Sam Reynolds

As the sun rose on a new McGill lacrosse season, the Redmen confirmed what froshies learned all weekend: It’s better to be a Redman than a Bumblebee. A stunning 18-4 rout of their cross-town rivals signaled that McGill has reloaded and is gunning for glory in the upcoming season.

The Redmen closed out their four-game pre-season slate on Thursday night by embarrassing the Concordia Stingers at Molson Stadium. The lopsided score was the product of a solid team effort that saw contributions from the entire lineup.

Head Coach Timothy Murdoch used the team’s last pre-season game as a chance to spread out playing time and give his entire roster valuable on-field experience. As a result, the McGill sideline seemed like a revolving door at times, sending fresh faces onto the field throughout the game.

“We’re young, we’re deep, and we’re hopeful that we can go really far this year,” Murdoch said, reflecting his optimism going into the new season.

The game was a tune-up for the 37 men who will make up the Redmen squad this year; a group that emerged from the 50 who started training camp. Coach Murdoch’s inclusive gameplan revealed the immense depth of the squad. Regardless of who was on the field, McGill’s skill easily outclassed the Stingers from start to finish. Concordia only managed one goal in the second half.

While the Redmen’s performance against Concordia was a team effort, several players were key to the outcome of the game. Second-year attacker Ross Burst from St. Louis, Missouri had an impressive performance, which may point to a breakout year for him. Burst helped McGill establish control over the pace of the game from an early point by scoring a hat trick in the first quarter, and finished with five goals and two assists on the night. Murdoch was also particularly pleased with his team’s success in the face-off circle, as the face-off crew highlighted by Brandon McLean, J.J. Miller and Jordan Sanford combined to win 90 per cent of the draws on their way to dominating ball possession. The Redmen will once again rely on co-captain Jishan Sharples of Vancouver. Sharples potted two goals and last season’s second-leading scorer Ryan Besse of Aurora, Ontario contributed two assists.

Thursday night’s game was a clear indicator of the buzz surrounding this team to start the season. The game drew a surprisingly large crowd that continued to grow well after the game had started. Coach Murdoch noted that there will be a lot of reason for optimism this season. “The reality is we want to win a national championship,” the coach said. “We’re really not happy with anything but that … we think we’ve got something special going on.”

All of this suggests that the Redmen have grown over the summer after a 5-4 campaign last year that ended in a first round playoff ouster. The development process will only be aided by the strong recruiting class joining the team in 2011. The new-look Redmen have swagger that makes them a team to be watched by the McGill faithful this fall. McGill starts its CUFLA season Saturday on the road with a fixture against the University of Toronto.