Rallying from a four-point deficit, the men’s lacrosse team stormed into the fourth quarter with a
one-point lead, but ultimately fell to the McGill Redmen.
The Gaels lost 10-8 in front of a group of rowdy alumni, back for their 20th anniversary reunion.
Their presence was marked by a Winnebago parked alongside the pitch.
McGill opened the first quarter strong, putting pressure on the Queen’s defence. The Redmen continued their offensive tactics in the second quarter taking a 7-3 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, riding the emotion and enthusiasm of the very vocal alumni crowd, Queen’s staged a comeback. They scored three quick goals to bring them within reach of their opponents.
Co-captain Mike Richard tied the game with a goal from 15 yards out. He pulled the left-side defender out of position, opening up the centre of the field and giving himself a clear shot at the net. It wasn’t long before Queen’s scored another goal to go up by one heading into the fourth quarter.
“It was a pretty amazing goal,” co-captain Raph Daste said. Daste was leading the defence on the field and was instrumental to many of the team’s defensive plays.
The fourth quarter, however, didn’t go quite as well. “We got into some penalty trouble and we were down by two men,” co-captain Richard said. Capitalizing on their manpower advantage, McGill quickly found the equalizer and scored two more quick goals to take the lead 10-8.
For the rest of the quarter the Gaels tried to maintain pressure on McGill but were unable to convert any of their opportunities. In the last five minutes the Gaels hit the post twice. With four games played, the Gaels are still winless, going 0-4-0. Despite the loss, the players were upbeat about individual performances and their overall play on the day. “This was by far our best game of the season. It was a real team building game,” Richard said, adding, “We got some great goaltending as well. Sean Wren made some saves that he probably shouldn’t have made.”
Daste said Strat Allen and rookie Nathan Leeder also played impressive games.
The Gaels were poised to win the game, Richard said, but McGill’s game-tying goal shifted the momentum. “It really took the wind out of our sails,” he said. “Our offence just couldn’t get going after that.” Both Daste and Richard said the McGill goaltender made some incredible saves that kept the
Redmen’s lead intact. However, Richard added that the Gaels have some work to do on both offence and defence. “We just have some minor things to tweak,” Daste said.
Richard said ing is another aspect of their game that needs work.
“We threw away some balls at the most inopportune moments,” he said.
Richard and Daste said they were happy with the team’s intensity level during the game. “One of the best things about our team today was that we went out and got those loose balls,” Richard said. “If there was a ball on the ground, everyone was there and going hard for it.”
Craig Hill, a 2006 Queen’s graduate, was one of many alumni in attendance and also played in the alumni skills competition held shortly after the game. “It’s great to be back,” he said. The men’s next game is on Oct. 14 at North Field against Bishop’s University.
Daste and Richard were optimistic about their schedule, saying the team had played the toughest opponents in the first half of the schedule. “We’re going to get some wins after Thanksgiving,” Richard said.
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