The Varsity Blues squeaked out a tight 10-9 victory against the McMaster Marauders on Sunday evening (Sept 24) on Varsity Stadium.
Freshman Darren Elliot opened the scoring with his fifth goal of the season and Toronto had the edge in early play. However, McMaster scored next followed by attack Jason Barnable's first of three goals on the night. McMaster scored again to finish the first quarter tied 4-4.
Toronto again started the next quarter with the first goal, this time with freshman middie Jaxin da Roza scoring his first of the season. The two teams again traded goals but the Blues scored the last goal of the period on freshman Davis Bottomley's first CUFLA goal to end the half at 5-4 in favour of Toronto. Dareen Elliot also had his second of the game in the second quarter.
The Varsity Blues came out strong in the second half scoring twice on markers by veteran attack AJ Masson and Jason Barnable. But instead of Toronto pulling away and stretching their lead, McMaster mounted a furious comeback helped by numerous turnovers by the Blues. The third period ended 8-7 McMaster.
The Marauders added a fifth consecutive goal to open the fourth quarter to go up by two goals. Now it was Toronto's turn to come back. The Blues scored the final three goals of the game in the last six minutes on two power play goals by Bottomley and Barnable. The ultimate game winning goal, his second of the game was scored by Jaxin da Roza.
"It's nice to get the win but we did not play very well to start the second quarter," said Varsity Blues head coach Joe Nizich. "We had too many turnovers, both forced and unforced, which gave McMaster the impetus to make a comeback and reduced the number of offensive possessions we had. Goalie Riley McGillis was probably our first star coming up with some great saves to keep us in the game when we were down. Defenders Zach Holmes, Joe "Nails" Pendleton and Steven Burke also stood out. It was nice to see the new guys get their first goals and the scoring get spread around. D middie Kaden Jackson came on the second half to win some big draws for us as well."
The Blues return to action at home vs Guelph Saturday night, September 30, and Western University on Sunday, October 1st.
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