Competing for the first time on home turf in 2023, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's lacrosse team fell by a final score of 12-5 versus the visiting Brock Badgers on Saturday (Sept. 16) evening at Varsity Stadium.

Facing off against the perennial contender Badgers, who knocked Toronto out of CUFLA championship contention in a first-round playoff matchup last season, the Blues opened the night with plenty of motivation in front of the home crowd.

Back-and-forth action led to a 2-1 scoreline in favour of the visitors at the end of the opening quarter, with the first Toronto goal being scored by second-year middie Declan McPherson.

The second quarter saw just as much action at both ends of the field as the Badgers added another three goals, while U of T picked up a pair of markers from Jonathan Murawsky and Graham Dicken to enter the halftime break trailing 5-3.

However, following the intermission Toronto was slow to respond as Brock tallied four unanswered goals in the third quarter, pulling away from the home side.

Despite two more goals from Murawsky in the fourth to round out a hat-trick performance, the Blues were unable to close the gap on the 2022 CUFLA championship finalists from St. Catharines.

Toronto will remain at home as they compete in their second match of a three-game home stand tomorrow (Sept. 17) versus the Laurier Golden Hawks. Looking to bounce back into the win column, the Blues will be buoyed by success last season versus the Waterloo-based opponents, picking up an exciting 7-6 win over the Golden Hawks in 2022. Tickets for the Sunday night matchup schedule to start at 6 p.m. can be purchased at varsityblues.ca/tickets.