The red-hot Brock Badgers visited the York Lions in Canlan Ice Sports in an attempt to close in on the Ryerson Rams for third place in the OUA Western standings. They wanted to take advantage of a struggling Lions team that was on a two-game losing skid and second-last in the Western Conference.

The first period was scoreless, with both teams trading chances but unable to solve the goaltenders. In the second period, the Badgers scored and carried that lead late into the third period.

In an effort to make a daring comeback, the Lions pulled their goalie and called a time out. The result was an empty-net goal to seal the deal for the Badgers. However, York did not go down without a fight. Captain Scott Feser scored in the dying moments of the third period to make it a one-goal game.

While the final score ended up being 2-1, it was important that the Lions didn’t just give up when the empty-netter went in. Their captain did a great job of setting the right example and playing with high intensity until the final buzzer.

The Badgers came into this game as the favourites to win this matchup. They were 7-1 in their last eight games and are one of the top teams in the OUA. They did get the job done, but it will be important for them to clean up their game going forward.

Letting in a goal late in the third period after your team sealed the deal is a bad look and is tough for the goaltender who got you to this point. The least they could’ve done was helped their goalie get a shutout in this game. The Badgers need to make sure that they play a full 60-minute game no matter what the score is because it’s little details like this that stick out like sore thumbs when games matter the most.

The Badgers will visit the Ryerson Rams tomorrow while the Lions host the Waterloo Warriors tomorrow night for their second game in two nights.