BADGERS TAKE OVER SECOND IN OUA

With only a couple of weeks remaining in the OUA regular season, it's a well-known fact that the race in the league is for second place. The defending CIS champion Laurier Golden Hawks enjoy a 14-point bulge in the standings but the No. 8 Brock Badgers made their case for that second spot by grabbing three of a possible four points this weekend, including a crucial 2-1 decision over the Toronto Varsity Blues. Briar Komenda had a goal and an assist for the Badgers, while Meghan McKenna also scored in the Badgers win. Lyndsey Ryan scored for the Blues, who out-shot the host Badgers 35-23. Angie Mallory was sharp in goal for Brock, making 34 stops. Brock needed to come from behind to earn a point against the York Lions Friday as they tied 4-4 with visitors from Toronto. Trailing 4-3 entering the third period, CIS goal-scoring leader Kate Allgood cored her 24th goals of the season to send the game to overtime. Allgood added an assist, while Lauren Hoogasian scored once and set up another for the Badgers. Dorothy Aniuk had a goal and an assist for the Lions.

The Guelph Gryphons stayed in the hunt for the second spot with a 5-2 road win over the Queen's Golden Gaels Saturday at Jack Harty Arena. Arden Sullivan, third in league scoring with 10 goals and 12 assists, had two goals and a helper against the Gaels. Aleisha Lusk was sharp in goal, making 39 saves for her eighth win on the season. Queen's responded with a great effort against York the following day, scoring three times in the decisive second period to defeat the Lions 3-0. Claire Hunt made 25 saves for the shut-out, while Cassandra Sparks, Amanda Stenson and Keri Baker had the goals. The win gave the Gaels 22 points, tying them with Toronto for third in the league. Brock has 23 points, while the Gryphons have 22 points with one more game played than the Gaels and Blues. York and Windsor follow that group with 17 points.

Melissa Casselman scored a hat-trick to help the Western Mustangs start the week strong with a 6-2 win over the Warriors. But Western ran into the No. 1 Golden Hawks Sunday, and lost 4-3 in Waterloo. Lauren Barch scored twice for Laurier, while Kirsten Trost needed to make just 10 saves to earn the win between the pipes. Andrea Ironside and Lauren Meschino had two assists each for the Hawks. The win avenges a 5-2 loss Laurier suffered back on Jan.28, which was just their second defeat of the year. The Hawks also beat Windsor 6-1 on Saturday, as Ironside scored twice and added an assist. Laurissa Kenworthy added a pair of assists bringing her season point tally to 24 (11-13-24), second in the league behind Allgood.

Sarah Bryson scored at 1:50 of the third period to lift the Warriors to a 3-2 win over Windsor Sunday. Tammy Low Foon made 37 saves for the victory.

(Photo: Windsor captain Mara Delaroche jostles in front of the Waterloo goal. Photo by Craig Glover)