The 2018 CUFLA kicked off this weekend and McGill and Nipissing set an exciting tone for the season with an overtime tilt Saturday. McGill came away with a 13-12 win thanks in part to 5 goals by Seth Obadia, playing his first game with the Redmen after transferring from NCAA Division 1 Lafayette College.
Toronto had opened the season Friday night with a 14-8 win over Laurier. In other Saturday action, Ottawa dumped Carleton 17-4 and Bishop's downed Queen's 8-2.
Box scores:
McGill 13, Nipissing 12
Toronto 14, Laurier 8
Ottawa 17, Carleton 4
Bishop's 8, Queen's 2
Game story courtesy McGill Athletics:
Seth Obadia scored five goals and freshman Andrew Chase added a pair, including the winner in double overtime, as McGill outlasted the visiting Nipissing Lakers 13-12 to open play in the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association before a crowd of 253 at Percival Molson Stadium, Saturday.
The Redmen led 3-2 after the opening quarter and took a 9-4 advantage into halftime but self-destructed in the second half with undisciplined play, taking 10 of the 17 penalties called in the game. Nipissing won the third quarter 3-1 and then took the fourth stanza 4-1 to force an automatic two overtime periods. McGill won the first four-minute session 2-1 and the second extra period was scoreless.
"We looked brilliant at times and awful at others. We were mentally weak, made too many mistakes," said a relieved Tim Murdoch, in his 15th season as head coach of the Redmen. "There were several offsides and bad decisions. We had a long meeting after the game. I told them that they had an A- on the midterm but a D- on the final, which is not a pretty final grade. We were happy to win but very much reflective on how we had to do better the next day against Queen's."
Obadia, a first-year transfer from Lafayette College, an NCAA Div. 1 program, also added an assist to finish with a six-point soiree in his McGill debut. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound attackman from Port Washington, N.Y., opened the scoring at 4:36 of the first quarter. He added a hat-trick in the second stanza, improving McGill's lead to 4-3, 7-4 and 9-4, respectively, then gave the Redmen a 12-11 edge in the first overtime period.
"Seth had a really nice game, played with a lot of poise," said Murdoch. "He had two years of Div. 1 experience in the NCAA, so he and our two other NCAA transfers -- Andrew Chase and Cougar Kirby -- inject a lot of maturity, confidence and high-end game play into our offence. They're going to be key contributors all season."
Kirby, a sociology major from Kahnawake who just transferred to McGill from the University of Albany, tallied once in his debut, played before a large group of family and friends.
Senior Maxime Murdoch, the coach's son, added a pair of goals, with other singles going to junior Connor Plante of Burlington, Vt., junior Kieran McKay of Richmond, B.C., and Colton Campbell, a sophomore from Boulder, Col.
Nipissing's Tanner Poole and Will Craig each netted a hat-trick in a losing cause. Rounding out the Ravens scoring, with two goals apiece, was Scott Dominey, Sam Rooney and Riley Sloan.
Goalkeeper David Pelliccione, an economics junior from Woodbridge, Ont., made 12 saves on 19 shots to collect the victory between the pipes for McGill. Ravens' keeper Andrew Wood was charged with the loss, conceding 13 goals on 18 shots.
McGill (1-0) will host Queen's on Sunday at Molson Stadium (1 p.m.). The Gaels (0-1), normally an annual contender, were beaten 8-2 at Bishop's on Saturday.
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