A pair of Richmond lacrosse players helped McGill University complete a season of perfection in grand style.
The Redman captured the Baggataway Cup as champions of the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association with a 15-11 win over the Western Mustangs on Sunday. The victory capped a perfect season for the Redmen, who went 15-0 against CUFLA opponents — three of them in post-season play. It was also McGill’s second national crown. The first one came back in 2012 which happened to be Quinton Bradley’s freshman season.
The long stick midfielder standout has been named an All-Canadian in each his four years with the program. He even chipped in offensively with a goal in the final.
The Redman line-up also features another Richmond Lacrosse product — third-year defender Brad Hofmann.
Surrey native Spencer Bromley, who played his intermediate lacrosse in Richmond, was one of McGill’s top scorers this season and had a pair of goals in the final. He and Hofmann are teammates with Delta Islanders of the B.C. Junior “A” Lacrosse League.
The Redman have reached the national final in all four years Bradley has been with the program. The Richmond connection at the Montreal school also included defender Danny McDermott who graduated last season.
“To go undefeated, now that I reflect on it, is almost more of a feat than winning the championship itself,” said head coach Tim Murdoch. “Our theme developed by the captains this year was ‘As one’ and we literally took that to heart today. It was a team-based win.
“After reaching the final in each of the last four years, I think that perhaps we were expected to win this championship compared to our 2012 title where we were in more of an underdog role, so the feeling is quite different. Many of our guys playing today will be graduating and they were all freshmen when we won that first championship.”
Meanwhile, Richmond Field Hockey alumni Gabby Jayme has helped the UBC Thunderbirds capture their fifth straight CIS national championship.
UBC completed the feat in dramatic style Sunday with a 3-2 shootout win over the hometown Victoria Vikes. The Thunderbirds had forced overtime with a less than 20 seconds remaining in regulation time.
The tournament featured plenty of parity as UBC rebounded from an opening 2-1 loss to Guelph to slip past Victoria.
The Thunderbirds then scored late to earn a 2-2 tie with Toronto and a berth into the final.
Jayme, a fourth-year midfielder, was earlier named to the Canada West All-Star Team.
