Excalibur Weekend Wrap-up: Excalibur Women's and Men's Lacrosse dominant in 2021 regular season openers
The 2021-22 OUA and CUFLA season officially got underway over the weekend, with the women's Excalibur lacrosse team kicking off their title defence at Justin Chiu Stadium with a doubleheader against the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks.
In a dominant first game back, the reigning OUA champions from 2019 showcased both their offensive and defensive talents, winning 17-1 to claim their first victory of the 2021 season.
Avery Di Giorgio led the Excalibur offence, tallying a total of five goals while handing out six assists. "We had good looks and our team really meshed together," Di Giorgio said after the home opener. "Our defence looked really strong, and our goalie did a really good job out back."
In the second game, the Excalibur women's team continued their offensive momentum, jumping up to a 13-0 start by halftime. As the second game of the day, it was a team effort with Mackenzie Manuliak leading the scoring with a total of eight goals along with another solid presence from goalie Emily Van Damme. When the clock hit zero, the Excalibur women's closed out with a doubleheader sweep, winning 27-1 over the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks.
The Excalibur men's lacrosse team got off to a strong start to the 2021 season, looking to build off their results from the 2019 season. Facing off against the Toronto Varsity Blues in Toronto, Ont., the men's Excalibur team got off to a 3-2 lead at halftime before exploding in the fourth quarter seven goals in the second half, taking a heated contest by score of 10-3.
Taite Cattoni lead the charge offensively, scoring five of the Excalibur team's 10 goals, adding two assists along the way. The defensive duo of Curtis Conley and Curtis Romanchych came out solid, shutting down some of the Varsity Blue's top scorers.
"It feels good to be back," said Excalibur head coach Mark Farthing. "Just being back on the bus makes it feel more real, getting back into the dressing room, its about getting back to our processes. We have a first place game against Nipissing next week, we will be ready."
Both teams are back in action next weekend as the women's lacrosse team takes on a strong Queen's Gael's team at home on Saturday, September 25 at 12 noon and 3:00 p.m. while the men's get their home opener against the Nipissing Lakers at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 25.
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