Jan. 6 Brock roundup: Murphy, Smikle named athletes of the week
Women’s hockey goaltender Jensen Murphy and men’s track and field sprinter Tyrell Smikle were named the Brock University Athletes of the Week for the week ending on Jan. 5.
Murphy, a fifth-year goalie from Kingston, recorded a shutout to backstop the women’s hockey team to a 3-0 win over the Windsor Lancers at home for their first win of 2020 on Jan. 4. Murphy made 31 saves for her second shutout of the season, and eighth of her career.
Smikle, a second-year sprinter from Brampton, placed first overall in the men’s 60-metre dash at the Sharon Anderson Memorial track and field meet at the University of Toronto on Jan. 4. Smikle recorded a time of six seconds and 91 milliseconds.
GALLANT EMBRACING NEW ROLE
As every Brock student-athlete walks up the main staircase in Walker Complex, they see a photograph of Kristin Gallant taking a free throw during a Brock women’s basketball game at the Meridian Centre.
When Gallant and the Badgers return from the holiday break to start 2020, their first home game of the new year will be the latest edition of the Paint the Meridian Red game back at the Meridian Centre on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Both Gallant and the Badgers have come a long way since that photograph of the guard was taken two years ago. Brock’s women’s basketball team headed into the holiday break riding a six-game winning streak. Their 9-1 record has them ranked first in the OUA Central division and No. 9 in the nation.
Gallant, meanwhile, is reinventing her game.
The third-year guard wondered what role she would play as the Brock women’s basketball team was overhauled in the offseason with a wave of recruits and a new offensive scheme.
Then head coach Mike Rao approached Gallant with an idea.
“Mike told me you’re going to be a totally different player come next season,” said Gallant, who spent the summer in the weight room. “Rao is in the process of making me more of an all-round player, he’s changing my shooting form and improving my ball handling so that I can begin to be one of the key playmakers on our team.”
Gallant was also encouraged to improve her shot, so that defenders would have to respect her field goal attempts instead of just guarding her as a driver.
“Her work ethic is second to none. She has a tremendous work ethic. Above everyone,” Rao said. “What’s really impressed me about Kristin is that she’s learning to control her body with the ball, without the ball.”
In her second season with the Badgers, Gallant played a bigger role than her freshman year.
She was a key piece in helping the women’s basketball team bounce back from a forgettable campaign in 2017-18 when the team went 6-18.
She finished second on the team in scoring last season, and posted a game-high 15 points over Laurier in the first round of the OUA playoffs to help the Badgers capture their first playoff victory since 2012.
Gallant originally built her game around velocity.
“In my previous years for basketball I was typically one of the stronger players, so I was always told to use my speed and just go-go-go,” she said. “That technique always got me far in high school, but when it came to university it wasn’t always so successful.”
When Rao was hired as head coach in 2018, he made an emphasis of getting Gallant to start thinking more in game-state situations.
“Kristin is starting to come into her own. Now we’re refining her game,” Rao said. “Last year, she would take the ball and drive to the net. That’s good when it’s open, but when it’s not then it’s catastrophe.”
Gallant and the Badgers recently broke into the national rankings and moved up to No. 9.
During their final game of the first half, the revival of Gallant’s game was on display in Hamilton where she shot 57 per cent versus the defending champion McMaster Marauders, but more importantly when she snagged a crucial offensive rebound to maintain possession and hold on for a 82-80 win.
Paint the Meridian Red will be held at the Meridian Centre on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 6 p.m. for the women’s game and 8 p.m. for the men.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
Goaltender Jensen Murphy made 31 saves to backstop the women’s hockey team to a 3-0 win over the Windsor Lancers at Seymour-Hannah Arena on Jan. 4.
“I think overall we had a better game tonight,” Murphy said. “Our forecheck was working and we did a great job in the defensive zone keeping their players to the outside. The team did a great job, which allowed me to do mine.”
It was Murphy’s second shutout of the season and Brock’s first win of 2020 as the Badgers outshot the Lancers 42-31.
First-year defenceman Avery Vickers scored her first OUA goal on the power play to open the scoring late in the first frame. Mikayla Flanagan and Morgan Dezell each recorded an assist.
