The Western Mustangs capped off an excellent season with their first Baggataway Cup title since 2019.
The Western Mustangs are the 2023 Baggataway Cup champions after downing the McGill Redbirds 7-4 Sunday afternoon at Trent University's Justin Chiu Stadium.
The Mustangs had one of the best defensive seasons in CUFLA history in 2023; in their 10 regular season games they allowed 4 or fewer goals seven times and 5 goals in two other games. Western continued their defensive mastery in the Baggataway semis with a 9-1 win over Brock.
So entering the championship final, McGill knew they needed to play solid defence and find ways to score. The Redbirds lived up to the first half of that equation, with help from spectacular goaltending by Joseph Boehm, particularly in the first half.
Marc Smorenburg scored the only goal of the first quarter seven minutes into the opening frame to give Western the lead, but McGill responded with Alex Erbstein netting a goal just two minutes into the second quarter. That was it for scoring until the final seconds of the first half. Boehm was excellent and Michael Orlando, though not facing as many chances in the Western net, was equally up to the task. On the verge of heading to the intermission tied 1-1, Western's prodigiously talented midfield forged a lead when Chris Dong took a Chris da Silva pass and buried a goal with just three seconds on the clock.
The Redbirds have battled through many injuries, including seeing leading scorer Dylan James exit the Baggataway early in Friday's quarterfinal when he aggravated a hamstring injury. McGill refused to give up, though, and they regained the momentum when Erbstein notched his second of the game just over three minutes into the third quarter. Another long scoring drought ensued and the game remained tied 2-2 through 40 minutes of play.
Then there was a relative flurry of scoring, with the teams combing for 3 goals in 2:41 of playing time. The first of that string came when John Miraglia ripped home a low shot to give McGill its first lead of the game.
Connor Murphy, Western's leading scorer in the regular season, had yet to pot a goal in the Baggataway Cup to that point, but he broke through with a quick-release shot after taking a draw-and-dish pass from Liam O'Dwyer about a minute later to tie things back up. With 1:50 to play in the third, Murphy set up Jack Accursi for a goal that pushed the Mustangs back in front.
Neither team enjoyed a lead of more than a single goal until da Silva sprinted the length of the field, dodged past, through and around several opponents, and protected his stick adroitly until he could drift home a shot on top of the crease that made it 5-3 for Western and elicited much excitement on the Mustangs bench.
Long stretches without scoring were a theme in the game, and another one followed over the next eight minutes. There was a strong sense that the final result would be heavily influenced by the next goal. When it came, it was indeed as impactful as it was sensational. Da Silva made another long run, although this time it started in the offensive zone and involved curling across the top of the formation to find a lane and rip home a goal with 5:05 to play.
The Redbirds never gave up, but they were clearly feeling the effects of having to play three games in three days with an injury-shortened bench; they had trouble connecting on passes and looked to be a half-step behind their opponents down the stretch.
For their part, Western was taking advantage of having earned the bye to Saturday's semifinals with their outstanding regular season. The Mustangs were also employing their dazzling depth of talent and commitment to executing their systems to quash McGill hopes of getting back into the game.
The Redbirds did tighten the gap on a Miraglia marker 2:43 from full time, but Western controlled the flow of play and kept the clock ticking, with Murphy's second of the game being the dagger with 24 seconds to play.