The Brock Badgers women's lacrosse team heads to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Lacrosse Championship, taking place from Friday, October 27 to Sunday, October 29 in Kingston.
The nine-team tournament hosted by the Queen's Gaels starts with round robin matches on Friday and Saturday. The Badgers feature in a pool with the Toronto Varsity Blues (5-6) and Trent Excalibur (5-3) and will play both matches on Saturday, with a clash with Toronto at 10 a.m. and an afternoon contest with the Excalibur at 3:15 p.m.
In the three-pool setup, each team will play two round robin matches, with the top team from each pool advancing to the semifinals. The next best finisher based on point differential claims the fourth and final semifinal spot, while the fifth and sixth best finishers will clash in a one game showdown on Sunday.
For the Badgers to have success offensively this weekend, they will need third-year attack Mackenzie Shigwadja to do what she's done all year; score goals. The local St. Catharines product has led the team in scoring throughout the season. Shigwadja not only leads on the field but off it as one of the captains of the team.
Sixth-year midfielder Rachel Woods rules the faceoff circle and has consistently improved over her time at Brock. The teacher education is all over the field and was named Brock University's Athlete of the Week on October 16. Woods contributed three goals and one assist in the 14-12 win over the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks, the Badgers' first win since October 17, 2021.
The Badgers have also received contributions from newcomers, including third-year midfielder/attacker Lucy Lee. The Port Perry product comes over from the women's rugby team and has contributed from the midfield position all season.
In goal, the Badgers will turn to sophomore Kamryn Brown. The nursing major has stepped up in the latter part of the season and was a huge contributing factor in the aforementioned win against Ontario Tech. Brown is calm and collected, two traits you want to see out of your goaltender between the pipes.
The Badgers throughout the season have adopted a blue-collar mentality that relies on hard work. With that mentality in mind, head coach Vince Longboat believes this team is ready to compete this coming weekend.
"I'm really excited to see the team put a great effort in on the weekend and anything can happen for us if we come ready to work. I'm looking forward to see what happens with them."
