Brock’s turn at bat
Badgers competing in Ontario baseball, softball championships this weekend
Women’s rugby player Taylour Hurd and Anthony Stott of the men’s soccer team are the top athletes at Brock University for the week ending Sunday.
Hurd, a first-year child and youth studies major from Oakville, scored one try and was a standout on defence in the Badgers’ loss to York in the Ontario University Athletics(OUA) quarter-finals.
She finished her rookie season third in the province in scoring with 59 points.
Stott, a Stratford native and fifth-year sport management major, was outstanding in goal in Brock’s 3-0 loss to seventhranked York earning player of the game honours.
He made a career-high 14 saves in the match, including five pointblank saves inside the goalie box in the second half.
Season opens with road loss
It was déjà vu all over again when Brock played the Guelph Gryphons in men’s university hockey.
Like the Steel Blade Classic Sept. 15, Marty Williamson’s first game as Badgers head coach, Wednesday night’s season opener ended with a loss to the Gryphons, this time by a 3-2 score.
Ayden MacDonald, with the first goal of his OUA career, and Matt MacLeod scored for Brock in the road loss.
Clint Windsor went all the way between the pipes for the Badgers making 28 saves.
Brock’s home opener is Saturday versus the York Lions at Seymour-Hannah Sports and Entertainment Centre in St. Catharines. Faceoff is set for 7:15 p.m.
In the Steel Blade Classic, Guelph skated to a 5-3 victory in front of a record-setting crowd at Meridian Centre. The 4,975 attendance not only was the most for a sport event at Brock, but also set a record for a university hockey game played in Ontario.
Softball tops batting order
Brock is among eight teams competing at the Ontario Intercollegiate Women’s Fastpitch Association championships this weekend in Kitchener-Waterloo.
The Badgers will play the host Laurier Golden Hawks in their opening game Saturday at Peter Hallman Ball Yard in Kitchener. First pitch is set for 11 a.m.
SportCanada.tv is broadcasting round-robin games with play-byplay action from BallPark Broadcasting at http://sportcanada.tv/ oiwfa.
Live-streaming is free of charge but donations from viewers offset costs to the student athletes.
Donations can be made via https://www.gofundme.com/OIWFA
Tournament schedule is available online at http://www.oiwfa.org/wb/media/News%20 Stories/Championships_bracket_2017.pdf.
Brock’s turn at bat
The Brock Badgers should be well-rested when they face their first opponent at the OUA baseball championships tonight in Ajax.
Action gets underway at 11 a.m. with the Ryerson Rams playing the Waterloo Warriors. The winner goes on to play the Badgers at 7 p.m.
Brock enters the 10-team tournament as the top seed after finishing the regular season a leaguebest 13-3.
Also receiving a first-round bye at the single-elimination tournament are the Laurier Golden Hawks, who finished league play second in the conference.
Semifinals are 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday with the bronze and gold medal games 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively, Sunday.
Badgers can’t tame Lions
Previously undefeated Brock’s hopes for a medal in women’s university rugby were dashed by the York Lions in the opening round of the OUA players.
After entering the final half deadlocked 12-12, the host Lions put up 17 points before the Badgers scored a try to cut the deficit to 29-17.
York went up 34-17 with seven minutes remaining in regulation. With time ticking down, Brock added another try, but that would be as close as the Badgers would get in the 34-24 setback.
They closed out the year with a 4-1 record.
Lauren Wilks, Taylour Hurd, Niamh Haughey and Kaylah Moehling scored tries for the Badgers and Taylor Knezevich added a convert.
Provincial scoring leader Meagan Hart was out of the Brock lineup recovering from an injury suffered in the team’s final game of the regular season.
Unhappy hosts
The visiting Queen’s Gaels jumped out to a 28-0 lead on their way to beating Brock to remain undefeated in men’s university rugby.
The 66-15 loss to the top team in the OUA dropped the Badgers to 4-2 in league play.
Scoring tries for Brock were Ryan Hickey, Stevie Commerford and Dave Frodme, all in the second half.
With two games remaining in the season, the Badgers are currently third in the province. They hope to close out strong against the Western Mustangs and Trent Excalibur with the goal of clinching home-field advantage for the first round of the playoffs.
2-0 in women’s hockey
Kimberly Brown scored two minutes into overtime to give Brock a 2-1 victory over the Windsor Lancers in women’s university hockey.
Amanda Ieradi, who collected an assist on Brown’s game winner, opened the scoring for the Badgers 12 minutes into the second period breaking a scoreless tie.
The pre-season victory was Brock’s second in as many starts. Rachel Rochat, Maggie Spratt-Mallick and Hailey McCallum each scored a goal and Jensen Murphy made 34 saves for the shutout in a 3-0 decision over the York Lions.
Next action for the Badgers is Oct. 21-22 when they host the Queen’s Gaels and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks, respectively, at the Seymour-Hannah fourplex.
Win streak snapped
After losing three games in the boardroom four days earlier, Brock lost another on the pitch in women’s university soccer.
A 3-0 loss to the visiting York Lions snapped the Badgers’ three-game winning streak and dropped their record to 4-8-1 with three games remaining in league play.
The record includes one victory and two ties Brock forfeited when the U Sports, formerly Canadian University Sports, ruled that the Badgers had used an ineligible player in four of their first five regular season games.
In Brock’s first game following the ruling Marilena Spagnolo recorded her fourth shutout in a row and Emily Armstrong found the back of the net in a 1-0 victory over the Guelph Gryphons, also at home.
The Badgers host the York Lions at Alumni Field at 1 p.m. Sunday at Alumni Field.