The Brock men's rugby team won a provincial medal at Brock Alumni Field on Saturday.
The Badgers defeated the Trent Excalibur 29-24 in the OUA bronze-medal match to win their third medal since 2007.
"I'm so proud of these guys," said head coach Phil Sullivan. "We knew Trent would not stop, not matter what. They constantly pressed us, but we responded. It's never going to be easy."
Brock is one of eight teams among a field of 32 schools who punched their ticket to compete in the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship at Concordia University in Montreal from Nov. 20-24.
It's the first time Brock has qualified.
"This team is a really cohesive bunch, because there's a lot of love in the room," said Sullivan. "There's talent, a lot of rugby knowledge and the experience that we gained from a rough year last season."
Trent led 17-15 at halftime, but Brock's offence was unrelenting in the frigid autumn air. Zach Zorbas led the attack with three tries and Mitch Santilli added a pair of tries while Steven Commerford registered two converts.
Zorbas, a senior flanker, said the way they came back and won this medal meant a lot to him and his teammates.
"It means a lot, last year the team was 1-7 and struggled to find the confidence and trust in each other that you need to win games," said Zorbas. "This year, our guys bought into the system and took a defence-first approach. Winning the bronze and heading to nationals next week is a huge step forward for the program and the Brock Rugby culture. The dogs were hungry, and tonight they ate."
