With Week 3 getting underway, we take a look back at what happened in Week 2 of the 2015 CUFLA season.
by Mack Abbott
CUFLA Round-Up: Week 2
Brock 14 @ Western 12
McGill 17 @ Carleton 7
Laurentian 11 @ Toronto 7
Western 15 @ Brock 13
McGill 16 @ Queen’s 10
Ottawa 7 @ Trent 11
Laurentian 6 @ Nipissing 8
Bishop’s 12 @ Carleton 5
McMaster 13 @ Laurier 5
Bishop’s 14 @ Queen’s 8
Laurier 2 @ Guelph 12
McMaster 6 @ Brock 13
McGill 12 @ Trent 7
Western 15 @ Toronto 7
Mustangs lose hard-fought battle to Brock
LONDON, Ont. - Western lost a hard-fought battle 14-12 at Mustang Field against the two-time CUFLA West Division champions Brock Badgers Wednesday night. Early in the season, Western sits at 1-1 and heads into the weekend looking to upset Brock on their home turf.
Freshman Cody Ward led the Mustang offence with four goals on the night. 2014 team leading goal scorer Ryan McCrory put three on the board for the Mustangs, while Ryan Myles and Thomas Masterson each put in one goal and two assists.
Throughout the first quarter the ball was back and forth between the two teams. Western's freshman goalie Manraj Nijjar, took on a tough night against the strong Badger offence who put up five goals in the first 20 minutes.
The Mustangs made some big changes in the second quarter, dominating the play from the first possession. Senior midfielder Sam Need started the play off right with an underhand bounce shot cutting Brock's lead to 5-3. The Badger lead didn't last long however, with the Mustangs recording five unanswered goals from four different players. Brock struggled with penalties, resulting in four power play goals from the Mustang offence who displayed strong teamwork early in the season to take a 7-6 lead after 40 minutes.
The third quarter proved how evenly matched the two teams were, with the score going back and forth the entire 20 minutes. McCrory scored an unassisted top corner shot, and later in the quarter, putting two up on the board for the Mustangs. At the end of 60 minutes, the game was tied at 10.
Both teams came out fighting in the fourth quarter, Western's defence managed the tough Brock attack, who had possession much of the quarter. Unfortunately, the Badgers ended up on top 14-12 at the end of 80 minutes.
Brock was led by Brandon Slade, who finished with five goals and one assist while Davis Neal added four goals and 2 assists to the scoreboard.
Source: Western Mustangs Athletics
Burnell busts loose, scores four times as lacrosse Redmen crush Carleton
OTTAWA Rhys Burnell of Abbotsford, B.C., scored four goals as the visiting McGill Redmen clobbered Carleton 17-7 in Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association play, Wednesday.
It matched the exact same score in McGill's home-field victory over the Ravens last week and more importantly, extended the team's win streak to 29 consecutive regular season games, dating back to an 11-10 loss at Bishop's on Sept. 27, 2012.
Also netting a hat-trick was Connor Goodwin, a senior from New Westminster, B.C., who added three assists, and Augustus Bolton, a sophomore from Darien, Conn.
The teams were tied at 3-3 after the opening quarter, but McGill awoke in the second stanza, took an 8-4 lead into halftime and extended that to a 12-5 advantage after three quarters. The game featured 25 penalties, including 13 to Carleton.
"A nice win for us as it is never easy to play a mid-week game on the road," said McGill head coach Tim Murdoch. "It was a see-saw battle for the first quarter because we had to overcome "bus legs". Our bus arrived late and we were only able to have a 20-minute warm-up. We were ready to play in the second quarter, however, and pushed ahead aggressively throughout the game. We had a lot of good distribution in our scoring and our defensive unit played well. I was also happy that we were able to get our entire dress roster into the game as we substituted liberally in the fourth quarter with our younger players.
Spencer Bromley of Surrey, B.C., added a pair of markers, with singles from Alexander Linton, Anders Bjella, rookie Maxime Murdoch, Jake Gutman and Emile Sassone-Lawless (who also added four assists).
McGill had a 40-28 edge in shots as third-year Redmen goaltender William Waesche of Greenwich, Conn., made 21 saves for the the win. For the Ravens, starter Simon Bellamy was beaten 16 times and took the loss. He also had to serve a one-minute penalty and was replaced during that time by back-up Adam Bridle, who allowed one goal.
