Baldin scores shorthanded OT winner as lacrosse lads topple Trent

MONTREAL -- Defenceman Tanner Baldin of Brantford, Ont., scored the winner, shorthanded, as the McGill men's lacrosse team rallied from a three-goal deficit to topple Trent University 8-7 in double overtime at Percival Molson Stadium, Saturday.

Andrew Chase sparked the comeback with a second-half hat-trick after McGill headed into the intermission trailing 6-3. He scored the team's fourth goal in the third quarter, then struck for their last two markers in the fourth stanza to necessitate extra time.

Baldin, a co-captain and civil engineering senior, stole the spotlight. Playing with two-men in the penalty-box, McGill faced almost certain defeat in the overtime, which features sudden-death four-minute periods. But just 49 seconds into the second extra period, the 5-foot-10, 160-pound Baldin forced a turnover with a mid-field bodycheck and scampered about 50 yards on a breakaway, finding the top left corner of the net for the winning tally.

"It was the most exciting finish to a game and the most impressive individual play that I've seen in my coaching career," said Tim Murdoch, now in his 17th season as bench boss at McGill. "With Trent holding a 6-on-4 manpower advantage, it looked like we were going to lose as they have a very potent offence. But Baldin is a really athletic kid. He stripped the ball, scooped it up and raced downfield for the winner. When a defenceman scores a goal, it's kind of humiliating for the other team and they looked pretty shocked.

"Trent is a great team and we have mutual respect for each other. Even though we won the majority of the faceoffs, they dominated us in the first half. But they didn't have the depth that we had and it looked like they ran out of gas in the second half. Our motto this year is 'Five More'. We want the players to focus on real time, as in the next five minutes during games (regardless of what has transpired). That helped us sustain our focus throughout the game today. We didn't really get rattled and kept our composure."

That and the luxury of two senior goaltenders of equal calibre. Tentative plans are to split the tandem in every game with an eye on strategy as one is right-handed and the other is a southpaw. Michael Gallo, a righty who was the Team MVP last year, started between the pipes. He conceded six goals and gave way, as pre-planned, at halftime to David Pellicone, a lefty, who was beaten only once over the second half and collected the win. The shots on net were not available.

Rounding out the scoring with one goal apiece for McGill was Colton Campbell, Ethan Foregrave, Connor Plante and Liam MacDonald.

Scoring for the Excalibur, with two apiece was Nick Chaykowsky, Adam Kitchen and Garrett Eddy, while Cody McMahon scored once..

Trent goalie Dylan Munro allowed all eight goals and was saddled with the loss.

Trent, one of the premiere programs in the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association, had entered the game with an unblemished 2-0 record atop the East Division. The Excalibur dropped percentage points behind undefeated McGill, which improved to 2-0.

Last year, both Trent and McGill finished regular season play with identical 9-1 records but the Excalibur ended up first because of a slight 26-23 points differential in the two head-to-head meetings with McGill. So all eyes will be on their next rendezvous, scheduled for the regular season finale on Oct. 26 in Peterborough, Ont.

In the meantime, McGill (2-0) plays next at Ottawa (0-2) and Queen's (1-1), Sept. 21-22. Trent (2-1) plays on the same dates, first at Nipissing (2-1) before hosting Bishops (1-2).

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 8, Trent 7 (2OT)

SCORING BY PERIOD 1-2-3-4-1OT-2OT
McGill : 3-0-2-2-0-1 (2OT)
Trent : 3-3-1-0-0-0 (2OT)

BOXCORE

2019 CUFLA EAST DIVISION STANDINGS