PETERBOROUGH, ONT – Goaltender Michael Gallo made 15 saves, while Hunter Zawada and Kieran McKay each scored twice as McGill came away with a gritty 5-3 road victory over Trent in the regular season finale at Justin Chiu Stadium, Saturday, to clinch first place in the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association's East Division.
 
McGill finished the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record for the first time since 2015 en route to capturing the national championship. The last time McGill posted a first-place finish was in 2017 but they lost the chance to repeat last year on a tie-breaking rule to Trent.
 
"I feel so happy to have won that final regular season game," said a relieved head coach Tim Murdoch, who will be stepping down at season's end after 17 years behind the bench. "This team has developed a very strong character over the past 10 weeks to get to 10-0."
 
The result was the lowest-scoring meeting between the sides in nine years, dating back to a 5-0 McGill win on Sept. 11, 2010. The score was even at 1-1 after the first quarter and deadlocked 2-2 at halftime, but McGill outscored the Excalibur 3-1 down the stretch.
 
Gallo, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior from Glen Rock, N.J., was beaten only three times on 18 shots to keep Trent's potent offence at bay. The 21-year-old architecture senior improved his season record to 5-0 with a 5.80 goals against average.

Trent 'keeper Dylan Munro took the loss, giving up five goals on 14 shots.

Zawada, a junior from Kimberley, B.C., and Trent's Cole Hanrahan traded goals in the opening quarter, scoring less than three minutes apart.  McKay, a senior from Richmond, B.C., restored McGill's lead but the Excalibur drew even once more via Nick Chaykowsky, a three-time all-star midfielder who tallied 18 goals and 29 points in 10 games.

Chaykowsky was limited to just that one goal, thanks in large part to McGill defender Roland Moellenberg, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound defender, who was assigned the task of shutting him down.
 
The tie appeared to be broken when Andrew Chase of Summit, N.J., scored an apparent 3-2 go-ahead goal for McGill with about 90 seconds remaining in the second quarter. But it was disallowed because the Trent timekeeper released Cameron McGinnis -- who had been serving a penalty -- one minute early. The error forced a reset of the clock and a replay of the final 1:53, preventing McGill from heading into halftime with a lead.
 
"It was the first time I have seen a goal denied in this manner," noted Murdoch, who has coached 290 games at the McGill helm. "Referees have never had to call that but when scorekeepers err on penalty box times, the action must be replayed. We used that to motivate our team for the second half."
 
The sides swapped goals again in the third quarter to make it 3-3, courtesy of McKay's second at 3:02 and an Adam Kitchen equalizer for Trent at 5:45.
 
Zawada then struck some five minutes later for what proved to be the game-winner, to make it 4-3.

In the final stanza, co-captain Maxime Murdoch of Westmount, Que., potted an insurance marker with 9:46 remaining to give some breathing space against a relentless Trent side. The imposing 6-foot-4, 225-pound senior attackman led McGill in scoring this season with 13 goals and 20 points in nine contests.
 
Zawada and McKay, both kinesiology majors, ended their regular season tally with eight and four goals, respectively, in eight games played.
 
McGill, which has been without their top three face-off specialists for the past few games due to injury, struggled in that department, winning only 30 per cent (3/10) of its duels.
 
The playoff scenario is as follows. In the East, McGill (10-0) gets a double bye to the semifinals -- one as the top-seed and the other host of this year's Baggataway Cup championship. Second-seeded Trent (8-2) will host fifth-place Queen's (4-6) in one sudden-death affair, while third-seeded Nipissing (6-4) will host Bishop's (5-5) in North Bay, Ont., in the other.

McGill's national semifinal is set for Saturday, Nov. 9, at 1 p.m. at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium. The tournament hosts will play the West Division winner of a Nov. 8 quarter-final game.

In the West Division, top-seeded Brock (9-0) will host sixth-place Laurier (3-6) in one sudden-death playoff, while second-seeded Western (7-3) will host fifth-place McMaster (3-6) and Guelph (6-4) will battle Toronto (5-4 with a Sunday game left to play).
 
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