Men's Hockey drop 2-1 decision to No. 10 Thunderwolves

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's hockey team (9-13-1 OUA) fell short against the No.10 Lakehead Thunderwolves in the teams’ third meeting of the season. Brock had lost both of the two previous meetings, allowing four goals in each game.

First period opened with a scramble in the Brock crease stopped by Mark Yetman (Mount Pearl, NL) in the first minute. Isaac Smeltzer (Estevan, SK) highlighted the defensive aspect of the period, making several bone jarring hits. Yetman made several key saves, stopping all four shots faced.

The second period was more of the same, with Brock posting 16 shots on the Thunderwolves net. Yetman remained flawless, stopping all nine shots in the first two periods of play.

Lakehead opened the scoring 1:14 into the third period on a five hole goal on an odd man rush. Brock forward Ryan Stephenson (Belmont, ON) scored high to the blocker side of the Thunderwolves’ goaltender but the net had been knocked off so the goal was disallowed.

Lakehead went up by two on a tight passing play to the edge of the crease chipped over Yetman’s left pad. Ryan Stephenson made up for his disallowed goal, scoring again with 1:28 remaining in the third period.

Only one goal behind, Brock pulled their net, however couldn’t convert their chances, posting a final score of 2-1 in favour of the Lakehead Thunderwolves.

The Badgers are suffering on the blue line due to a spree of injuries. Steve Miller left the game in the first period with what is being called a lower body injury. The defense is also without the aggressive play of Scott Duncan, who had missed several games with a concussion. With the vacancies on the blue line, Steve Pattison stepped forward to alleviate some of the pressure off of the five Brock defenders left to care for the defensive duties.

Brock dominated in shots and in faceoff percentage in the first two periods, however they could not convert their advantage into a lead, which proved costly in the third period as the Lakehead Thunderwolves came up with an offensive dominance of their own.

Brock won 55.6% of faceoffs in the first two periods and outshot Lakehead 16-9. Lakehead outshot Brock 13-5 in the third period and won 56% of faceoffs.

The Badgers now enter a four game road trip, playing Windsor, Guelph and York.

Brock's next home game will take place on February 13, 2010 against the Lakehead Thunderwolves, 7:35 pm at the Seymour-Hannah Centre.

Scoring Summary

1st Period
No Scoring

2nd Period
No Scoring

3rd Period
Lakehead, Dobben (Saggert, Maunu), 1:14
Lakehead, Caria (Speer, McPherson), 15:12 (PP)
Brock, Stephenson (Scott)