Ryan Burton scored the game-winning goal and the Brock Badgers defeated the Guelph Gryphons 3-1 to win the 20th annual Steel Blade Classic Friday night.<\/p>\n
A record-breaking 5,000 Brock students, alumni and community members packed the Meridian Centre in downtown St. Catharines to watch the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow special is it when you hear the national anthem and everyone\u2019s singing it?\u201d said head coach Marty Williamson. \u201cIt\u2019s crazy. It was so loud that I had to pat my players on the back to let them know they\u2019re going rather than calling their name, but it\u2019s fantastic.<\/p>\n
“The drums, the singing, it\u2019s the atmosphere you love to see. You don\u2019t get opportunities often in U SPORTS to play in front of this kind of a crowd and you would never know this is an exhibition game by the way the two teams played out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burton scored during a goal-mouth scramble with less than five minutes remaining in the third period to lift the Badgers to victory.<\/p>\n
Cosimo Fontana registered the assist on the game-winner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of blacked out from the play, but I remember the puck got put low,\u201d said Burton. \u201cI knew Fonts was going to try and take it to the net, he was talking about making that kind of play earlier in the game. So I went to the back door and the puck squeezed out and I got it over his pad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Connor Brown scored twice. He put Brock on the board first with a breakaway goal in the first period. In the second, Gryphons defenceman Mark Raycroft tied the game up 1-1.<\/p>\n
Brown added an empty netter to secure the win.<\/p>\n
Brock outshot Guelph 30-24 as the game featured stingy defence and few juicy scoring chances. Williamson said the Badgers will be a defensive team this season and gave a lot of credit to his squad\u2019s strong goaltending depth.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the only way I think we know how to play,\u201d said Williamson. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to be a high-scoring team. It\u2019s just our makeup. We have to work awfully hard, but our motto is that if we can get to three or four goals, we believe we win.<\/p>\n
The creator of the Steel Blade Classic, Ed Werner, dropped the puck during a ceremonial faceoff.<\/p>\n
Werner, a longtime Brock supporter and avid university hockey fan, came up with the Steel Blade concept 20 years ago to help recognize the historical connections of Brock University and to raise the profile of the men\u2019s hockey team. The Steel Blade trophy, an 1803 sword which carries the name of the annual champions, was a donation by the Werner family.<\/p>\n
The Badgers return to the Meridian Centre on Saturday, Nov. 17 when the men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball teams take the court to play the Ryerson Rams.<\/p>\n\n\t