Rookie head coach-and former Varsity writer, Matt Thomas was pleased with his team’s efforts on Sunday. The result was a different story, however, as the men’s lacrosse squad was soundly defeated by a foe that proved superior on that day.

The team was battling a solid opponent in the Bishop’s Gaiters from Lennoxville, Quebec. The Gaiters went an impressive 11-2-0 last season, only to fall to the Brock Badgers in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) final.

Meanwhile, the Blues had a mediocre season, finishing with a 5-4-0 record. They were eliminated by the Guelph Gryphons in the first round of the playoffs.

The Gaiters dominated U of T in head-to-head play last year. They beat the Blues 15-8 in the first match and 19-6 later in the season. This helped Bishop’s climb to the top of the OUA East division standings, while the Blues were firmly entrenched in second place.

Ryan Scott of Mission, B.C. was the first to tickle the twine for Bishop’s, as he scored less than 5 minutes into the game. From there on in he and teammate Jordan Charron put on an offensive clinic that Blues defenders had no idea how to stop. Scott ended up with five goals and Charron tallied seven times in what was a 14-6 final.

“We executed our plan on offense well,” said Coach Thomas. “But they threw stuff on our defense that we weren’t ready for. We are going to have to adjust to those things.”

Thomas said that penalties were also key to understanding the outcome of the contest: “the final score was 14-6. They scored 9 goals on the power play.”

“We were getting called for stuff and they were not getting called when they did the same thing,” he added, strongly believing that the referees were inconsistent in what they considered a penalty and what they did not.

The finger of blame was also pointed at the older members of the Blues team by a coach who did not feel they played up to their potential.

“Some of our veterans let us down today,” he said. “I am not naming any names, but they know who they are.”

On the good side was a goal by Ian Parrag in the fourth quarter. He took a pass right in front of the net and put the ball into the Gaiters goal. Parrag had another goal and assist to go along with that, which made for a multiple-point game.

Despite the score, goaltender Bryan Richardson was a target of praise by Thomas. So were players who do not often get into the lineup.

“Our goalie played really well today,” he said. “Some fill-in players, like Andrew Stewart, also had good games.”

In the end, it was defensive miscues, superior attack patterns and discipline that led the Gaiters to victory. The defensive problems are unusual for this squad, which has excelled at holding opponents to less than twenty shots so far this season.

“Our main focus on this team is defense,” said a disappointed Matt Thomas. “We were able to shut down teams in the last two games. We gave up less than twelve shots in both of them.”

Coach Thomas had a simple explanation to sum up what happened on Sunday: “It was X’s and O’s that let us down today.”

The Blues will have to go back to the drawing board and prepare for their next game, which is against Carleton on September 25.