It's time for our weekly look around at what happened in CUFLA over the weekend of Week 4.
Compiled by Mack Abbott
CUFLA Round-Up: Week 4
Guelph 12 @ McMaster 9
McGill 7 @ Bishop’s 6
Brock 13 @ Toronto 5
Carleton 9 @ Queen’s 14
Guelph 14 @ Laurentian 10
Western 15 @ Laurier 7
McMaster 15 @ Nipissing 14
Ottawa 5 @ McGill 14
Guelph 11 @ Nipissing 15
Ottawa 12 @ Carleton 7
Toronto 8 @ Brock 14
Western 12 @ Laurentian 5
Gryphons improve to 3-1 with another win over McMaster
Hamilton, ON - Last week, in the first match up between these two teams this season, a combination of a stingy Gryphon defense and an offense that is starting to find its way dominated the McMaster Marauders by a score of 11-1. This week however, it was clear that McMaster had made some adjustments in preparation for their second meeting with the Gryphons and a much more confident Marauder team took the field gave the Gryphons a battle that they were not expecting.
The opening face-off was indicative of how this game would transpire. For 20 seconds, the teams battled for the loose ball before a speedy Blaze McCullough scooped it up for the Gryphons. On their first possession, veteran midfielder Brett Ulbikas easily beat his defender and put the ball just inside the right post to put Guelph on the board. Less than 2 minutes later another veteran middie, Brendan Vogan, blew past his defender and ripped a shot to the bottom left corner, giving the Gryphons a 2-0 lead. It looked like Guelph would once again dominate McMaster.
Another dominate face-off win by Gryphon draw-man Josh Manangan gave Guelph its third possession of the game, but Guelph failed to capitalize and open the game up. McMaster found the mark at 12:59 after a Gryphon penalty gave them a man advantage.
The Gryphon offense continued to miss good scoring opportunities until McCullough scored his second of the season and put Guelph back up by 2. A fast break off the ensuing face off left Gryphon attackman Mike Cavanagh wide open on the crease, but a spectacular save by McMaster's goalie stole yet another opportunity for Guelph. McMaster would ride the momentum of the save back into Guelph's end where the Gryphons would take another penalty. McMaster once again capitalized on the man advantage bringing the score to 3-2 to end the quarter.
After a rare face-off loss to start the second quarter, Guelph found itself on defense. Less than a minute into the frame, McMaster took advantage of a Gryphon defensive miscue, scoring their first 6 on 6 goal this season against the Gryphons. McMaster would score again 6 on 6 only a minute later to take a 4-3 lead. While the Gryphons regained the lead with goals from McCullough and Todd Greer they would relinquish it once again, allowing McMaster 3 unanswered goals; the third of which, came with only seconds remaining in the half.
Down 7-5 at the half with a sputtering offense and a defense that had not given up 7 goals in one half yet this season, the Gryphons found themselves in unfamiliar territory. Early in the third Brendan Vogan picked up his second of the game, reducing MAC's lead to 1. Despite Vogan's early goal, McMaster was able to maintain the momentum from the first half and by the 11:00 mark of the third they had scored two more unanswered goals to open up a 9-6 lead.
Gryphon Head Coach Sam Kosakowski was unequivocal about the team's performance early on. "We didn't put them away in the first quarter when we should have, and we struggled with loose balls and turnovers. MAC had all of the momentum but because we were patient and we started to clean things up, we gave ourselves a chance".
Momentum is crucial in field lacrosse and you could feel it slowly tipping back into Guelph's favour as the quarter wore on. Down by three, the Gryphons started dominating loose balls once again. The offense, rather than rushing to even up the score, remained patient and calculating, probing McMaster's defense and then took advantage when the match ups favoured Guelph.
With 8:48 remaining in the third, Mike Cavanagh found the back of the net to bring the Gryphons to within two. Guelph won the next face off and when the offense was set, Vogan dodged again from the top and ripped his third goal past the McMaster net minder. Now down by one going into the final quarter the momentum began to shift toward Guelph.
