Box Score
The Waterloo Warriors men's hockey team must not be too superstitious, because right now, 13 is their lucky number.
Anthony Tapper (Marmora) scored twice and Chris Hurry (Summerland) made 35 stops as Waterloo pushed its point streak to 13 games with a 4-2 win over the Brock Badgers on Friday night in St. Catharine's.
Colin Behenna (Waterloo) and Riley Sonnenburg (Cambridge) also found twine for the Warriors, who ran their record to 12-0-1 since November 8. Hurry earned his third win of the season, as his club improved to 16-6-2 on the season.
Kaine Geldart scored both goals for the host Badgers, who suddenly find themselves in a dogfight for the OUA West division's final playoff spots. With only three games left to play, Brock is in a three-way tie for 6th place, only one point up on 10th in the division.
Clint Windsor was saddled with the loss, as he turned aside 14 shots in relief of starter Adrian Volpe. Volpe made 12 saves before becoming the victim of a quick hook after allowing the second Warriors goal.
The Badgers were arguably the stronger team in the game's opening minutes, but Hurry's play and some key shot blocks kept the game scoreless. The Warriors were able to draw blood first, as Behenna beat Volpe late in the first to give the visitors a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The middle frame was by far the most eventful of the evening, starting with a goalmouth scramble that almost led to Waterloo's second goal. Instead, it led to an injury to top-line center Matt Kennedy (Oro Medonte), and he did not return to the game. The Warriors' bench got shorter seconds later when Phillip Fife (Oromocto) was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for butt-ending an opponent.
But if the Badgers thought they had Waterloo on their heels, their theory was dismissed a mere 10 seconds into their five-minute penalty kill. The Warriors ended up with an odd-man rush off the draw, and Sonnenburg ran the keeper play, beating Volpe to make it 2-0 Waterloo. The shorthanded marker also chased Volpe from the game, as he gave way to Windsor.
The Badgers responded with Geldart's first goal near the end of the power play. He then drew his club even just five minutes later on a delayed Warriors penalty, when he fired a shot from the high slot past Hurry to make it 2-2.
The Warriors climbed back on top for good in the late stages of the second, when Tapper broke in with speed on a 2-on-1 with Sonnenburg. After a nice move, Tapper's centering feed hit a Badgers defenceman and pinballed in the net for the eventual game-winning goal.
All things considered, the Warriors' third-period effort was a clinic in playing with a slim lead on the road. The Badgers couldn't mount any sort of sustained pressure, and Tapper's late empty netter salted the game away for Waterloo.
The Warriors will now turn their attention to a showdown for second place in the OUA West division, when they battle the Western Mustangs on Saturday. The two teams, separated by just one point in the standings, will drop the puck at 4pm in London.
