Badgers tested early in the new year
Marc MacDonald
Issue date: 1/15/08 Section: Sports
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This was the fate of the Brock men's hockey team this past weekend, entertaining a blitz of opponents to open the new year.
Facing off against Carleton, the University of Quebec Trois Rivieres (UQTR) and Ottawa respectively, the Badgers were in for a tough time, with all three opponents fighting for playoff position.
After a disappointing opening match up against the Carleton Ravens on Friday night, where they dropped a 5-2 decision, the Badgers were in danger of losing back-to-back games, as they hosted the UQTR Patriotes on Saturday night.
The Patriotes and Badgers treated each other to a physical affair, making the weekend's other games seem like a ballet in comparison.
The Badgers would skate away with an important 4-1 victory over the seventh- ranked team in the country, further proving they can play with the league's, and the country's, best teams.
In Sunday's bout, the Badgers took on the Ottawa Gee-Gee's, looking to win two of the three games.
Matt Harpwood got his third consecutive start in net for Brock, after some speculation that newly acquired Mark Packwood would make his Badgers debut in the weekend finale.
Harpwood was the Badgers best player for the course of the weekend, playing solid, consistent hockey and making big save after big save to keep the Badgers in contention for wins.
Three consecutive starts for the Badgers puck stopper proved to be more of a test between the ears than between the pipes.
"I felt today was more of a mental battle than a physical one," said Harpwood. "My legs felt fine and I just battled through it today."
The Badgers came out of the gates with whatever energy they had left from the previous two games, but their lack of jump was noticeable in their inability to sustain an attack in the offensive zone and failing to clear the puck out of their own zone on multiple occasions.
The Gee-Gee's provided a constant attack, proving to be hungrier than Brock for a win that they desperately needed.
"We knew they would come at us hard," said head coach Murray Nystrom. "We knew we'd see a lot of them in our zone, we wanted to make sure we managed that in a way that we would make them earn their opportunities."
"There were times we tried to clear the puck out of our zone five times and kept turning it over, we were wasting energy we couldn't afford to."
The Badgers missed a golden opportunity in the first period, with a two-man advantage for nearly a full two minutes, but were unable to get a puck past the Gee-Gee's netminder.
With Ottawa pressing hard throughout the game, it took the Badgers until the third period to tie the score at one goal a piece when a Pat Selin point shot found its way through a myriad of bodies in front of the net.
Selin's second goal of the season was a bright spot for the fourth-year defensive-minded defencemen.
"Two in a year, that's a record for me here at Brock," said a chuckling Selin. "I'm just going to worry about playing solid defensively and chip in where I can on offense."
Selin's goal at 3:42 of the third period proved pivotal for a couple of reasons. It was the goal that allowed the Badgers to get to overtime and eventually a shootout, but it was also the last shot on goal the Badgers would get, going nearly 22 minutes without forcing the Ottawa goaltender to make a save.
In the shootout Paul Holder was the only Brock skater to manage a goal, proving not enough as Ottawa scored a pair.
The three out of a possible six points was not what Brock had envisioned when the weekend began, but will surely take what they learned with them as they move towards the playoffs.
"We had higher expectations," said Selin. "We're happy to take three points and we'll take the positives from this weekend."
"Whether it was being tired or being off for a month and half we just couldn't bring it today. When we get to playoffs we're going to have to play this type of schedule. It's a good lesson for all the guys."
While the Badgers still sit atop their division, the race for the number one seed in the league is still up for grabs.
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