Badgers earn split

The Brock Badgers know how to win at Fort William Gardens, and proved it again on Saturday night.

Josh Schram, Ryan Allen and Matt Abercrombie scored three times in a 10-minute span in the second period, enough to propel the Badgers to a 3-2 win, salvaging a weekend sweep in Thunder Bay.

“We just stuck to our game plan. We were down 1-0 after the first and we just played like it was 0-0. We had a game plan from the start and we just continued to execute and it paid off for us,” Abercrombie said.

Lakehead coach Joel Scherban said after dominating the first period, doubling the Badgers in shots and out-chancing them too, he thought the Wolves (14-7-1)were on the right track. Instead they earned their third loss in four outings, failing to listen to a warning Scherban issued between periods.

“I told our guys at the first intermission, we completely dominated this period. But they’re in there right now saying they’ve got us right where they want us. It’s a one-goal game and that’s what they do. They try to shut you down and capitalize on opportunities and we just had a lapse in our decision making for 12 minutes and it cost us the game.”

It was an unhappy Scherban who spoke with media after the contest, played before 2,801 fans.

“It was completely unacceptable. I just don’t know why our guys didn’t make any good decisions. We went from getting every puck deep to trying to make plays at the blue-line and getting checked. We didn’t win our battles, we didn’t forecheck, there were outnumbered rushes again.

“It was a really disappointing span of the game,” said Scherban, forced to go with five defencemen and just 19 players dressed, in the Wolves first game without captain Jordan Smith and leading scorer Matt Caria, off to Turkey for the World University Games.

The feeling was just the opposite down the corridor, where the Badgers improved their playoff standing, upping their record to 9-8-6 and grabbing sole possession of sixth spot in the OUA West.

“Obviously it feels great,” Abercrombie said. “This is s a tough place to play and everybody in the league knows that. We came off a tough loss last night. Maybe the score wasn’t indicative of the game, but it was nice to come back here and put in a good effort and walk away with the split this weekend.”

LU jumped out to an early lead, in a game that would see just seven minor penalties called.

Victor Anilane, standing to Brock goalie Kurt Jory’s right, took a feed from Ryan McDonald, spun and backhanded it into the net, the power play goal coming with 1:16 left in the first.

Josh Schram knotted the score 2:35 into the second, and less than three minutes later Ryan Allen put the Badgers up for good, a goal that the Wolves initially disputed, saying it never crossed the line. However the linesman, buoyed by the red light that came on after the play, called it a goal and Brock led 2-1.

Abercrombie made his own luck on what would prove to be the winner, tripping LU defender Andy Zulyniak in the corner before rushing the net and popping the puck past Kyle Moir, who stopped 28 shots in the contest.

McDonald pulled the Wolves to within one at 6:45 of the first, but their offense couldn’t find a hole in Jory’s armour.

Brock coach – and Thunder Bay native – Murray Nystrom said he wanted his team to focus on playing a more complete game.

That’s exactly what he got, he said.

“I thought we played a little less risky than we did on Friday night. There were less turnovers in the neutral zone and we had a little more presence around the Lakehead net,” Nystrom said. “Fortunately we got a couple of breaks around there and got some good performances from some of our guys.”

Claw marks – With Smith en route to Turkey for the World University Games, defenceman Andy Zulyniak is donning the captain’s ‘C’ for the Thunderwolves ... The Wolves gave up just one power play opportunity to the Badgers ... Lakehead outshot their opponent 31-20 ... Scherban pulled Moir with a minute to go.

First period
Scoring: 1. Lakehead, Anilane 6 (McDonald, Sagert) 18:44 pp. Penalties: Christmas BRO (high sticking) 11:56, Smeltzer BRO (holding) 17:07.

Second period
Scoring: 2. Brock, Schram 4 (Allen) 2:35. 3. Brock, Allen 3 (Schram, Dooley) 5:08. 4. Brock Abercrombie 12 (Brochu, Schwack) 12:03. Penalties: Welsh LAK (roughing), Schram BRO (roughing) 11:13, Dooley (cross checking) 19:36.

Third period
Scoring: 5. Lakehead, McDonald 14 (Sagert) 6:45. Penalties: Magill LAK (hooking) 4:29, Miller BRO (hooking) 9:42

Game Data – SOG – Brock -5-12-4-21, Lakehead 10-11-10-31; Power plays (goals-chances) – Brock (0-1), Lakehead (1-3); Goaltenders – Brock: Kurt Jory, Lakehead: Kyle Moir; A: 2,801.