Lacrosse squad slays Excalibur for first time in shortened contest

LENNOXVILLE, Que. -- The McGill Redmen lacrosse team blanked Trent University 5-0 in a shortened regular-season opening game that was called before halftime at Coulter Field, Saturday.

The win marked McGill's first-ever victory over Trent and was just the second time that the Redmen had played in a shortened game.

Jim Price, the head official, halted the match at 6:59 of the second quarter after a minor skirmish occurred. Price told both head coaches that the game was getting out of hand and he was concerned for the safety of the players.   There were no ejections but an overly aggressive Trent team had been assessed seven penalties over the first 36 minutes, while the Redmen were penalized four times.

The atmosphere became tense after the end of the first quarter when Trent head coach Jesse Thomas was flagged with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.  His Excalibur team became increasingly frustrated and the official opted to curtail the game, which will go down in the books as a 4-0 conquest for the Redmen, even though they were leading 5-0 at the time.

"We were kind of stunned that the game was called but he's a highly-respected, no-nonsense official," said Redmen head coach Tim Murdoch. "We had received a number of cheap shots and it was the right call.  I was proud that our guys didn't retaliate as things would have gotten ugly. It was a strange way to start the season but we accomplished our goal and came away with the victory over a team that has been a perennial nemesis for us."

The Redmen led 4-0 after the opening quarter.  Ryan Besse of Aurora, Ont., Alex Kruse of Oakville, Ont., Jishan Sharples of Vancouver, B.C., and captain Mike Ting of Sudbury, Mass., each scored.    Ting also tallied another goal just 26 seconds into the second quarter, which was later disallowed when it was found to be missing from the scoresheet and the official scorer had gone home after the game had been called. However, an appeal was made and the league office later agreed to amend the score to 5-0.

Trent mustered just three shots on goal against McGill's stingy defence, led by Kyle Robinson of New Westminster, B.C., and Jeff O'Neill of Markham, Ont. McGill also received a strong performance from long-stick midfielder Jon Rathauser, who combined with Jishan Sharples and Sepp Stephens, to help created an impenetrable wall that stifled the Trent team.

Goaltender Guy Fox received credit for the team's first-ever shutout, despite playing only 33:01.

McGill (1-0) has no time to rest on their laurels as they headed back home to prep for host the Toronto Varsity Blues on Sunday (Sept. 12) at Forbes Field in a 2p.m. faceoff.

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

514-398-7012

SCORING SUMMARY

FINAL: McGill Redmen Lacrosse 4 - Trent Excalibur 0

VENUE : Lennoxville, QC (neutral site-Bishop's University Coulter Field)

DATE: September 11, 2010 - 7PM

CONDITIONS : Clear, 16C

TEAM SCORING BY QUARTER

McGill : 4-1-0-0 : 5

Trent : 0-0-0-0 : 0

Trent 0 @ McGill 5
Date: Saturday September 11, 2010 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Location: Bishop's University - Coulter Field

McGill