MONTREAL -- The "killer bees" once again swarmed as McGill broke open a fourth-quarter stalemate to earn a convincing 14-9 victory over visiting Bishop's before 240 fans at Percival Molson Stadium, Thursday.
Junior
Goose Bolton of Darien, Conn., scored four times -- including a shorthanded effort -- while senior
Spencer Bromley of Surrey, B.C., and
Rhys Burnell, a fifth-year senior from Abbotsford, B.C., each added hat-tricks, leading the Redmen to their ninth consecutive victory over the Gaiters.
The teams were deadlocked at 9-9 early in the fourth quarter before the Redmen became aroused and tallied five unanswered goals. It was eerily similar to the previous McGill game on Oct. 2, where the Redmen and Ottawa Gee-Gees were even at 6-6 heading into the final quarter before McGill tallied eight consecutive goals for a 14-7 victory.
Burnell was credited with the game-winnier and Bromley added a helper to finish with a five-point soireee, matching the offensive output by co-captain
Emile Sassone-Lawless, who contributed five assists. Rounding out the scoring for McGill was freshman
Liam MacDonald with two, plus singles from
Alex Linton and
Ian Macleod.
"We really couldn't get untracked offensively until that final quarter, we played sloppy and made too many errors," said McGill head coach
Tim Murdoch. "Our defence really held the fort for the first three-quarters. While I prefer not to wait that late or our offence to wake up, it's always a good sign when you can put your opponent away convincingly in the fourth quarter."
The turning point in this game was just before halftime with Bishop's hanging on to a 6-5 lead. Coach Murdoch called a time-out and inserted starting defenceman
Bradley Hofmann into a faceoff. The physiology senior from Richmond, B.C., won the face off with his long-stick, stormed in on the Bishop's goal and fed Bolton who scored a shorthanded goal to even the score at 6-6.
"One of the keys to victory today was our transition game from defence to offence and also on faceoffs," noted Murdoch. "Hugely important was the play of our co-captain Hofmann, who won draws, had two assists and was instrumental in bringing the ball up field."
Leading the Gaiters with a four-goal performance by midfielder
Simon Winquist, whose older brother Zach previously played for McGill. Also connecting for BU was
Rhett Handley (2),
Taren Cook,
Andrew Neilson and
Eric Mawdsley.
Collecting the victory between the pipes for McGill was
William Waesche, who made five saves on 14 shots. Gaiters goalie
Matthew Wolf was credited with seven saves on 21 shots and took the loss.
Fourth-place Bishop's dropped to 3-5, two points behind Queen's (4-4).
With four games remaining before playoffs, the second-place Redmen improved to 7-1 in the CUFLA East and sit four points in arrears of division-leading Trent (9-0) with a game in hand. The pennant could come down to the final game of the regular season when McGill plays host to Trent on Oct. 23 and will be looking to avenge a 10-9 road loss on Sept. 17.
This weekend, McGill will face a major test in Burlington, Vermont on Oct. 8, when the Redmen take a break from CUFLA action to head south of the border for an exhibition game. The University of Vermont Catamaounts are an NCAA Division-I program, which will provide an opportunity for McGill to play a difficult opponent on the road and prepare mentally and physically for bigger challenges ahead.
LINK TO SCORING SUMMARY
2016 CUFLA STANDINGS (updated after games of Oct. 6)
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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
(514) 398-7012
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