Source: McGill Redmen Athletics
Voyageurs take another two over Toronto
On Friday night, the Laurentian Men’s Lacrosse Team voyaged into Toronto hoping to make their opponents sing the blues. They were successful as the Voyageurs won 11-7, taking two points on their first road game this season.
The Varsity Blues led off the scoring, which seemed to spark Laurentian’s competitive drive. Shortly after Toronto had scored, the Voyageurs struck back with two quick goals coming from the sticks of Mike Kussman and Michael Mayes. There seemed to be no slowing down for the Laurentian offence, Kussman added another tally for his squad before Paul Jelley could connect for one, making it 4-1 Voyageurs.
Before the high scoring first quarter finished, Doug Bennet wanted to get in one the action as well, potting one of his own to give his team a four goal cushion after the first twenty minutes of play.
The second quarter started just as the first had with Toronto scoring off the bat. The Voyageurs again used that goal as motivation to remain in control of the game. Laurentian received goals from eight different players throughout the game, Patrick Fitzhenry and Brad Gerrow were next up for the boys who took a commanding 7-2 lead over the Blues. The onslaught did not stop there as Kussman hit the back of the net for the third time in the game, making the score 8-2 after the first half.
Starting off the third quarter with a Laurentian goal from Nick Seftel broke the pattern of the Blues scoring first. However, Toronto answered back just as their opponent had previously. Three straight goals brought the Blues to within three of Laurentian, with only one quarter left to be played.
The Voyageurs did not let that discourage them as Gerrow came out and scored his second of the night, followed by Blair MacDonald scoring the eleventh goal for Laurentian. Setting themselves up with a five goal lead Laurentian looked to close out the Blues, they pushed back slightly scoring one more goal late in the game. However, the Voyageurs were able to hold Toronto out.
Laurentian has taken both games against the Varsity Blues this season and picked up a clutch two points to tie their Northern rivals the Nipissing Lakers for top spot in their division.
Source: Laurentian Voyageurs Athletics
Brock men’s lacrosse falls to Mustangs 15-13 on homecoming
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's lacrosse team (2-1 CUFLA) dropped a 15-13 decision to CUFLA West Divisional rival Western Mustangs by the score of 15-13 in front of an electric crowd during the opening of the Alumni Field during Homecoming weekend.
The Badgers opened the scoring 3:22 into the first quarter as Brandon Slade(Orangeville, Ont.) setup Nicholas Rybka (Bolton, Ont.) for his third of the season. Brock would add two more over the next nine minutes with goals from Nicholas Beaudoin (Welland, Ont.) and Connor Ham (Newmarket, Ont.) to take a 3-0 lead.
Western's offense would then come alive answering with eight straight goals, leading 8-3 with 6:24 remaining in the second quarter. The Mustangs held a 9-5 lead at the half.
Western would score three of the first four goals in the third quarter to go up by 12-6 with 7:45 left in the quarter.
Brock's offense would rally back answering with five straight goals of their own with three from Davis Neal (Orangeville, Ont.) and singles from Ham and Rybka, to make it a one goal game 12-11 with 12:12 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Western would get two back, with singles from Ryan McCrory and Jordi Jones-Smith to go up 14-11 with 7:35 left in regulation.
Slade would setup Ham with for his third of the afternoon at 5:36 to make it 14-12, but it was McCrory answering with his fourth goal of the game with just over a minute remaining to secure the road victory for the Mustangs.
In goal, Brock starter Alex Guiney (Toronto, Ont.) recorded 12 saves in the loss while Western goaltender Manraj Nijjar collected 10 saves for the win.
Source: Brock Badgers Athletics
Goodwin scores four as Redmen quell Queen’s
KINGSTON, Ont Veteran Connor Goodwin of New Westminster, B.C., scored four goals and freshman Maxime Murdoch of Westmount, Que., added three more as the McGill University men's lacrosse team overwhelmed Queen's 16-10 in a key CUFLA East Division match-up, Saturday.
The victory extended McGill's regular season record to 4-0 and their win streak to 30 consecutive CUFLA contests. More importantly, it gave them a four-point lead over the Gaels (2-1), who tasted defeat for the first time this season.
Goodwin, a three-time all-conference midfielder, also added an assist to finish with five points. Murdoch, an imposing 6-foot-4, 215-pound attackman, collected a pair of helpers as well, to finish with a five-point game.
The Redmen got off to a good start, leading 6-1 after the opening quarter, 12-3 at halftime and 15-5 after three.