Brett Ulbikas, who had been quiet for most of the game, made a hard cut from the top and took a great feed from behind the net from attackman Liam Corbett. Ulbikas fired it just under the crossbar, evening the game at 9.
When it looked like McMaster might get themselves back into the game, the Gryphon defense once again tightened up. Goaltender Mike Lalani, who despite having what team personnel would only comment on as a lower body injury, make some key stops down the stretch to keep McMaster off the score sheet. Guelph was in complete control of the game at this point. After scoring three unanswered goals to tie it up, Danny McIsaac, Brendan Vogan and Liam Corbett added 3 more on their way to a 12-9 come-from-behind win.
Vogan's 4 goal performance led all scorers and was the biggest night of Vogan's 4 year career as a Gryphon. For his performance, he was an honorable mention as the Gryphon player of the game. The player of the game went to Manangan, who went 17/21 on face offs, giving the Gryphons the opportunity to stay in the game and eventually register a great comeback win.
Brett Ulbikas had 4 points with 2 goals and 2 assists. Corbet and McIsanac each had a goal and 2 assists, while Blaze McCullough contributed to goals. Todd Greer and Mike Cavanagh had a goal apiece.
Source: Guelph Athletics
Bishop’s beaten by Bjella as lacrosse Redmen win streak now at 35
LENNOXVILLE, Que. Anders Bjella, a senior from Milwaukee, Wisc., scored twice, including the game-winner as visiting McGill rallied to edge Bishop's 7-6 in a key men's lacrosse confrontation between two undefeated teams at Coulter Field, Thursday.
The Redmen, who took sole possession of first place atop the CUFLA East standings at 9-0, improved their win streak to 35 consecutive games in regular-season play. It put a damper on Homecoming Week for the Gaiters, who dropped to 8-1 in the standings and have now lost six straight meetings to McGill since an 11-10 Bishop's victory on Sept. 27, 2012.
McGill, which had an 18-17 edge in shots, led 1-0 after the opening quarter, 3-2 at halftime and 6-4 after three. The Gaiters came out quickly after the intermission and scored a pair of goals to take a short-lived 4-3 lead before McGill stormed back with four consecutive markers, capped by Bjella's second of the soiree, with less than nine minutes remaining on the clock.
Goaltender William Waesche, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound economics junior from Greenwich, Conn., turned aside 11 of 17 shots for the victory and improved to 8-0 on the season.
"He made a number of circus-act like stops. especially from in close against some of the top shooters in the league," said Tim Murdoch, who has served as volunteer head coach at McGill since 2003 and is now in his 13th season. "It was an amazing performance, perhaps the best I've ever seen by a McGill goalie.
"Our defence played incredibly well on a day where our offence never really got on track."
Seniors Connor Goodwin of New Westminster, B.C., and Rhys Burnell of Abbotsford, B.C., each added a pair of goals for the Redmen while Spencer Bromley, a junior from Surrey, B.C., tallied the other.
McGill, which is the only remaining undefeated school in the 15-team CUFLA conference, will put their lengthy win streak back on the line when they host Ottawa (2-5) in the team's annual Homecoming weekend at Percival Molson Stadium, Saturday, Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. That event will be preceded by an alumni game at 2:30 p.m. on Forbes Field, located beside the student residences.
Source: McGill Athletics
Brock men’s lacrosse downs Varsity Blues 13-5
TORONTO - The Brock University men's lacrosse team answered eight times in the second half to defeat the Toronto Varsity Blues 13-5 Friday night on the road.
Leading the Badgers offense was Nicholas Beaudoin (Welland, Ont.) who recorded a career high six points adding five goals and one assist.
