 in Guelph, but return home Oct. 28 to host the Waterloo Warriors. The puck drops at the Seymour-Hannah Centre at 7:15 p.m.