"We took control of the game right from the start and built up a real solid lead at halftime," said McGill head coach Tim Murdoch. "However, we took a slew of penalties in the final quarter and they capitalized, outscoring us 5-1.
"Paul Rakoczy, one of our veterans, was a major reason that our team was so pumped up to start the game," confided Murdoch. "He gave a very personal pre-game pep talk to our players and we came out on fire. Queen's has a lot of talent and we know they will be look forward to the rematch at Molson Stadium on Sept. 26."
McGill's top point-getter on the day was Emile Sassone-Lawless, a junior from Ithaca, N.Y., who tallied twice and added four assists. He was one of four Redmen to collect a pair of goals, a group that also included Anders Bjella of Milwaukee, Wisc., Spencer Bromley of Surrey, B.C., and Rufus Frost of Park City, Utah. Rounding out the scoring was Goose Bolton of Darien, Conn.
Queen's was led by Alex Wright, who potted five markers in a losing cause. Also scoring for the Gaels was Dylan Hutchinson with a pair, plus Brendan Zoehner, Alex Bulla and John Dale.
Goalkeeper William Waesche, a junior from Greenwich, Conn., collected the victory between the pipes for McGill, while Thomas Asma took the loss for Queen's.
Source: McGill Redmen Athletics
A fresh Nipissing team takes two points from the Voyageurs
In a game where the winner would take first place of the division, the Laurentian Voyageurs played hard in a back and forth game. They failed to beat their rivals the Nipissing Lakers, losing by a score of 8-6.
With Paul Jelley winning the opening face-off, Laurentian looked to set the tone of the game. The Lakers did not let that phase them and pushed up and into their opponents zone. Nipissing was able to take control of the first quarter, scoring two goals to take the first lead of the game. Early in the second quarter, Nick Seftel took a pass from Justin Scheuneman and shot straight through the goalie to put his team on the board. With another quick goal, Blair MacDonald tied up the game for the Voyageurs.
Nearing the end of the first half, Laurentian’s defence could not withhold the Lakers’ sticks from scoring. Nipissing picked up two more quick goals before the time of the second quarter could run out. They took a 4-2 lead into the second half as the Voyageurs looked to come back from another two-goal deficit.
Laurentian put all they could out on the field and were rewarded for their efforts. Jelley buried one early in the third before Seftel could complete a hat trick, scoring two from the exact same position. Voyageurs held the lead for only a short period of time before Nipissing answered back. They tied up the game in a timely fashion, then scored two more to take another two-goal lead into the final quarter.
The Voyageurs were still determined to win, Seftel assisted on Macdonald’s second of the game to bring their team back within a goal. Laurentian was able to carry on with their momentum, earning control within the Lakers’ zone. Although the boys pushed back hard, Nipissing got some insurance with a late goal in the final quarter. The Voyageurs could not come back from this final two-goal deficit.
With their second loss of the season, Laurentian gave the Lakers the lead of the division. The Voyageurs look to bounce back and inch closer to their Northern Rivals with their next game at home on Saturday, September 26 at 4:45pm against the Brock Badgers.
Source: Laurentian Voyageurs Athletics
Malloy leafs the way for Gaiters against Carleton & Queen’s
Malloy (Whitby, Ont.), a fifth-year biology major had a career weekend. After being named a second star last week by In Lacrosse We Trust with 12 points, Malloy made sure to stay on their radar. His 29 points through four games leads all of CUFLA and is eight better than his teammate Mason Austen (High River, Alta.) who sits second place.
Bishop's scored early and often against Carleton, holding 7-0 halftime advantage before finishing with a 12-5 victory over the Ravens in Ottawa on Saturday night. Malloy scored six times and had three assists. A quick turnaround saw Bishop's in Kingston to play the Queen's Gaels at 12 p.m. on Sunday. The 5-4 Bishop's advantage at halftime was extended thanks to a five goal third stanza while they allowed just one. The final was 14-8 with Malloy adding six goals and picking up another two assists. After two weekends on the road, Bishop's will open their home schedule against the Trent Excalibur on Saturday at 5 p.m. on Coulter Field. A re-match with Queen's is set for Sunday at 12 p.m. also in Lennoxville.
Source: Bishop’s Gaiters Athletics
Marauders split weekend series with Hawks & Badgers
In their second weekend of competition, the Marauder men's lacrosse team split a pair of games against the Laurier Golden Hawks and the Brock Badgers.