Davis Neal (Orangeville, Ont.) added the natural hat trick while Nick Karam(Whitby, Ont.) (1G, 1A), Nick Rybka (Bolton, Ont.) (1G), Connor Ham(Newmarket, Ont.) (1G), Kyle Moore (Limehouse, Ont.) (1G) and Davis Neal(Orangeville, Ont.) (1G) rounded out the scoring.
Scoring for the Varsity Blues were Mitch de Snoo (3G) and Jason Barnable (2G).
In goal, Brock rookie Jacob Sprigg (Mount Albert, Ont.) recorded the victory.
Source: Brock Athletics
Gryphons open northern road trip with win over Laurentian
Sudbury, ON – The men's lacrosse team completed the first leg of its northern trip with a 14-10 win over Laurentian. Laurentian, having just come off a 13-11 upset win over Brock last week, were looking to make it two in a row.
Despite allowing a Laurentian goal in the first minute, the Gryphons took charge of the game early, scoring 4 unanswered goals in the 1st quarter and another to begin the 2nd. Laurentian dominated draws but weren't able to solve Guelph's defense until the second when the scored two in a row making it 5-3. The teams traded goals after that and the half ended with Guelph up 7-4.
The Gryphons broke the game open in the third. Midfielder Todd Greer got his second on the game followed by attackman Liam Corbett. Rookie attackman Zack Luis found himself in the right place at the right time and buried two more for the Gryphons. Dmytro Dutka jumped into the pipes for the second half and kept the Voyageurs off the board for the quarter.
In the final frame Guelph, battling some injuries and needing to rest some starters, the Gryphons began rolling through their lineup. Quenton Begin, playing midfield, made a great dodge through the middle, was checked as he was about to shoot but managed to pop the ball up off of the back of his glove back to his stick and then fire it past the Laurentian goalie. Guelph was up 12-4.
But penalties plagued Guelph in the 4th allowing the Voyageurs to close the gap. Laurentian went on a 4-0 scoring run and began to make a game of it. The Gryphons seemed unsettled as an element of panic began to creep in. Rookie attackman John Mika put an end to the Voyageur run with a great individual effort, beating two Laurentian defenders before scoring on a defenseless Laurentian goalie. Laurentian would manage two more only to suffer an empty netter at the hands of Gryphon Brett Ulbikas.
Despite their 4th quarter meltdown which saw the Gryphons outscored 6-3, the team did what they came to do: play well, play everyone and win.
Speedy Gryphon midfielder Blaze (Jimmy) McCullough had 2 goals and 2 assists for the Gryphons while Mike Cavanagh and Brett Ulbikas each had 2 goals and 1 assist. Liam Corbett had a goal and 2 helpers. Greer and Luis each had 2 goals while Begin and Mike had 1 apiece. Both Luis and Mika scored for the first time as Gryphons.
Source: Guelph Athletics
Petter sinks Lakers in dramatic 15-14 win
In one of the most exciting lacrosse games you will see anywhere, McMaster travelled up to North Bay to tangle with the Nipissing Lakers on a cool, windy Saturday. In a see-saw battle, the Marauders edged the Lakers 15-14 to improve to 2-5 on the season.
"This game had everything: lots of goals, lead changes and a winning goal in the last seconds of the game," Tallevi said after his Marauders dramatic win. "Obviously, I would prefer a more comfortable three or four-goal victory if I had my choice, but from a spectator's point of view, you couldn't beat this one."
The Mac squad got things going quickly, as Mitch Iszulka buried his first of four on the day with a bullet to the top corner of the net early in the contest. He followed that up with another goal a minute later from a great pass from Jamie Batten. McMaster's offense was clicking all day and built an early three goal lead as Andrew Campbell beat the Laker goalie on a nifty pass from Derrick Hastings.
McMaster went into the second quarter with a 5-3 lead, but the Lakers were not going to go quietly. The North Bay squad outscored Mac 8-5 in the middle two quarters to go into the final frame with an 11-10 lead. Both teams exchanged a couple more goals in the fourth quarter, before Ryan Adams beat the Laker goalie to tie the contest at 14.
