UoN Men’s Lacrosse beat Trent 16-10 to extend their Varsity Series lead to 4-0 ahead of Tuesday night’s Futsal fixtures.
After a dominant performance from the UoN basketball players on Monday night and from UoN Dodgeball moments before, the Men’s Lacrosse 1sts were looking to achieve another victory after coming runners-up in the BUCS Championships last month.
Trent entered the Varsity match as the more prepared team, having been playing at the top of their game recently and securing promotion to the BUCS Premiership last week.
From the first face-off, despite being won by UoN Sport scholar Kam Bampus, Trent looked to be in control. NTU scored three goals, leaving UoN needing to fight back in the opening ten minutes.
Fight back they did. Bampus’s incredible goal from outside the D, followed by goals from Nick Agrissani and Tyler Wilcox gave the green and gold fans something to cheer about, with the first quarter finishing on even terms at 4-4.
At the start of the second quarter, UoN were on fire. They fired four goals into the back of the net, causing the worried Trent team to call a time out with the score standing at 8-4 to UoN. Trent could only manage to claw one goal back before the end of the half.
Wilcox led the scoring with six goals, Agrissani with five, Bampus with four and Atkinson with one
Bampus opened the scoring again in the second half, with a hat-trick of goals straight from the restart. The boys were keeping the ball firmly in UoN’s attacking end, but when the ball occasionally travelled down with a threatening Trent player, Harrison was able to save multiple attempts in goal. After a dramatic fall by star ice hockey player Dan Atkinson, the third quarter finished at 12-8.
Going into the final quarter, nothing could stop UoN’s determination with Agrissani scoring straight away. However, Trent seemed to have a final burst of energy and, after a great feed from the backline, a Trent player converted an open shot on goal. Coupled with another goal for Trent, the score was levelling out at 13-10 to UoN, with the Varsity title all to play for.
However, in the final five minutes, UoN took control and their talent really shone through. Agrissani, Bampus and Wilcox all managed to score with powerful long shots, clinching a 16-10 victory for UoN at the final whistle.
Overall, the boys in green and gold put on an exceptional display of talent, with Wilcox leading the scoresheet with six goals, Agrissani with five, Bampus with four and Atkinson with one. Winning Varsity was the icing on the Men’s Lacrosse cake after an incredible season. After a tight loss last year, it was even sweeter.
President Josh Dodd, who contributed enormously to the game with several assists, told Impact: “We are really pleased with the win as we knew how good Trent are this year. The game was really tough and coming back from 3-0 down made the victory that much better.”
When asked who the coveted Man of the Match was, there was a clear answer: “Nick Agrissani. Not only did he play a fantastic game but he also played a big part off the pitch in getting us pumped up in the team talk.”
The Varsity Series continues with the Women’s and Men’s Futsal on NTU’s Clifton Campus from 5pm on Tuesday.
Georgie Lack
Follow live Varsity updates on Twitter with @ImpactVarsity15
