The Brock Badgers men's hockey team have kept their playoff hopes alive.
Hosting Game 2 of a best-of-three Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarterfinal matchup, the No. 6 OUA West seed Badgers picked up a 3-2 victory over the TMU Bold, the No. 2 West seed, at Canada Games Park on Saturday, Feb. 28.
"Sometimes it takes 57 minutes," said head coach TJ Manastersky. " We stuck to what we wanted to do and got into our game from the beginning."
Zack Stringer and Nicholas Domitrovic scored the first two goals for the Badgers, while Alexis Cournoyer netted the game winner. Between the pipes, netminder Ben Bonisteel made an impressive 30 saves in the game.
"Ben was fantastic," Manastersky said. "He continues to perform at his best when the moments are the biggest, and you need that in the playoffs."
Despite the shot total in the first period going in favour 11-9 for the Badgers, it was the Bold who opened the scoring late in the first period when team captain Connor Bowie netted a wrist shot in the final two minutes of the frame.
The second period saw the Badgers commit a roughing penalty seven minutes in. The Bold capitalized on the power play when Daniil Grigorev fired a shot into the top corner of the net.
Despite this deficit, the Badgers did not waver as a minute later, Stringer found the back of the net off a pass from Ryan Johnstone.
"Zack is one of the best players in the league," Manastersky said. "When the puck comes to him, he finds a way to put it in the net, no surprise there."
The third period is where the Badgers made their mark. After killing off two penalties to start the frame, Domitrovic tipped in a goal off a pass from Stephen Calisti 12 minutes into the period, tying the game.
With time expiring in the contest, the Bold's Jaden Raad committed a tripping penalty. Fighting hard to find the back of the net on the power play, the Badgers were rewarded when Cournoyer sneaked a shot into a tight window to give the Badgers a 3-2 advantage with two minutes remaining in the contest.
"The ultimate glue guy in the dressing room — that's Nicholas. He's an amazing competitor and has had some excellent performances for us lately," Manastersky said. "Alexis has such a tremendous spirit; he's a big-time player that comes alive when it gets hard, and that's awesome."
The Badgers committed six minutes worth of penalties, whereas the Bold tallied four. Both teams made the most of their power plays, with each scoring once on the man advantage.
The win-or-go-home Game 3 matchup with the TMU Bold will take place in Toronto at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on Sunday, March 1 at 6:15 p.m.
"We're really pumped for Game 3," Manastersky said. "This is a dragon that we need to slay. We feel like we know the recipe for success, and I'm sure it's going to be similar to today, a tough and close matchup all around."
