The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men’s lacrosse team dropped a close 9-8 decision to the Queen’s Gaels on Sunday, October 17 at Back Campus.

Thomas Herren (Georgetown, Ont.) began the game off in favour of the Gaels, followed closely by another two goals from teammates Brendan Gibbs (Ottawa) and Matt Eriksen (Handover, MA) by the middle of the quarter.

Down 3-0, Toronto’s Mike Ayotte of Peterborough, Ont. brought the Blues back in the game, and Matthew Hoskins (Ochorinos, Jamaica) narrowed the gap with a goal of his own just a minute later. The Gaels were eager to keep their advantage and Eriksen snuck one more goal past the Blues in the last ten seconds of first quarter to build a 4-2 lead.

In the second quarter the Blues amped up their offence and riddled the Gaels with shots. Toront native Michael Buwalda landed his first goal of the game to narrow the gap to one. Herren nabbed another one for Queen’s, but the Blues quickly regained possession, with Buwalda scoring his second goal of the quarter. Mississauga, Ont., native Eric Shedlosky tied the game at 5-5 at the midway point of the game.

Unfortunately, the Blues seemed to lose their momentum in the third and Queen’s maintained possession for most of the quarter. Eriksen was an asset for the Gaels, scoring two and assisting Hugh Morrison’s (Oakville, Ont.) goal. Buwalda managed to manoeuvre past the Gaels in the dying minutes of the frame as the Gaels held an 8-6 advantage.

The first half of the fourth was in gridlock with neither team able to maintain possession for very long. It wasn’t until halfway through that Eriksen scored another goal for Queen’s, but it didn’t go unanswered.

With just two minutes left in the game, Andrew Kerr of Clarington, Ont. and Toronto native Tim Sawa each scored for the Blues; however, the final whistle blew before U of T could complete the comeback.

The Varsity Blues return to action on Saturday, October 23 as they travel to Kingston, Ont., for a rematch with the Queen’s Gaels. The game is scheduled for 12 p.m.

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