Brock Faces Upstart Trent In Baggataway Cup Quarterfinal

The second Baggataway Cup quarterfinal this year features a team that used to own the league vs a club that had to pull off an upset just to earn a trip to the final six weekend. The Brock Badgers have won 18 CUFLA championships, the last coming in 2009. Trent is a relatively young program, joining CUFLA in 2007, and hasn't been to the Baggataway since playing host to the tournament in 2012. The Excalibur's glory years were early on, when they reached the semifinals in '08 and '09.

Brock Badgers (9-3) vs Trent Excalibur (6-6)

Leading scorers

Brock: Brandon Slade (27g, 36a, 63pts), Connor Ham (30g, 13a, 43pts), Nico Beaudoin (23g, 15a, 38pts), Davis Neal (24g, 12a, 36 pts)

Trent: Travis Szabolcs (19g, 18a, 37pts), Garrett Eddy (20g, 12a, 32pts), Travis Ferguson (15g, 5a, 20pts), Josh Gilray (12g, 8a, 20pts)

Goaltending

Brock: Josh Wood (600 minutes played, 6.93 GAA), Alex Guiney (200 minutes played, 12.80 GAA)

Trent: Austin Cairns (568 minutes played, 10.15 GAA), Kyle Holton (233 minutes played, 12.03 GAA)

Recent history between the teams

None: this is the first time Brock and Trent have met.

2015 Season

Brock led the nation in scoring thanks in large part to Brandon Slade's CUFLA-leading 36 assists and 63 points. They have four players who scored at least 23 goals. Trent finished tenth overall in goal-scoring (although their total was depressed—like the rest of their East Division counterparts—because Concordia dropped out of the season partway through, meaning they defaulted their games and East teams played one less game than West teams). Trent's leading goal scorer, Garrett Eddy, had 20. Simply put, Brock has a huge edge in offence.

Defensively, Brock and Trent actually match up quite well. The Excalibur gave up one more goal than the Badgers. Trent has a pair of defence-centric All Canadian honourable mentions in long pole Cole Murduff and d middie Johnny Lynch. The Badgers' Parker Baile was named the West division's top defender last year and is an All Canadian again this season.

The Excalibur's year is already a success for having earned a trip to the Baggataway Cup for the first time since 2009. They'll have nothing to lose when they take on the Badgers and would relish playing giant slayers as well as showing they are on the rise. That would be a tall order against a Brock team with the talent and experience to make a push to regain the team's past glory.