Redmen Move on to CUFLA’s Championship Match

In the first of two semi finals of the Baggataway Cup at Trent University's Justin Chiu Stadium, the McGill Redmen took on the Guelph Gryphons. A great game to see, accompanied with a full house, saw the lead change hand and the score line stay tight throughout the game, until the Redmen came from behind and snatched the lead in the final seconds of the final period. This was a game that could have gone either way.
 
Redmen drew first blood as they scored first with #5 Alex Rohrbach (Princeton Junction) but it was not long before the Gryphons equalized through #11 Connor Deuchars (Toronto). After the first period both teams were tied 2-2. The Gryphons were first to strike in the second half with #7 Eric Hubert (Mississauga) and lead 3-2 by Redmen answered back with three goals in a row, scored by #27 Nolan Prinzen (Summit) #9 Taylor Sipperly (Charlotte) #18 Ryan Besse (Aurora) to make it 5-3 before the Gryphons pulled one back before half time through #7 Eric Hubert (Mississauga) and the score line was 5-4 at half time. The Gryphons dominated the scoring in the third period with three goals by #20 Jordan Daradick (Welland) #9 Curtis Knight (Oshawa) #11 Connor Deuchars (Toronto) and Redmen put nothing on the board. The lead once again changed hands in favour of the Gryphons 7-5. With it all to play for in the final period, both teams wore their hearts on their sleeves and gave it their all. Redmen closed the gap through #7 Jishan Sharples (Vancouver) to make the score 6-7 however the Gryphons did reply quickly through #7 Eric Hubert (Mississauga) to give a two point lead. The final few seconds of the game climaxed as Redmen scored with #5 Alex Rohrbach (Princeton Junction) bringing the game to within a point followed by another goal by #7 Jishan Sharples (Vancouver) and with everyone expecting overtime Redmen's #11 Brandon McLean (Victoria) scored to give his team a ticket to the final!
 
MVP Redmen #11 Brandon McLean (Victoria) & Gryphons #33 Jonathan Harnett (Orangeville)
 
Picture Redmen #7 Jishan Sharples (Vancouver)
 
Picture taken by Joshua Baranowski

Article by Paul Hunter, Trent University