Badgers rebound from OT loss on Senior Night
Brock back in women’s volleyball playoffs for the first time in four years
Brock enters the final weekend of the men’s university basketball season on a roll.
After falling 96-91 in overtime to Western on Senior Night, the Badgers defeated Waterloo 95-81, improving their record to 15-7.
Brock, second to 16-6 Laurier in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West Division, travels to Thunder Bay for night games Friday and Saturday against sixth-place Lakehead, 9-13.
In their last game, the Badgers outscored Waterloo 59-35 after trailing Sunday’s game at Bob Davis Gymnasium in St. Catharines 46-36 at halftime.
Cassidy Ryan, with a game-high 28 points, seven rebounds; Johneil Simpson, 16 points; Tyler Brown, 14 points; and Noah LaPierre, 12 points off the bench, set the pace for the hosts on offence.
Brock completed a sweep of the season series despite being out-rebounded 44-37 by the Warriors. Head-to-head play tipped off Jan. 12 in Waterloo, where the Badgers won 94-81.
On Senior Night the Badgers outscored Western 26-13 in the fourth quarter to force overtime but were unable to corral the Mustangs after that. Western won the overtime 14-9 completing a sweep of the season series. Ryan, 29 points; Brown, 16; and LaPierre, 11, scored in double digits for Brock. Ryan led all players with 12 rebounds.
Ryan and Simpson were honoured in a postgame ceremony.
Western opened head-to-head play with an 80-75 victory Jan. 5 in London, Ont.
Winning send-off
Courtney McPherson and Allie Columbus were in the spotlight — and in the winner’s circle — when Brock hosted Western on Senior Night in women’s basketball.
McPherson and Columbus, whose post-secondary careers were celebrated in a ceremony before Saturday night’s game, scored eight and four points, respectively, as the Badgers evened their record at 11-11 with a 66-37 victory over the Mustangs.
Brock won its second home game in three nights thanks in part to 18 points from Kristin Gallant, 12 from Baelie Campbell, 10 from Melissa Tatti, and eight from Jessica Morris.
McPherson, with a game-high nine, and Sofia Croce, seven, were the top rebounders for the Badgers.
Gallant, 14 points; Meagan Charbonneau and Miranda Smith, 11 apiece; and Campbell, 10, led Brock in scoring in a 74-47 victory over Waterloo.
Elise Euale and McPherson grabbed eight and seven rebounds, respectively.
Fourth-place Brock closes out the regular season on the road with games Friday and Saturday against second-place Lakehead, 18-4.
Home-ice advantage
Brock will start the men’s hockey playoffs the same way it ended the regular season.
After closing out league play with a 5-1 victory over York, the Badgers will face the Lions in a best-of-three quarter-final.
Game 1 in the first-round series was Wednesday night at Seymour-Hannah Sports and Entertainment Centre in
St. Catharines, with the second game Friday night in Toronto.
A deciding game, if needed, would be played Sunday at Seymour-Hannah. Start time has still to be determined.
Visit brocku.universitytickets.com for ticket information.
Brock wrapped up league play by scoring four unanswered goals, including two into an empty net from Frank Pucci, in a home-ice victory over York.
Ryan Burton, Brandon O’Quinn and Skylar Pacheco also found the back of the net for the Badgers, who extended their streak of earning at least a point to 13 games.
Brock improved to 4-0 against the Lions this season and 15-7 overall, good enough for second
in the OUA West Division behind 20-8 Ryerson.
York finished the regular season seventh in the division with a 12-16 record.
The game against York was the second on home ice in as many days for the Badgers. They led Ryerson 4-2 with 6:53 remaining in regulation but were outscored the rest of the way in a 5-4 overtime loss.
Pacheco, with two; Ayden MacDonald and Ethan Price, shorthanded, netted goals for Brock.
In the playoffs
Paige Cohoon’s goal 43 seconds into overtime gave visiting a Brock a 2-1 victory over Nipissing and a berth in the women’s hockey playoffs.
Kim Brown forced OT with 31 seconds remaining in regulation in the come-from-behind victory Saturday in North Bay.
Brock was outshot 28-23 by the Lakers, and both teams finished 0-for-3 with a man advantage.
“The leadership on this team has been great this season,” head coach Margot Page said. “The players have taken charge of themselves to be better every day.
“It makes it a pleasure working with them and will serve as a strong foundation for our future.”
Power-play goals from Amanda Ieradi, Katreena Whiteye and Maggie Spratt-Mallick was all the offence the Badgers could muster the following afternoon in Sudbury in a 4-3 loss to Laurentian.
Brock, which fell to 13-9 in league play, was outshot 38-25 by the Voyageurs.
Two games remain in the Badgers’ regular-season, both at home: Friday against University of Ontario Institute of Technology; Saturday versus Queen’s.
Seven in a row
Brock is heading to the women’s volleyball playoffs for the first time in four years.
Darby Taylor of Thorold had 11 kills and a .476 kill percentage as the Badgers swept visiting Nipissing — 25-17, 25-11, 25-14 — to clinch a playoff berth.
“This is a great group of young ladies, and from Day 1 they bought into everything I asked them to,” first-year head coach Steve Delaney said. “They work hard and we learn together, and we continue to do what we have to do to try and build a winning culture. All of the hard work and dedication is starting to pay off.”
Brock’s seventh win in a row improved the team’s record to 12-5 heading into the final two games of the regular season: Friday at Waterloo; Friday, Feb. 22, home to McMaster.
Losing streak snapped
Logan House scored 23 kills and the Brock men’s volleyball team defeated Nipissing in four sets — 20-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-20 — to snap a five-game losing streak.
Setter Marcelo Correa led the Badgers — and all players — with career highs in digs, 14; and assists, 46.
House had nine kills and Peter Schnabel five the day before in a loss to York: 25-22, 25-17, 25-21.
Brock, 4-11, visits Waterloo, 6-8, Friday night.
Multiple medallist
Brock’s Aaron Olmstead captured three medals at the OUA men’s fencing championships last weekend in Toronto.
The second-year kinesiology student from Kingston earned a silver medal in the sabre event versus York’s Adrien Sparling, 15-6, and defeated Carleton’s Mo Ghazal, 15-14, in the semifinals.
Olmstead, Alex Preston, Ryan Laxton and Dylan Head defeated York 45-39 for the bronze in team sabre event. Olmstead was named an OUA all-star.