The Varsity Blues men's lacrosse team dropped an 11-7 decision to the Guelph Gryphons on Thursday night (Oct. 4). 

The Blues knew it would be a challenge going into the game without two of their leading scorers, AJ Masson and Nick Pison.  Toronto had few chances and didn't score in the first quarter.  Things got worse when their leading scorer, attack Jason Barnable went out with a shoulder injury.  It was only because of some gritty defence and good goal tending by Matt Frola that Guelph only led by three at the end of the first quarter.

The Gryphons opened the second quarter with another three goals.  Toronto could only respond with one goal by Davis Bottomley, assisted by Sean Power. The score was 6-1 for Guelph at the half. 

The Blues opened the scoring in the second half on a man up goal by Jackson Hickey from Bottomley.  However, Guelph scored four more times to lead 10-2 after three quarters.

Despite the score, the Blues did not give up.  The offence was gaining more confidence and after Guelph scored to open the fourth quarter, Toronto scored five goals in the last 12 minutes to close out the game on a high note.  Darren Elliott and Aiden Guld had singles while Bottomley had three more scores. 

"Although it was a loss, the coaching staff was very pleased with the effort that the team gave, not giving up despite being under manned," said Varsity Blues head coach Joe Nizich.   "The intensity was there and the boys played a physical game.  The defence played great with some excellent goaltending from Matt.  I think the offence came into its own a bit in that last quarter.  It was nice to see Davis Bottomley get four goals.  It should give the guys confidence that they can score, even if they haven't been the primary scorers up to this point."

The Blues play next at home this Saturday night, October 6 at 7:00 pm vs Laurentian.

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