The Brock Badgers men's hockey team closed out the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarter-final series win against the Windsor Lancers on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Canada Games Park with a 4-3 double-overtime win.
First-year forward Matt Duarte was Brock's overtime hero as the Hamilton product scored the game winner in double overtime. Brock recorded 65 shots in the win, while first-year goaltender Connor Ungar stopped 43 out of 46 shots faced.
"I'm proud of the effort. Both teams laid it all out there.Tons of credit goes to Windsor, they battled and we battled," said men's hockey head coach TJ Manastersky. "That's what you love about the game. When it comes to situations like that, to see a guy like Duarte score, it's just special. It's what you write stories about".
In the opening minutes of the first period, a pad save from Ungar denied Windsor an early lead from a up close shot. The Badgers struck first as third-year winger Cole Tymkin cleaned up a rebound in front on an initial shot from second-year forward Ryan Stepien. Near the end of the opening frame, Brock earned a short-handed chance as a pass from second-year forward Jordan Stock found fifth-year centre Justin Brack on the rush but Brock were unable to build on their lead.
Just 40 seconds into the middle period, a takeaway from Stepien gave him tons of space to skate into the slot, eventually firing the puck past the glove of Lancers' goaltender Nathan Torchia and increasing Brock's lead to two goals. Windsor thought they had found their first goal of the game midway through the second but it would be deemed no goal after the Badgers' net was knocked loose. The Lancers, however, did score their first goal of the game minutes later. Building off their momentum, Windsor tied the game with just under six minutes to go in the second period. An odd-man rush for Windsor saw the Lancers take a 3-2 lead late in the period, with Holden Wale finding the back of the net.
Searching for an equalizer, the Badgers dominated possession of the puck in the third period, creating the majority of opportunities between the two teams. With just under 11 minutes to go, Brack found an open Bradon Caruso. The Sault Ste Marie product stepped in from the blue line and fired a wrist shot into the back of the net to tie the game at three goals apiece.
In the first overtime period, the Badgers on multiple occasions came close to scoring a winner but were unable to beat Torchia who stood tall in net for the Lancers. Brock successfully killed off a penalty late in the period, stretching the game to a second overtime.
The second period of overtime much like the first provided plenty of opportunities for a game winner for the Badgers. Midway through the second frame of overtime, a perfect tip from Duarte on a shot from Zachary Taylor fooled Torchia as the goal sealed a qualification to the University Cup in Toronto and a berth to the OUA semifinals.
"It's a quick turnaround. We are going to play Game 1 here on Thursday against the TMU [Bold], that's a rival and a great competitor of ours," said Manastersky. "It comes fast, so we got to recover and make good decisions this weekend. We need to make a good plan for this week, so we are as fresh as we can be for Thursday."
Up next, the Brock Badgers (21-7-0) will face the TMU Bold (19-8-1) on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 6 p.m. at Canada Games Park for Game 1 of their Ontario University Athletics (OUA) semifinal matchup. Game 2 of the series will be Saturday, Mar. 2 in Toronto at 6 p.m. while Game 3, if needed, will be back at Canada Games Park on Sunday, Mar. 3 at 6:15 p.m. Tickets go on sale for Game 1 on Monday, Feb. 26 at 10 a.m at https://brocku.universitytickets.com/. You can also watch the game on OUA.tv.
