Morgan Dezell was saving her first goal of the season for an important moment.
Dezell scored a header and the Brock women's hockey team defeated the Ryerson Rams 4-3 in overtime at Mattamy Athletic Centre on Jan. 16.
"It wasn't the prettiest of wins, but we fought hard to come back and finish it in overtime," said Dezell. "You can say the same thing about the goal. Not the prettiest, but still got the job done. The shot came from the point by Paige Cohoon and I did my best to screen the goalie. The puck ended up bouncing off my head and in to put us up 4-3."
Mikayla Flanagan drove the puck into the zone along the boards. After passing the puck back and forth with Kaitlyn Colonna, she sent it to the point where Cohoon wired it on net and struck Dezell in the head.
Like a moon shot, the puck arced into the back of the net as Rams goalie Fanny Vigeant didn't have a chance to stop it.
Dezell's OT winner. Photo by Christian Bender
Dezell, who is second on the team with eight assists, has contributed to a lot of Brock goals this season but had yet to find the back of the net until tonight.
"It was definitely a memorable first goal of the season," said Dezell, a second-year forward from Guelph who is studying Public Health.
Ryerson led 2-0 after the first period before Niamh Haughey and Flanagan scored back-to-back goals to bookend the second.
"After going down by two, the players never thought the game was done," said head coach Margot Page. "They kept fighting to get themselves back into it. We came in over energized then settled in during the third."
In the third, Ryerson scored a quick power-play goal within the first minute, yet the Badgers responded when Cassidy Maplethorpe tied the game up on a feed from Annie Berg, her second assist of the night.
Ryerson outshot Brock 33-28 as goalie Jensen Murphy earned the win in net.
"Not a great game for us, but happy to get two of the three points on the road," added Page.
Up next, the Badgers (9-7) return home to host the No. 4 Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, Jan. 18 as part of Brock's Pink Weekend at Seymour-Hannah Arena. All proceeds from the game will support the Canadian Cancer Society. The Badgers will hold a ceremonial puck drop at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are available here.
