Following their three-point win against the Carleton Ravens (1-3) on Sept. 15, the Redbirds lacrosse team (4–0) took the field again to face the Trent Excalibur (4–1) on Sept. 21. Simply comparing McGill and Trent’s game statistics, the game was predicted to be a tough one. Trent held the first standing in the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) rankings with 56 goals for and 27 goals against, resulting in a 29-point difference. In comparison, McGill has an 11-point difference, with 31 goals for and 20 goals against. Furthermore, Trent scored higher than Queens, which seemed to be McGill’s toughest game to date this season. However, both Trent and McGill came away from Carleton with the same score, providing some hope for the Redbirds.
Fourth-year midfielder and faceoff specialist Samuel MacDonald reflected on the game in an interview with The Tribune.
“This year we’ve been pretty focused. And we came ready. We didn’t want to let them win and run over us again, so we brought it to them and pulled out a win,” he said.
The game started off slow as each team had trouble breaking the other’s line of defence.
While Trent scored first, first-year attackman Liam Miletich quickly tied it up within the minute before MacDonald won the face off and carried the ball down the field to sink his own goal.
“I honestly just try and stay focused as best I can, [and to] not let whatever’s going on around us [affect me], whether we score, they score, we kind of just want to win the ball,” MacDonald said, reflecting on his mindset during the goal. “Then whether they let me go [through the defensive line], sometimes they don’t, but I had the space there, and I just shot and got lucky.”
Just 30 seconds after MacDonald’s goal, third-year midfielder John Miraglia scored his own. With a minute left in the quarter, first-year attackman Zach Bye buried the ball into the net, setting the score at 4-1.
Set up with a pass from third-year midfielder Joshua Jewell, first-year midfielder Torsten Blodgett brought the Redbirds’ goal tally to five in the second quarter. Minutes later, Jewell got a good look and scored an unassisted goal. Trent attempted to tie up the game, earning three points and starting the third quarter 6-4.
Four minutes into the second half, Jewell scored yet again before both teams resumed the struggle to make a successful shot. Eventually, breaking through Trent’s defensive line and ripping a shot, Bye scored the final goal of the first half with just seconds left.
“Zach Bye wants to score as many goals as possible, and it doesn’t even need to be him,” said Head Coach Nicolas Soubry when asked about the freshman. “He just wants our offense to score as many goals. He hates losing the ball.”
With the score at 8-6, both teams continued to grapple for the win. After five minutes of back and forth, third-year attacker Mark Symon caught a high pass and immediately threw it into the goal. In that same minute, fourth-year midfielder Alexander Erbstein saw an opening to score unassisted and seized it. Just outside the crease, Bye fell hard in the seventh minute of the quarter before getting his revenge by scoring his third goal of the game. Bye explained his philosophy on bouncing back from a tough hit.
“The game’s only 60 minutes, and there’s only one a week,” he said. “So it’s like, try and give everything I have during the game, and then I have enough time to recover for the next game.”
Moment of the game: With seconds left in the quarter, Bye fell, got up, and successfully made a Hail Mary, giving McGill a two-point lead over Trent for the first half.
Quotable: “[Zach Bye is] a stud. He’s been really good this whole year, and today they locked him off. But whether he was scoring goals or not, he still fed our other guys and we got goals and made offense otherwise.” — Faceoff Sam MacDonald.
Stat corner: The Redbirds have started their 2024 fall season off strong with a conference record of 4–0.
The Redbirds (4–0) will play next on Wednesday, Sept. 26 against Bishop’s University (4–1).