After a strong defensive series which saw Marauder goalie Max Yavitt make his 15th and most important save of the day, the Mac team found themselves with possession of the ball in the final minute of the game. A key timeout gave Mac one chance to prevent the contest from going into overtime. Brandon Petter took the ball with eight seconds left in the game dodged by his defender and fired a laser to the top of the net to clinch the Mac victory with three seconds on the clock.
McMaster's offense was lead by Mitch Iszulka, who finished the day with four goals and two assists, fellow attack man Derrick Hastings had three goals and four helpers while Jamie Batten finished the day with five points. Andrew Campbell and Brandon Petter both had two goals, while singles went to Brandon Burr and Ryan Adams.
McMaster improves their record to 2-5 and will travel to London to take on CUFLA West division leaders Western Mustangs on Friday October 9th.
Source: McMaster Athletics
Goodwin tallies six to reach century mark in goals as Redmen push win streak to 36
MONTREAL Co-captain Connor Goodwin of New Westminster, B.C., scored six goals and added an assist, becoming just the fourth player in McGill lacrosse history to reach the century mark in goals as the Redmen overwhelmed Ottawa 14-5 at Percival Molson Stadium, Saturday.
It was McGill's 36th consecutive regular season victory in the Canadian Universiity Field Lacrosse Association and the team improved to 10-0, the last remaining undefeated squad in the 15-team league. With two games remaining before playoffs, the Redmen can clinch the CUFLA East Division pennant should they defeat second-place Bishop's (8-1) in their next game on Thursday (Oct. 8 at 8:30 pm) at Percival Molson Stadium
Goodwin, a fifth-year electrical engineering senior, now has 190 career points, includimg 103 goals, in a McGill uniform. He is five points shy of the school record set by Ryan Besse, an attacker who scored 196 at McGill from 2009 to 2012. Goodwin becomes just the fourth McGill player to reach the 100-goal plateau, behind Besse (141), Luke LaCava (109) and Alex Rohrbach (107).
The 6-foot-1, 175-poiund midfielder scored a first quarter goal then lost the use of his stick for the remainder of the game after a spot check by the referee at halftime determined that the strings were a little too tight and the stick was declared illegal. Goodwin, who didn't have a back-up stick handy for the game, borrowed a stick from injured teammate James Vickery and tallied five more goals – all in the second half.
The seven-point soiree also moved Goodwin into second place among CUFLA scoring leaders with 37 points after 10 games.
"Connor is a phenomenal athlete and he can win a game single-handedly when necessary, as he did tonight," said McGill head coach Tim Murdoch.
McGill, which held a 24-13 edge in shots, led 4-1 after the opening quarter, 5-2 at halftime and 8-3 after three.They finally broke throughh in the final stanza to outscore the Gee-Gees 6-1.
Overshadowed by Goodwin was a great outing from Goose Bolton and Emile Sassone-Lawless. Bolton netted a hat-trick, while Sassone-Lawless tallied six points, including five assists. He now leads all CUFLA players in assists with 22.
"Emile does a remarkable job of handing out juicy red apples," said Murdoch. "He has incredible vision and his unselfish play has paid off with him being the league leader in that department."
Rounding out the scoring for the Redmen was Rhys Burnett with two, Anders Bjella and Rufus Frost.
All-conference goaltender William Waesche got the start and saved five of seven shots before giving way at halftime to freshman Connor Manahan of Victoria, B.C., who surrendered three goals on six shots and collected his first career win in CUFLA play.
"We were down two men and Manahan stepped in for his first test – he performed well coming in cold off the bench," noted Murdoch.
Mike Webster went the distance in net for Ottawa. He conceded 14 goals on 24 shots and took the loss.
Brandon Perras and Shayne Snider each scored twice for Ottawa with the other marker coming fromFrederick Hartley.