A very well-balanced attack, which included eight different goal scorers, combined with goalie Max Yavitt's 23 saves, led McMaster to a 13-5 victory against the Hawks on Friday night.
Marauder midfielder Ryan Adams got things started less than one minute into the game with a nice shot that found the back of the net, and McMaster finished the quarter up 4-0. Brandon Petter led all scorers with 4 points, while Mitch Iszulka chipped in three goals, Derrick Hastings had two and Brandon Burr, Lucas Lepore, Jamie Batten, and Andrew Campbell each had singles. McMaster coach Jason Tallevi had special praise for the Marauder defence, who consistently stymied the Laurier attackers en route to the win.
Just over 12 hours later, the team travelled to St Catharines to take on the Brock Badgers.
Looking to avenge a three-goal loss to the Badgers a week earlier, the Marauder offence had trouble finding the back of the net despite numerous chances. McMaster went into halftime down 5-3, and eventually fell 13-6 to the Badgers.
McMaster's offence was led by Mitch Iszulka, who led his team with three points, while Jamie Batten and Brandon Petter each found the mark twice and Derrick Hasting finished with two points.
For the second game in a row, Max Yavitt had a strong game in net, facing 35 shots.
McMaster, now 1-2, will travel to Guelph on Friday night to tangle with the defending CUFLA champions, and then host Laurier on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. on Alumni Field.
Source: McMaster Marauders Athletics
Gryphons win big over Laurier in home opener
Guelph, ON – Sunday afternoon the Gryphons Men's Lacrosse team won 12-2 over the Laurier Golden Hawks in what was Guelph's home opener of the 2015 season. With the win, the Gryphons improve to 1-1 on the season.
The Gryphons dominated every facet of the game though they struggled to score early. It wasn't until half way through the first quarter that Gryphon rookie midfielder Jackson Nishimura scored his first goal as a Gryphon on a Guelph power play. Four minutes later, veteran midfielder Brett Ulbikas, who had struggled to find the mark early, scored his first of 4.
The second quarter was much the same with the offense controlling the ball but making poor shot selections. Brendan Vogan scored Guelph's 3rd goal at the 10:25 mark of the second, making an acrobatic catch on a feed from Ulbikas and then throwing two crazy fakes before bouncing the ball past the Laurier goalie. Shortly thereafter, Dan McIasaac buried another for Guelph on a 4 on 3 fast break.
Defensively Guelph dominated the Laurier attack keeping them to one goal in the first half; a late, second quarter power play marker that barely sneaked past Gryphon net minder Mike Lalani. Lalani was called up several times in the first three quarters and then Dmytro Dutka took over in the pipes and did equally as good a job.
Guelph's defensive core of veteran longstick Nick Wordtmann, rookie longsticks Justin Martin and Nate McKenzie and longstick midfielders Josh Manangan and Adam Kirchmayer were supported by veterans Brent Scullion and Spencer Fraser-Steinbach in a fantastic display of team defense. Laurier's only goal of the second half came on another Laurier power play when Guelph was caught transitioning from one defensive scheme to another.
Equally impressive was the dominant performance of Guelph's faceoff men, second year long stick midfielder Josh Managan and second year midfielder Ben Heidecker who between them were 11 for 15 on draws.
Guelph's transition play blew the game open in the third quarter. Manangan and Heidecker won several face offs cleanly that resulted in fast breaks, and the team's defense created several turnovers that translated into odd-man rushes in the other direction. The offense capitalized on the transition play, scoring three quick goals from Ulbikas, Blaze (Jimmy) McCullough and Mike Cavanagh. In the end, Guelph outscored Laurier 6-1 in the third en route to their 12-2 win.
"We talked about effort a lot this week in practice and the guys worked hard in the gametoday," said Coach Kosakowski following the game. "Any time you can get everyone into the game it means you are playing well and the experience is invaluable for the guys."
Ulbikas lead all scorers with 4 goals and an assist followed by attackman Liam Corbett with 2 goals and 2 assists. Mike Cavanagh has 2 goals and an assists while Danny McIsaac had 1 and 1. Nishimura, McCullough and Vogan had a goal apiece and Heidecker, Luke Stockden and Todd Greer each recorded an assist.
The Gryphons will next take the field on Friday, September 25 with an evening tilt against McMaster.
