The game couldn't have been any closer, but Bronsen Muller's first career CUFLA goal in double overtime allowed the reigning Baggataway Cup champion and 2023 Baggataway host Trent Excalibur to wrest control of CUFLA East from Carleton with a 7-6 win over the Ravens on Friday night at Trent's Justin Chiu Stadium.
Trent followed up with a 12-7 win Saturday over Bishop's to maintain the hold on first place they had taken a day earlier. McGill also won a pair of games in Week 7, downing Queen's 12-7 and Ottawa 16-4.
McMaster had been in a bit of a scoring slump, putting up just 5 goals in two games, but had won both of them. Then in their final Week 7 game they got their scoring rolling as well in a 12-1 victory over Laurentian. Western remained unbeaten while Brock rebounded from a loss to the Mustangs by taking a critical win over Laurier to wrap up the week's play. Full results below.
Trent Excalibur 7, Carleton Ravens 6 2OT (Friday October 13)
Box score
Carleton had won the first game of the season between these two teams almost a month ago and they were jockeying for pole position in the East, so it was no big surprise that Friday's game was tight throughout. The team's alternated goals as they scored a pair each in the first quarter, then Carleton took their first lead in the second quarter on a Jacob Garcia goal. That was answered by Cole Hanrahan, but Jacob Gasperetti responded with his second of the game to put the Ravens ahead 4-3 at half time.
Hanrahan's hat trick marker just over a minute into the third tied it up and Trent rode a pair of rips from lefty Jordan Dool to the first (and only) multi-goal lead by either team. When Ryan Patterson scored for Carleton with 2:02 left in the quarter, the lead was once again a single goal.
Both goalies—Jackson Brown for Trent and Thomas Kiazyk for Carleton—were unbeatable for the first 12 minutes of the fourth quarter. Then Sam Trumble, the league's leading goal scorer with 23 through nine games, connected off a feed from Cameron York to force overtime.
The Ravens had won 10-9 in the September 17 game (with Trumble scoring 4 goals in that contest, 3 of them coming in the fourth quarter including the last 2 to tie the game and provide the winner), so another Carleton victory would have given them a huge edge in the battle for first place in the East. That prize would come with a direct berth to the Baggataway Cup semifinals as hosts if Trent won Friday, and the semifinals berth for Carleton if they won Friday and beat the East 5th seed in the playoffs.
The winning goal wound up coming from an unlikely source on an impressive transition play from the Excalibur. Defender Chris Schell stripped a Carleton ball carrier to force a ground ball which was scooped up by Ben MacDonnell, who ran it over centre then passed it ahead to Nick Webb. Webb in turn tossed it to Dallyn Rai. With rookie faceoff specialist/defensive midfielder Bronsen Muller sprinting towards the net, Rai floated a pass in that Muller caught at about waist height and shovelled upwards into the top right corner of the net.
Trent 12, Bishop's Gaiters 7 (Saturday October 14)
Box score
Hitting their home field again a day later, Trent had no trouble maintaining their focus and intensity as they took an early lead, were up 6-3 at half time then scored the only 3 goals of the third quarter before coasting to a victory over Bishop's that was highlighted by Dom Millman's 5 goals and an assist while Jackson Hainer earned his second win over the Gaiters this season, taking his turn between the pipes.
McGill 12 Redbirds, Queen's Gaels 7 (Thursday October 12)
Box score
If you don't count the first quarter, the Gaels came out ahead in a tight battle that saw Allen Reed score the final 2 goals (among his 4 in total) to give Queen's a one-goal edge. Unfortunately for the Gaels, McGill ran away with the first 15 minutes, asserting themselves with a 6-0 lead that made the rest of the game mostly academic. The Redbirds had four players score multiple goals, led by a 4-goal, 1-assist effort from Dylan James.
McMaster Marauders 12, Laurentian Voyageurs 1 (Friday)
Box score
The Marauders continued the successful defensive play that had allowed them to beat Toronto in a rare 1-0 game Wednesday night. Throw in getting goals from nine different players and the result was a big win for McMaster.
Guelph Gryphons 15, Toronto Varsity Blues 3 (Saturday)
Box score
The Gryphons also got goals from nine players in their game at Toronto; with four of those players notching a pair and Robbie Baxter having a hat trick. That all added up to a big win for Guelph.
Guelph 8, McMaster 1 (Sunday)
Box score
With both teams entering their only meeting of the season at 6-2, the winner of this matchup would take a huge step towards ensuring they earn a home game in the West Division playoffs. Guelph went ahead early on a goal by Nicholas Volkov (recently selected by the Albany FireWolves in the first round of the NLL entry draft) and just kept creeping gradually further ahead to secure the home win.
Queen's 10, Ottawa Gee-Gees 3 (Saturday)
Box score
Queen's blew open a game that was close at the intermission with a 6-0 second half to clinch a playoff berth.
Western Mustangs 8, Brock Badgers 4 (Saturday)
Box score
A 3-0 second quarter proved to be a key difference as the Mustangs improved to 7-0. Western has a busy Week 7 coming up; they play Friday at home against Toronto then hit the road for games at Laurentian Saturday and Guelph Sunday.
McGill 16, Ottawa 4 (Sunday)
Box score
McGill hadn't hit double digits in goals through the first five weeks of the season, but their steadily improving offence did it for the second time in four days on Sunday as the Redbirds led 3-0 over the Gee-Gees after the first quarter and just kept pulling away through the game.
Brock 10, Laurier Golden Hawks 3 (Sunday)
Box score
The Badgers left no doubt they meant business in the final game of Week 6, going ahead 3-0 through the first quarter, extending the lead to 7-0 at half time and entering the final five minutes of the game up 9-0 en route to a convincing win.
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