Week 3 was a busy one in CUFLA with 10 games spread from Wednesday through Sunday.
In each game, at least one of the two teams scored 10 or more goals, including a pair of games where both teams reached double digits.
Except for Queen's trip to Montreal, in which the Gaels and McGill
combined did not hit the 10-goal mark. McGill won 4-3 in an outlier that emphasized goaltending and defence.
Fittingly, a defender provided what proved to be the winning goal when Tanner Baldin (who had scored the overtime winner last week while McGill was shorthanded against Trent) made the score 4-2 with 4:15 to play in the third quarter.
The goal was McGill's second of the quarter, the only time one team scored more than once in a frame. In the first and fourth quarers, in fact, only one team scored at all. That was McGill in the first when Cameron McGinnis connected just 32 seconds after the opening faceoff.
Little did anyone realize at the time that goals would be few and far between. It took another 17 and a half minutes before Emmet Donahoe tied things up for Queen's. That tie didn't last long as Hunter Zawada put McGill back in front just two minutes later.
Nearly another full quarter's worth of play elapsed without any scoring as senior Max Murdoch was the next player to manage the feat, almost four minutes into the third.
That set off a veritable spree of goals by the standards of this defensive battle, with Carter McKenzie getting the Gaels back within one but Baldin responding with his pole goal to make the score 4-2 at 11:45 of the third.
Queen's goalie Ryan Kent was unbeatable the rest of the way, but unfortunately for the Gaels his McGill counterpart Michael Gallo was even stingier. Gallo allowed just one more Queen's goal, by McKenzie again, then shut the Gaels out for the final 10:19 to close out the win for the hosts.
The win denied Queen's a chance to move into a tie in the standings with McGill. The latter remains undefeated at 4-0 while Queen's drops to 2-2, the same record as the Nipissing Lakers, who lost their only game of the week to 11-9 to Trent on Saturday.
The Excalibur had been on the road all season through that narrow win over the Lakers. They finally made their home debut the following day, taking on the Bishop's Gaiters along the banks of the Otonabee River. The closeness of all the teams in the East was underscored as Trent moved to 4-1 while dropping Bishop's to 1-4, but thanks to a six-goal Gaiters closing run highlighted by three Xavier Perron markers the final score was a tight 10-8.
The three-time defending champion Western Mustangs tripled the number of games recorded in the standings by dumping Toronto 14-2 and Laurentian 22-3 Friday and Saturday, improving to a perfect 3-0.
Brock sits at 2-0 after edging Guelph 12-11 on Saturday. The Gryphons had are 3-2 after splitting their week, beating McMaster in Hamilton Wednesday night before losing to the Badgers.
Here is the
link to the full standings.
| Guelph |
11 |
@ |
McMaster |
8 |
Sep 18, 2019 |
Details |
| Toronto |
2 |
@ |
Western |
14 |
Sep 20, 2019 |
Details |
| Western |
22 |
@ |
Laurentian |
3 |
Sep 21, 2019 |
Details |
| Trent |
11 |
@ |
Nipissing |
9 |
Sep 21, 2019 |
Details |
| Bishop's |
10 |
@ |
Queen's |
11 |
Sep 21, 2019 |
Details |
| McGill |
11 |
@ |
Ottawa |
4 |
Sep 21, 2019 |
Details |
| Bishop's |
8 |
@ |
Trent |
10 |
Sep 22, 2019 |
Details |
| Brock |
12 |
@ |
Guelph |
11 |
Sep 22, 2019 |
Details |
| McGill |
4 |
@ |
Queen's |
3 |
Sep 22, 2019 |
Details |
| McMaster |
17 |
@ |
Laurentian |
6 |
Sep 22, 2019 |
Details |
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