On the last day of summer, in front of a very spirited crowd, the Varsity Blues men’s field lacrosse team lost a tough game against the Carleton Ravens on the Back Campus field.
Before the game even started, the Blues had to overcome an injury to their starting goalie Graham Wright, who in the warm-up was hurt by a shot from one of his teammates.
Wright had to leave the game with a suspected broken wrist, putting immense pressure on back-up goalie Reuven Sussman.
Despite adversity and numerous injuries to many players, the Blues came out flying and took an early 1-0 lead. During the first two quarters of play, the teams traded goals, but Carleton took advantage of some costly Blues penalties for an 8-5 lead into halftime.
Coming back into the game, the Blues started to play with a little more confidence and a real sense of urgency. They started the scoring in the third quarter with a beautiful goal by Carter Livingstone, who whipped a low shot past the Carleton goalie.
As quickly as the momentum shifted to the U of T squad, Carleton stopped the Blues in their tracks with a game-breaking goal. The visiting side scored after a poor defensive breakdown in which they had a three-on-one on Sussman, all but sealing their victory.
In the fourth quarter, with the game all but out of reach, the Blues scored a couple of goals. But it was too little, too late, as they lost a heart breaker 19-12 to the Ravens, dropping their third game in a row.
Blues coach Tyler Davies assessed his team’s overall performance after the game: “The team has progressed like night and day, and the team has started to come together well after some strong showings in practices and in the last three games.”
Coach Davies was clearly optimistic that the Blues are improving and he likes the direction the team has taken. He believes that with the right attitude, and perseverance, the Blues will go far this season.
The field lacrosse team can get their revenge on the Ravens when the teams hook up for a rematch on September 29 at Carleton.