“I grabbed the puck from off the boards and started to drag it to the middle when noticed I had a centre lane to the net,” said Vickers. “Thanks to Mishayla Christensen taking the eyes of the goalie away, I was able to get a clear shot and it went in.”
Windsor outshot Brock in the second 16-10, yet it wasn’t until the third when Rebekah Feld scored an unassisted goal to extend the Badgers’ lead to 2-0.
Cassidy Maplethorpe added an empty-net goal with less than two minutes remaining. Dezell tallied her second assist of the evening.
“Energy was good the whole game, but when we focused the energy to the detail we needed then we played well,” head coach Margot Page said.
Goaltender Madeline Albert made 22 saves as the No. 3 Toronto Varsity Blues shut out the Badgers 3-0 at Varsity Arena on Friday.
After a scoreless first period, Cristine Chao and Breanna Berndsen scored back-to-back goals just two minutes apart to give Toronto a 2-0 lead. Berndsen added a power-play goal in the third period.
Up next, the Badgers (7-7-0-0) hit the road to play the Laurier Golden Hawks (1-8-1-4) Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
MEN’S HOCKEY
The No. 4 Toronto Varsity Blues exploded for five goals in the second period to blank the Brock Badgers 7-0 in OUA men’s hockey action at Varsity Arena on Jan. 4.
Goalie Alex Bishop made 25 saves for his third shutout of the season as Toronto outshot Brock 28-25.
Toronto led 1-0 after the first period thanks to a power-play goal. The Blues went four-for-seven with the man advantage.
The men’s hockey team lost their first game after returning to the ice from the holiday break, dropping a 3-1 decision to the visiting Ryerson Rams at Seymour-Hannah Arena on Jan. 2.
“Lots of rust,” head coach Marty Williamson said. “We struggled to make scoring plays. I thought we worked hard, but we needed to finish.”
Jared Marino put Brock on the board midway through the game as Cole Thiessen and newcomer Jordan Maletta each registered an assist.
Goaltender Mario Culina made his debut in between the pipes for the Badgers. He faced 25 shots.
Up next, the Badgers look (10-8-1-0) look to capture their first win of 2020 when they host the Guelph Gryphons Thursday at 7:15 p.m.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
The men’s volleyball team hosted the No. 1 team in the country during an exhibition game at Bob David Gymnasium on Jan. 2.
The Badgers lost 3-0 (20-25, 19-25, 23-25) to the Trinity Western Spartans, who traveled from British Columbia.
Head coach Matt Ragogna said the opportunity of playing against the top-ranked team in Canada was a valuable experience for his young, growing team.
“It was an amazing experience. It was a good battle for us to see where the top program in North America sits in discipline and structure of play,” Ragogna said. “It was a good battle for us, and we gained a lot of valuable experience. I thought that we showed spurts of consistency, but then fell off near the end of sets. It was a good game for us to get back into the second half of the season.”
Brock will play one more exhibition game before returning to the OUA regular season. The Badgers host Daemen College of New York Thursday, at 6 p.m.
The Badgers, who are fourth in the OUA West with a record of 4-5, will play their next regular season game when they host Trent Friday, Jan. 17 at 8 p.m.
TRACK AND FIELD
Sprinter Tyrell Smikle is ranked third in the country for the men’s 60-metre dash after competing at the Sharon Anderson Memorial track and field meet at the University of Toronto on Jan. 4.
Smikle placed first overall with a time of 6.91 seconds.
Emmanuel Harawa finished second in the 300-metre dash with a time of 35.34 seconds. Teammate Eloho Orogun qualified for the OUA Championships in the 300-metre with a time of 36.50 seconds, which earned him sixth overall at the meet.
Joseph Dick secured third in the men’s 1,500 metres with a time of 4:11.54.
Lydia Abraha, a second-year thrower, hit OUA standard in the women’s shot put with a distance of 9.78m.
In the women’s 600-metre run, Lauren Taylor placed seventh with a personal best time of 1:43.49.
Up next, the Badgers travel to the University of Windsor to lace up at the Can Am Classic from Jan. 10-11.
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