PETERBOROUGH – The Brock Badgers men's lacrosse team fell 12-3 in the Baggataway Cup final to the host Trent Excalibur on Sunday afternoon in Peterborough.

Looking to repeat as champions after winning in 2021, the Badgers put together a string of five consecutive wins heading into the championship. Brock earned their place in the CUFLA final following playoff victories over the Toronto Varsity Blues, Bishop's Gaiters, and CUFLA West division rival Guelph Gryphons. Reaching the final game of the Baggataway Cup tournament for the second consecutive season, this marked the 28th appearance in the championship game for Brock in program history.

On the field, the Badgers were first to score with Brodie Thoms finding the back of the Excalibur net early in the first quarter. However, from that point on Trent's defence tightened up and Brock were unable to find the shooting lanes that proved to be successful in their quarter-final and semifinal matchups.

"We knew Trent was a very talented team with a lot of lacrosse experience," mentioned Brock head coach Vince Longboat. "We saw all weekend long how hard they worked in front of their home crowd and they were able to capitalize on mistakes without making very many of their own."

Following the Badgers opening goal, the Excalibur responded with seven unanswered goals heading into the half. Brock was finally able to break through in the third quarter scoring a pair of goals courtesy Andrew Rybka and Sam Leclair to slightly close the gap to a 9-3 deficit. But time would not be on their side as they conceded fourth quarter markers that sealed the victory for the Excalibur.

"After the final whistle we talked with the team about the building of the foundation for the future and the progression of the players fom the start of the year until the end of the last game," said Longboat. "We thanked the seniors for everything they have put into the program and for being leaders, and we let those players returning know to embrace the sting of the loss and remember it for future motivation. It is amazing how in such a short period this group of young men can create a lifelong impression on each other and develop a brotherhood that they will carry beyond."

The win for Trent marked the first Baggataway Cup for the Excalibur in program history. The Badgers hold the most championships in CUFLA history with 19.

Final honours for the weekend were awarded to Rybka, Mitchell Armstrong, Trent Hunter, and Andrew Kidd who were all named Baggataway Cup first team all-stars.

BADGERS AT A GLANCE
Overall Record: 9-5
Conference Record: 6-4

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