The Brock Badgers continued to solidify their playoff positioning after a 2-2 draw with the No. 7 nationally ranked York Lions on Friday night (Oct. 20).
The visitors struck early, after putting a couple of shots on net. Tyler Attardo scored in the ninth minute for the Lions to give them an early lead. York followed it up with a goal in the 22nd to double up the Badgers midway through the first half.
The Badgers earned an opportunity after a York handball in the box set up a penalty kick from senior striker Marc Iantomasi. Iantomasi was denied initially by York goalkeeper Alessio Carbone, but Noah DeDominicis took advantage of the rebound to put the ball in the back of the net. The Brantford product's second goal of the year cut the Lions lead at the half.
York had a flurry of shots and attack on the Badgers in an attempt to extend their lead in the firsrt ten minutes of the second half. The Brock defence held up to the task and prevented the Lions from getting another score on the board. This proved very important as the Badgers earned a key corner kick opportunity in the 83rd minute. DeDeominicis put the corner towards the net, where senior Ethan Miskolczi then headed the ball at the goal. A second header from Conrad Czarnecki off Miskolczi's headed pass gave the Badgers the equalizer. As the final whistle blew, the Badgers settled for a 2-2 draw.
Brock had three yellow cards in the contest, with Ethan Miskolczi, Michael Fernandez and Nicholas Esperanca all receiving one, while York had one of their own from Pedro Aparicio.
Goalkeeper Taylor Miskolczi had six saves in the contest.
The Badgers demonstrated resilience as despite giving up 22 shots compared to 5, they were able to come away with the tie.
The Badgers honoured the seniors (left to right in the photo: Michael Fernandez, Luca Ragagnin, Nolan Bosetti, Antonio DiGiovanni, Ethan Miskolczi, Marc Iantomasi, Michael Solomon) before the game with a pre-game ceremony.
One of the senior captains Luca Ragagnin reflected on his final home game as a Badger.
"I came here three years ago under somewhat difficult circumstances. The first season wasn't what I planned but it's been building from there. It's been a complete journey for me spiritually, as a person, as a student and as a player. To cap it off with the performance we had tonight means a lot to me."
Ragagnin also gave credit to his teammates and the coaching staff for the gutsy performance after going down two early.
"It just shows the character of our squad and our coach coming down from 2-0. We don't stop fighting until the end, and we really showed that today."
The Badgers (7-2-2) will finish their season against this same York Lions team (6-2-3) on Sunday (Oct. 22) with the first place in the OUA West Division on the line. Catch the action on OUA.tv.
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