"We were sluggish tonight and happy to escape the win as we had an extraordinary number of penalties (11), including a pair of three-minute 'illegal stick' calls that had us short-handed for 14 minutes," revealed Murdoch. "Stellar play from our defence allowed us to keep Ottawa from closing the gap. It was a very challenging week, with a tough road game two nights ago in in Lennoxville.Then less than 48 hours later 48 hours we had to play Ottawa.
For the past two seasons, referees have been performing random stick checks at halftime of every game, according to Murdoch. The league made that mandatory to avoid what had became embarrassingly common when coaches would delay games by frequent requests for stick checks after key goals. If a stick is ruled illegal after a goal the scoring play is wiped out.
"Now that the players all know that four per team will be checked at random, most of them are paranoid about being penalized, so the rule is an efficient one."
Source: McGill Athletics
Gryphons fall 15-11 in North Bay versus Nipissing
North Bay, ON - The Gryphons Men's Lacrosse team suffered their second loss of the season Sunday in North Bay, falling 15-11 to the Nipissing Lakers.
From the opening first face off the team struggled. They were unable to gain and keep possession of the ball. Defensively, Guelph was a half-step behind, allowing the Nipissing offense to get free and open looks. Frustrated, the Gryphons took several penalties in the first quarter that stalled any chances for the team to get anything going. As a result, the Lakers took advantage 4 times in the first quarter, opening up a 4-1 lead.
Despite outscoring Nipissing 5-3 in the second quarter, the Gryphons were never able to gain and sustain any momentum. After tying the game at 6 it looked like Guelph would turn things around on the power play. But the offense turned the ball over and even with a man advantage, the defense allowed Nipissing to score and take a 7-6 lead into half time.
The Gryphons came out somewhat more settled in the second half. Ben Heidecker stepped into the face off job and won the opening draw. The Gryphons tied the game up shortly thereafter with a goal by Attackman Liam Corbett on a feed from Brendan Vogan. Again, Heidecker weaved some face off magic and the ball was back in Guelph's possession and Blaze McCullough subsequently put it into the back of Nipissing's net. But Guelph's rally and one goal lead would be short-lived.
Nipissing went on a 4 goal run before Todd Gryphon would stop the bleeding for the Gryphons. Nipissing responded yet again and set themselves up with a 12-9 lead going into the final quarter.
While a 3-goal lead is a tough deficit to claw back from in field lacrosse the Gryphons certainly have the capability to do it. However, today was not their day. The defense was forced to press out against the Lakers who began slowing the tempo down to a crawl. When the Gryphons pushed out, they were vulnerable inside and Nipissing took advantage, scoring 2 quick goals to start the 4th to take a 5 goal lead.
Guelph got the two goals back and their pressure defense began to force turnovers. But the team continued to struggle with possession and subsequently gave the ball back to Nipissing. The Gryphons continued to push hard but time was not on their side. The Lakers would score on an empty net to finish the game.
"We were not a good team today. We were tired, banged up and we lacked the drive that we need to play at this level", said Coach Kosakowski after the game. "We have a lot of work to do if we want to compete again for the national title".
The Gryphons will get a chance to get back on track next Friday, October 9 at home when they host Toronto. On Saturday, the 10th, they will head to Brock for what should be a tough match up with their longtime rivals. The last time the two teams met was in the 2014 semifinals when the Gryphons, on their way to their second Baggataway Cup title in a row, defeated the Badgers 13-12.
Source: Guelph Athletics
Strong fourth quarter leads Brock men’s lacrosse past Toronto 14-8
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's lacrosse team improved to 6-2 in the CUFLA West Division as they defeated the University of Toronto Varsity Blues by the score of 14-8 Sunday afternoon at Alumni Field.
The Badgers led 6-3 at the half. In the third quarter, Toronto mounted a comeback and tied the game 6-6 with 18:40 remaining in the final quarter.
