MONTREAL – Owen Howard of Cincinnati, Ohio, scored his second career goal and it was the game-winner, just 64 seconds into sudden-death overtime as McGill rallied from an early three-goal deficit to edge Carleton 9-8 in men's university lacrosse at Percival Molson Stadium, Saturday.
 
The result avenged a shocking 10-5 loss at Carleton in the season opener on Sept. 9. It also extended McGill's modest win streak as the Redbirds improved to 2-1 in regular season play, while Carleton dropped to 1-1.
 
The Ravens led 3-1 after the first quarter but the teams were even at 3-3 heading into halftime. Carleton took a 7-6 advantage into the fourth quarter but McGill rallied again for an 8-7 lead into the final minute of play. However, Carleton forced overtime when Jacob Garcia connected for his third of the game, on the power-play, with only one second remaining in regulation.
 
Howard, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering senior, had lost possession of the ball deep in the Carleton zone with about 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter. On the ensuing play, Carleton quickly moved the ball up-field and scored to force overtime. But Howard was determined to atone for his miscue and unbeknownst to the coaching staff, ran onto the field at the start of the overtime to score the winning tally on a nifty behind-the-back, over-the-shoulder shot that fooled Ravens netminder Thomas Kiazyk. Howard, a 5-foot-8, 167-pound midfielder, took a pass from Dylan James, stepped into the slot and scored while being knocked to the ground by Carter Smith, a burly Carleton defender.
 
"What's incredible about that was that he scored the game-winner and he shouldn't have been on the field. We didn't put him out there," revealed McGill head coach Nicolas Soubry. "He went out there on his own and made that play. He's a senior, knew he made a mistake earlier and he wanted to make up for that. I was really proud of him. That's the kind of leadership that's needed to win a championship."
 
James led the Redbirds offence with a pair of goals and three assists. John Miraglia and Joshua Jewell added two apiece. Other marksmen were Rowan Birrell and Mark Symon.
 
Rounding out the scoring for Carleton was Sam Trumble with two, Jacob Gasperetti, Cameron York and Issac Laflamme.
 
The shots were even at 17-17. Goalkeeper Joseph Boehm saved nine for the win, while Kiazyk was credited with eight saves in a losing cause.
 
Carleton (1-1), which took 11 of 18 penalties called in the contest, will host the division-leading Trent Excalibur (3-0) on Sunday (Sept. 17). McGill (2-1) is off until Sept. 23 when Trent will visit Molson Stadium for a 3 p.m. faceoff.

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SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (cell)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca