University of Toronto Athletics

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team fell 5-4 to the Brock Badgers in their 2021-22 home opener on Thursday night (Nov. 11) at Varsity Arena.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Blues opened the scoring 3:27 into the contest as third-year forward Joey Manchurek forced a turnover and fed a nice 2-on-1 pass to Kyle Potts. The Badgers responded just 10 seconds later though, as Ayden MacDonald found a wide-open Christian Girhiny for a 2-on-1 goal of their own.
 
Brock took the lead 10 minutes later as Olivier Desroches sent a shot from the point through traffic and Tyler Rollo was there to deflect it in. Second-year Blues forward Ross Krieger evened the score at 2-2 before the first frame expired, intercepting a Badgers clearing attempt and sending a long shot through traffic to beat Brock netminder Mario Culina.
 
U of T regained the lead early in the second frame when second-year defenceman Brendan Bornstein sent a booming shot from the point that trickled over Culina and in. That didn't last long though as the Badgers scored back-to-back goals from Jacob Roach and D'Artagnan Joly midway through the period. Brock took a 4-3 lead into the second intermission.  
 
The Badgers added an insurance marker off the stick of Adam Berg with just over six minutes to go in the third period. Potts was able to narrow the gap with his second of the night with 53 seconds remaining but time ran out before the Blues could complete the comeback.
 
Third-year netminder Alex Bishop made 36 saves in the loss.
 
UP NEXT: The Blues head to St. Catharines, Ont., for a rematch with the Badgers this Saturday, November 13. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:15 p.m.
 
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