Brock's offense would finally come alive as they beat Toronto starter Andrew Paton on seven of the next nine shots to take a commanding 13-6 lead with 3:38 left in the game.
Things would get heated near the end after Toronto's leading scorer Mitch de Snoo was given a longpole and two handed the Brock player. Brock head coach Justin Kennedy did not like the actions that happened and would be ejected from the game being called for a three-minute unsportsmanlike conduct and expulsion.
Leading the Badgers offense was the trio of Brandon Slade (Orangeville, Ont.) (2G, 4A), Davis Neal (Orangeville, Ont.) (4G, 1A) and Nicholas Beaudoin(Welland, Ont.) (2G, 3A). Connor Ham (Newmarket, Ont.) recorded two goals and one assist while Nicholas Rybka (Bolton, Ont.) (1G, 1A), Kyle Moore (Limehouse, Ont.) (1G, 1A) and Nick Karam (Whitby, Ont.) (2A) all chipped in with two points each.
In goal, Josh Wood (Welland, Ont.) recorded four saves for the victory. Paton turned aside 15 of the 29 shots he faced in the loss.
The Badgers return to action next weekend when they host the Guelph Gryphons (Oct. 10) and Laurier Golden Hawks (Oct. 11).
Source: Brock Athletics
Mustangs’ McCrory piles on the Voyageurs
The Laurentian Voyageurs men's lacrosse team succumbed to the offensive outburst of Ryan McCrory and the Western Mustangs Sunday afternoon, losing by a score of 12-5.
In net for the Voyageurs was Jake Kelly, the rookie getting the start after yesterday’s loss. McCrory scored two quick goals in the first for Western to take the lead. Laurentian called a time out, hoping to settle down their team and regain control of their efforts. It worked, Neil McInroy put his team on the board. Paul Jelley brought all he could, took a strong shot but it bounced straight off the post. Still energized, Jelley made a great pass over to Mike Kussman who was able to put the ball to the back of the net. Then Patrick Fitzhenry pushed hard through the Mustangs’ defence to give Laurentian their first lead of the game. Fitzhenry thought he put in another one late in the first quarter, but the goal was called off for a crease violation.
To start off the second quarter, McCrory tied up the game at three. Thomas Masterson and Sam Neeb also picked up goals of their own in the second quarter. Western was up 5-3 heading into half time. The Mustangs picked things back up in the third. McCrory started it off, followed by a natural hattirck from Cody Ward. Just before the whistle went to end the third, McCrory added another tally for his team. 10-3 Western after three quarters.
McCrory started off the fourth quarter just as he had the last three, tallying his sixth of the game. Laurentian was able to muster some offence, with less than ten minutes left Doug Bennet scored his fourth goal of the season. Connor Gamble added some insurance for the Mustangs late in the game. Although the energy seemed to be drained from the Voyageurs, Jelley could be heard pumping up his boys, “How bad do you want it?” Laurentian was running out of time, Brad Gerrow scored his sixth of the season and the fifth cumulative goal for the Voyageurs today. That’s all they would be able to produce, as Laurentian lost to the second place Western Mustangs 12-5.
Up next, the Voyageurs look to even up their record as they take on their Northern rivals, the Nipissing Lakers, at home on Friday, October 9 at 5:00pm.
Source: Laurentian Athletics
Upcoming Schedule
Thursday, October 8
Bishop’s @ McGill – 8:30pm
Friday, October 9
Nipissing @ Laurentian – 5:00pm
Toronto @ Guelph – 8:00pm
McMaster @ Western – 8:30pm
Saturday, October 10
Queen’s @ Carleton – 11:30am
Trent @ Ottawa – 1:00pm
Nipissing @ Laurier – 1:00pm
Guelph @ Brock – 2:00pm
Sunday, October 11
Ottawa @ Queen’s – 1:00pm
Laurier @ Brock – 2:00pm
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