There was a saying that my great grandmother used to tell to me: “You can’t sit on two different seats at the same time.”
Although that’s exactly what the Brock Badgers hockey program was doing Thursday night as their men hosted the Guelph Gryphons in St. Catherines and the women were in Toronto facing the Ryerson Rams.
Both games were thrilling, with high scoring, high-speed action, capturing the interests of fans in either arena. Not only were they high scoring but they also ended with the same 4-3 score, albeit flipped on either side.
In Toronto, the game was a roller coaster, ending after nearly six minutes of three on three overtime. Both ryerson and brock have found themselves close this season, with both teams in the crazy kerfuffle that is the OUA women’s hockey standings. There are only six points that separate the second-place York Lions with the eighth-place Western Mustangs. With all that, any points that can be grabbed are invaluable to any team.
Kicking off the sporting week for both of their respective schools, the two women’s sides put on quite the show. Ryerson hopped out to a quick 2-0 lead over the Badgers, much as they expected to do on home ice. However, it was to the chagrin of Brock who mauled their way back into the game.
Less than a minute into the final period of regulation, 2019 OUA Rookie of the Year Erika Crouse scored to give the home side the lead. The goal was her 11th of the season, matching her career-high which she set last season. With so many games left, including a home one on Sunday, she will undoubtedly shatter the stats she set for herself as a rookie.
At 3-2, Ryerson could have shut down the game. They tried, but sometimes when you try, you don’t succeed. It just wasn’t meant to be for Ryerson tonight, as unlucky bounces and lost pucks did them in late in the game.
The winning goal for example, as attached below just trickles across the line. There was really nothing the team could do about it.
“We are a tough team, we know we can win but we were unlucky tonight,” said Ryerson head coach Lisa Haley following the loss, before going onto explain how it’s a wakeup call for the team to focus more when they have the lead. It may not be what the hosts were looking for, but the game did give some very good hockey to the few fans who were on the witness to see it.
Brock’s men, on the other hand, did their best to crawl back, but couldn’t quite pull it off, eventually falling by a flipped 4-3 scoreline. With playoffs looming, the Badgers needed points more than ever.
The mission they had was not the one they accomplished; they failed to come out the gates as they had hoped. After just one period of play, Guelph found themselves up by four goals. As all the pucks flew into the net, last week’s win over the same team seemed like a distant memory for the players and staff of the Badgers.
They did not play a full 60-minute hockey game, costing them valuable points in an ever tight OUA West division.
Rarely do the same teams play on the same night, even rarer does it occur on a weeknight. However, that was the case on Thursday, as the Badgers were able to sit on two seats in different places at the same time.
The Brock men will have to wait a week until they can avenge their loss, with their next opportunity coming against the struggling York Lions on January 23rd. The women, however, will get their chance to extend their win streak to four when they host the Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday on home ice.