Source: Guelph Gryphons Athletics
Brock men’s lacrosse rolls past McMaster 13-6
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's lacrosse team improved to 3-1 on the regular season as they defeated the McMaster Marauders by the score of 13-6 Sunday afternoon at Alumni Field.
Brock jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after one quarter with two goals from Nicholas Rybka (Caledon, Ont.) and a single marker from Connor Ham(Newmarket, Ont.).
McMaster would cut the lead to 4-3 near the end of the first half, but it was the Badgers offense answering with five of the next six goals including three more from Ham and two from Brandon Slade (Orangeville, Ont.), leading 9-4 at the end of three quarters.
The Badgers would record four more goals in the final frame as Ham finished with a game high five goals and three assists. Adding singles were Matthew Bourassa (Cornwall, Ont.) and longpole Colton De Wolfe (St. Catharines, Ont.) who picked one off at midfield and drilled one past McMaster starter Max Yavitt for his first goal of his career.
Leading the McMaster offense were Jamie Batten (2G), Brandon Petter (2G), Mitchell Iszkula (1G, 2A) and Derrick Hastings (1G, 1A).
Rookie Josh Wood (Welland, Ont.) played strong in his Badgers debut registering 10 saves in the victory. Yavitt finished with 16 saves in the loss.
Source: Brock Badgers Lacrosse
Bjella bags five, Goodwin pots four as lacrosse Redmen rally to trip Trent
PETERBOROUGH, Ont Co-captains Anders Bjella and Connor Goodwin scored five and four goals, respectively, as the visiting McGill Redmen rallied from a four-goal halftime deficit to trip Trent 12-7 at Justin Chiu Stadium, Sunday.
Goodwin was also credited with three assists for a seven-point spree as McGill extended their win streak to 31 consecutive games in Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association play.
The teams were tied at 1-1 after the opening quarter but the Trent Excalibur busted loose for a 5-2 halftime lead. McGill's omnipotent offence finally awoke after the intermission, outscoring their hosts 4-1 in the third and 6-1 in the final stanza.
"A bit of a sloppy win but we got through it," said McGill head coach Tim Murdoch. "Trent played extremely well in the first half, they outworked us up and down the field. They played a smarter game and we didn't execute well on offence. Then Bjella and Goodwin took control in the second half and lit up our offence."
Rounding out the Redmen scoring was Alex Linton, Rhys Burnell and Goose Bolton.
Travis Fergus led the Excalibur with a hat-trick while Josh Gilray and Danny Michel added two apiece.
The Redmen held a 34-23 edge in shots as all-conference goaltender William Waeshe registered 16 saves for the victory. Trent 'keeper Kyle Horton was credited with 22 saves in a losing cause.
McGill (5-0) was scheduled to play at Concordia on Wednesday but that game will be forfeited as the Stingers have withdrawn the league. So the Redmen will improve to 6-0 by the time they host Queen's (2-2) on Saturday (Sept. 26) at 6 p.m. on the Fieldturf surface at Molson Stadium.
Trent (1-3) plays at undefeated Bishop's (4-0) the same day.
Source: McGill Redmen Athletics
Varsity Blues men’s lacrosse falls to Mustangs
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's lacrosse team dropped a 14-7 decision to the Western Mustangs on Sunday, September 20 at Varsity Centre.
Western got out to a 3-1 lead after the first quarter, but veteran attacker Mitch De Snoo brought the home team within one five minutes into the second frame. The Mustangs responded with three unanswered goals; however, De Snoo and Jason Barnable added two in the final minutes of the first half. The Mustangs led 6-4 at halftime.
The Mustangs took the lead for good in the third quarter, outscoring the Blues 4-1.
Overall, DeSnoo and Barnable topped the Blues with two goals each, with Marc Santos, Devon Oates and AJ Masson each adding single tallies in the loss.
The Varsity Blues are back in action next Friday, September 25 when they travel to take on the Mustangs. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues Athletics
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, September 25
McMaster @ Guelph – 7:00pm
Carleton @ Ottawa – 8:00pm
Toronto @ Western – 8:30pm
Saturday, September 26
Brock @ Laurentian – 4:45pm
Trent @ Bishop’s – 5:00pm
Queen’s @ McGill – 6:00pm
Laurier @ Toronto – 7:00pm
Sunday, September 27
Queen’s @ Bishop’s – 12:00pm
Brock @ Nipissing – 3:00pm
Laurier @ McMaster – 5:30pm
McGill @ Ottawa – 6:00pm
Trent @ Carleton
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