Besse reaches milestone as lacrosse squad stomps on Gaels

KINGSTON, Ont. -- Ryan Besse of Aurora, Ont., and Jishan Sharples of Vancouver, B.C., each scored three times and Besse became the second player in McGill lacrosse history to reach the 100-goal plateau as the McGill Redmen wrapped up the regular season with a convincing 13-2 rout over Queen's on their newly turfed West Campus field.

Besse, a 20-year-old economics sophomore, now has 100 goals and 139 points in 48 career games overall. The school record for goals is 109 by Nick Moreau, who played in 73 contests over four years before graduating after the 2009 season.

The win clinched first place for McGill, which finishes atop the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association East Division with a best-ever 9-1 record. Cellar-dwelling Queen's wraps up a dismal season at 0-10.

More importantly, the win guarantees the Redmen a berth in one of two CUFLA national semi-final games to be played at Western University in London, Ont., on Nov. 5.

"This big win was a total team effort and caps off our best regular season ever," said McGill head coach Tim Murdoch.  "Our assistant coaches, Sean Steinwald and Brendan Simeson did an outstanding job all week in keeping our guys motivated. Finishing number one in the East is an accomplishment. Our team now has two weeks to regroup and prepare for stiff competition from some talented teams from the West Division."

McGill jumped out to a 3-0 advantage after the first quarter and made it 9-0 at halftime.   The Redmen appeared to maintain ball possession for at least 75 per cent of the game.

Attackman Leland de Langley, a rookie form Orangeville, Ont., scored twice and added two helpers.  Other McGill marksmen were Ross Burst of St. Louis, Missouri, Brandon McLean of Victoria, B.C., J.J. Miller of Odenton, Md., Nolan Prinzen of Summit, N.J., and Alex Rohrbach of Princeton Junction, N.J., a freshman sensation who ended up as the team's leading scorer.

Rookie netminder Riley McGillis of Peterborough, Ont., had another solid performance between the pipes, limiting the Gaels to just a pair of goals.

GAME NOTES: Keying the top-ranked defense in the division was Kyle Robinson of New Westminster, B.C., Ossie Long of Sarnia, Ont., Frank Mendyk of Commack, N.Y., and freshman Jack Stewart of New Salem, N.Y... McGill dominated face-offs as the duties were split between J.J. Miller of who won 10 of 13, and freshman Jordan Sanford of Biddeford, Me., who won five of six.

TEAM SCORING

McGill : 3-6-4-0 -- 13

Queen's: 0-0-1-1 -- 2

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 13 @ Queen's 2
Date: Saturday October 22, 2011 @ 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location: Queen's - West Campus New Turf

McGill

Queen's

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

McGill Athletics & Recreation

514-398-7012