The Brock women's hockey team will have home-ice advantage when the fourth-seed Badgers host the OUA McCaw Cup quarter-finals versus the fifth-seed Ryerson Rams on Thursday, Feb. 20 at Seymour-Hannah Arena.
Puck drop is set for 1 p.m.;Â Tickets are available here.
The best-of-three series shifts to Toronto where Ryerson hosts Game 2 on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7:15 p.m. If necessary, the Badgers host Game 3 on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 7:15 p.m.
The Badgers have adopted the motto 'beat the odds' this season, and it's proving to be a useful mantra.
"Beat the odds is about how Brock women's hockey is usually the underdogs in the league," said head coach Margot Page. "It's about how everyone's odds are usually against us and nobody thinks that we have what it takes. Beat the odds means we will show the league and anybody else who may have doubts that we most certainly have what it takes to be champions."
Brock finished the season with a 14-10 record and went 1-1 versus Ryerson (14-10) during the regular season. Each game was decided by overtime or a shootout.
Although the Rams have one of the best goal differentials in the OUA, the Badgers have allowed the second fewest goals against average in the league.
Backstopped by senior goaltender Jensen Murphy, the Badgers allowed just 1.73 goals against average at Seymour-Hannah Arena this season. Ryerson will be forced to solve Murphy, who leads the league in saves (646), is third with a .946 save percentage and fourth in goals against average (1.60).
Up front, the Badgers ice a formidable lineup of depth led by playmaking forward Annie Berg. Berg led Brock in scoring for the second straight season with 20 points in 24 games.
Second-year forwards Cassidy Maplethorpe (19 points) and Morgan Dezell (12 points) shore up the scoring. Maplethorpe led the team with 10 goals. The team is also receiving production from first-year forwards Mishayla Christensen (10 points), Mikayla Flanagan (nine points) and Emma Irwin (nine points).
On the other side of the puck, the Badgers look to shut down the high-scoring duo of Erika Crouse and Lauren Nicholson. Crouse led the league with 15 goals and Nicholason, who tallied 13 goals, scored the most power-play goals (seven) in the OUA.
"I think our players have learned that they have the ability to be a very strong team and have also learned to win. Now we have to learn to compete in the playoffs and get the wins there," said Page. "We don't want to settle and just be satisfied with making the playoffs. This league is a tight league and anything can happen. Everyone can beat everyone. We will definitely need to be our best."
