By Earl Zukerman
Connor Goodwin, a science junior from New Westminster, B.C., scored four goals and set up two others as McGill overwhelmed Queen’s 15-6 in a Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association national championship semifinal, Saturday.
The victory propelled the defending national champion Redmen to Sunday’s gold medal game this afternoon at 12:30 at Molson Stadium, and extended McGill’s unblemished record to 11-0 in CUFLA play. The Redmen will make a serious bid for a perfect season when they meet Guelph, who upset heavily-favoured Brock 14-9 in the other semi.
McGill jumped into an early 5-1 lead after the opening quarter and cruised into halftime with an insurmountable 8-1 advantage. They traded four goals apiece in the third quarter which left McGill with a comfortable 12-5 lead heading into the final stanza.
Brothers Eric and Tayler Sipperly, both from Charlotte, S.C., each potted a pair for the Redmen, as did Kevin Donovan of Bethany, Conn., and Spencer Bromley, a freshman from Surrey, B.C. Single markers went to Nolan Prinzen of Summit, N.J., Anders Bjella of Milwaukee and Emile Sassone- Lawless of Ithaca, N.Y.
Alex Wright of New Market, Ont., paced the Gaels with two goals. Rounding out the scoring for the visitors was Brendan Zoehner of Coquitlam, B.C., Domenic Lisi of Toronto, Ryan Leonhard of Abbotsford, B.C., and Nick Weiss of Port Hope, Ont.
All-CUFLA netminder Riley McGillis, a junior from Peterborough, Ont., was credited with the win for the Redmen while Alex Guiney took the loss.
Game MVP honours went to Goodwin and Queen’s midfielder Mitch Grant, a native of Calgary. McGill’s Quinton Bradley, a sophomore from Richmond, B.C., was named as the Harrow Sports defencemen of the game.
The CUFLA championship game can be watched live by clicking here.