CUFLA West Week 4 Results
Western 15, Brock 8
Box score
Brock Athletics story
For about 48 minutes, the CUFLA Week 4 West Division tilt between the Western Mustangs and Brock Badgers looked like another tight battle in the long-standing rivalry.
Then the Mustangs put the pedal down, blowing open a 7-7 game with five straight goals to close out the third quarter en route to a convincing 15-8 win that gives Western sole possession of first place and an edge on the Badgers in the race for a top-two overall seed and the potential for a bye to the Baggataway Cup semifinals.
Western jumped out to a 2-0 lead but Sam Leclair singlehandedly put Brock ahead at the end of the first quarter with three straight goals. After Julian Simeoni's first of 4 goals tied things up, the Badgers responded with goals from Mitch Zulian and then Leclair again to pull ahead again.
In foreshadowing of the runs to come later in the game, Western got goals from Simeoni, Pierson Noble and Scott Del Zotto in the final five minutes of the first half to pull ahead 6-5 heading into the intermission.
Brock tied the score twice more in the first eight minutes of the third, sandwiching markers by Nathan Braniff and Aidan Buis around another Noble goal. But then the Mustangs caught fire. They outscored the Badgers 8-1 the rest of the way, led by Chris Dong pouring in 3 of his 4 total goals during that stretch.
The wide margin of victory could prove crucial at the end of the regular season. Because CUFLA is divided into three divisions this year to meet Covid-19 protocols, their will be three division champions but only two byes to semifinal Saturday at the Baggataway Cup available amongst them.
The first-place team in each division will need to beat a lower seed on the October 30/31 playoff weekend to earn a trip to the Baggataway; if all three win, then the two top seeds and the accompanying bye to the semifinals will be determined by the CUFLA tiebreaking formula. Goals for and against is a critical component (note that games are capped at a 10-goal differential for tiebreaker purposes).
The Badgers and Mustangs meet up again Thursday night on the Badgers' home turf in St. Catharines as Brock tries to even up the season series and keep their hopes of capturing first alive.
Guelph 12, McMaster 3
Box score
Guelph surrendered the first goal but the Gryphons bounced back to score the next nine in a row then cruised to the win over the Marauders. The win improves the Gryphons to 2-1 and keeps them in the hunt for first in the West. They play host to Western in a crucial Week 5 CUFLA West matchup.
Brock 17, Laurier 2
Box score
The Badgers rebounded quickly from their loss to Western with a resounding win over the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in the third and final CUFLA West game of Week 4. Josh Rex and Mitch Zulian each scored 4 goals for Brock while Sam Leclair and Connor Aquanno added three apiece.
Laurier is back in action Wednesday night (Oct. 13) when they travel to Hamilton to play McMaster.
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