Only the Western Mustangs remain unbeaten through Week 3 of the 2023 CUFLA season after McMaster and Brock each fell by a single goal.
In the East, Trent and Carleton both swept a pair of games to extend their lead as the top two teams in the division standings.
Results
Laurier 4, McMaster 3 OT (Box score)
Defence and goaltending held the day on McMaster's Alumni Field Friday night. There was a single goal scored in each of the first three quarters, Laurier connecting in the first and third and Mac in the second.
Then the Marauders got a power play marker from Kendall Hindman to tie things up and a goal two minutes later by Alec Meehan to take their first lead at the midpoint of the fourth quarter. Aidan Macdonald continued the trend of lone scorers when he tied the score 3-3, meaning the teams had matched the goal output of the first three quarters in the fourth alone.
The long stretches of play without scoring did not extend to the overtime period, as it took Thomas Macdonald just 50 seconds to become the seventh different goal scorer in the game, netting the most important marker of the match to move the Golden Hawks into a three-way tie for second place in the West Division with McMaster and Guelph, all sitting at 3-1.
Trent 10, McGill 8 (Box score)
Trent 7, Bishop's 5 (Box score)
The Excalibur headed to Quebec for a double header weekend and faced stiff challenges in both games. On Saturday in Montreal, the game was close throughout and Trent prevailed in large part thanks to two critical stretches of a pair of goals each. After the McGill had tied the game 4-4 in the second quarter, Jordan Dool and Adam Hawrelak connected with 55 seconds and one second remaining in the half, respectively, to put Trent in front. Three times the Redbirds closed to within a single goal but the Excalibur were able to respond each time. The last of those occasions saw Holden Lowes score a pair of goals a minute and a half apart to give Trent its first three-goal lead of the game, at 10-7.
Hawrelak led the way for Trent with 3 goals and an assist while McGill's Dylan James topped all scorers with 4 goals and 2 assists.
Sunday, Trent was at Coulter Field in Sherbrooke to face the Gaiters and the visitors got off to a strong start, riding a pair of goals from Cole Hanrahan to a 2-0 lead after the first quarter and sitting on top 4-1 at half time. Bishop's battled back with a 3-1 third quarter, including goals from Max Chiarella and Markus Young in the final minute and a half of the frame, to make it a one-goal lead heading into the final 15 minutes.
Jackson Hainer for Trent and Sebastien Elie for Bishop's maintained clean sheets in net for the first half of the fourth quarter before Trent's transition game came to the fore. Curtis Conley and Nick Webb scored unassisted goals to give Trent a late three-goal lead that was enough to push their record to 5-1.
The fact that Bishop's, who dropped to 0-3 on the season, gave Trent such a stern test speaks to the competitiveness top to bottom in the East Division.
Western 13, Toronto 3 (Box score)
The Mustangs dominated with defence in the first half, getting a pair of goals in each quarter while Michael Orlando shut the door in net to produce a 4-0 advantage for Western. Then their offence exploded in the second half, pouring in 9 more goals to run away with their third win of the season against no losses.
Chris da Silva had 4 goals for Western while a pair of players added 2 goals and 3 assists each—Connor Murphy and Jacob Hickey, who was recently selected eight overall in the National Lacrosse League entry draft by the Georgia Swarm.
Carleton 11, Ottawa 8 (Box score)
Carleton 13, Ottawa 7 (Box score)
It was an intense weekend for the Ravens and Gee-Gees, meeting first at Ottawa's Lee's Field on Saturday then reconvening just 17 hours later at Raven's Field at Carleton.
Three-goal runs in each of the first two quarters gave the Ravens a leg up on Saturday and yet another three-goal run that spanned the third quarter break gave them an insurmountable lead that held up even with Ottawa scoring the final 3 goals of the game.
The Gee-Gees hoped to carry the momentum from that late run over to Sunday but it was Carleton that found the legs for a fast start, scoring the first four goals and going up 6-1 by three minutes into the second quarter.
Jacob Gasperetti was the main man for the attack Saturday with 3 goals and 3 assists while Sam Trumble had 4 goals and an assist Sunday for Carleton. Cameron York was the picture of consistency with 2 goals and 2 assists in each game for the Ravens. Steven Ainsworth led Ottawa in scoring both days, notching 2 goals and a helper on Saturday then 3 goals and an assist on Sunday.
With the pair of wins, Carleton stays in close contact with Trent at the top of the East Division. Trent is 5-1 with 58 goals scored and 40 allowed. Carleton is 4-1 with 52 goals for and 38 against.
Nipissing 14, Laurentian 1 (Box score)
The Lakers scored early and often in their homecoming game against the Voyageurs. Connor Nevin led the way offensively with 4 goals and 2 assists while Wyatt King and Josh LaPorte split the game in net, with King putting up a shutout in the first half.
Guelph 10, Brock 9 (Box score)
Nail-biters are nothing new to the Gryphons-Badgers rivalry. The teams wrapped up Week 3 with a tight Sunday afternoon tilt at Guelph.
The visitors ran out to a 4-1 lead through 18 minutes of playing time. Then it was the Gryphons' turn to go on a run, and they made the most of it. Guelph got goals from five different players spanning the half-time break to push ahead, then after a Brock response, Liam Aston scored back to back to give him a hat trick and his team an 8-5 lead.
The sides alternated goals through the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter. Then, in the final 1:17, Brock managed a significant pushback with goals from Faris Owen and Brodie Thoms that made it a one-goal game with 38 seconds to play. The Badgers couldn't find the tying marker, so they dropped their first game of the season and fell to 2-1, just a half-game behind the trio of teams tied at 3-1. That makes five teams with either four or six points, all of them with goal differentials of +11 or better.
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