The paws of the Brock Badgers pried victory away from Ryerson’s grasp Thursday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Last Thursday, Ryerson was enthralled in a 7-6 win against the Guelph Gryphons, which this site affectionately called “The Guelph Goelfest.” A week later on home ice, the Rams did it again, as they found themselves down 3-2 after a five-goal first period.
Less than eight minutes into the game, the visiting brock badgers found themselves up by two goals thanks to Connor Walters and Adam Berg. Despite the shaky start from the entire home side, it was not long until they found a scoring touch of their own. A third goal would be the end of Brock’s first-period scoring, as The Rams came out of their shell and scored two goals, one of which went straight to the highlight real. Jesse Barwell snapped a quick shot past the Brock Goaltender, bring his team within one by the end of the period.
After only 20 minutes, it was pretty clear that Wednesday night was not going to be one for the goalies. Ryerson scored twice on their nine shots, meanwhile, the Badgers put three pucks past the pads of Forrest.
Following the ferocious flurry of scoring in the fist, the second 20 minutes saw everything calm down, with only one being scored. That’s not to say that there weren’t many goalscoring chances though, as both teams had very close calls with two-on-one breaks, both of which failed to covert. Brock’s Jared Molino put himself on the highlight reel late in the period, dragging the puck around Forrest before sliding it into the empty net. That made the game 4-2 after forty, which could be expected when one took a look at the shot total, which was 12 more than the home sides.
Things did not get any better for the Rams in the third period, as they fell behind by another goal. The biggest loss, however, was not of the game, but the likely absence of power forward Cavin Leth after he took a shot to the wrist mid-way through the final period.
“They were a tougher team tonight, and we were sloppy,” said Ryerson head coach Jonny Duco after the game. The loss was his team’s first loss in 10 games, ending what had been a stellar run for the blue and gold.
While the game ended Ryerson’s run, it was well deserved by brock, who won their first game against a top 10 nationally ranked team this season. Also with the win, the badgers are now sitting in a playoff spot, only one point behind the Rams for third place in the conference.
“We have to finish on a good note against Western on Saturday” were the last words spoken by Duco, who is going to make sure that his team is at it’s best when they hit the Mattamy ice for the final time in 2019. That game is set for 7 pm, the same time that Brock will be taking on the Toronto Varsity Blues.