SHERBROOKE, Que. – Two Bishop's Gaiters squads were in action on Friday night as the men's rugby team hosted the McGill Redmen in RSEQ University rugby action and the men's lacrosse squad played their quarterfinal match-up with the Guelph Gryphons at the 2013 Baggataway Cup in Montreal. Both teams suffered losses.
 
The men's rugby squad (1-6, 5 points) were dealt a blow to their playoff hopes when the fell 20-0 to the McGill Redmen (7-1, 33 points) on Coulter Field on Friday night. With a single game remaining the Gaiters find themselves on the outside of the RSEQ playoffs looking in.  They are two points behind the Montreal Carabins (1-6, 7 points) for the fourth and final post-season position.  Bishop's will host second place Concordia (5-1, 21 points) on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.  They will need to win and have the Carabins lose their last game of the year in order to qualify for the playoffs.
 
Friday night's match-up was one affected by the elements as the blowing wind gusted well over 40 km/h at times.  McGill was going into the wind in the first half and sprung an 80-yard run for a try in the first 10 minutes and then added a second to take a 10-0 into the break. Bishop's was unable to muster any offense even with the wind at their back while McGill tacked on 10 more points in the second half to grab the 20-0 victory.  The young Gaiters have had trouble scoring in 2013.  They were shut-out for the second time on Friday and have only reached double digits twice in seven games this year. They will look for one last push to the post season next Friday when the Stingers are in Lennoxville for the final game of the RSEQ regular season.
 
Lacrosse
The Gaiters men's lacrosse team opened their Baggataway Cup campaign on Friday night.  It was the fourth consecutive visit to the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association championships for the purple and silver, the 2011 champions.  For the second year in a row they bowed out in the first round of the three day tournament, this year to a tough Guelph Gryphons squad.
 
Guelph was on the board first, before Bishop's was able to answer and eventually take a 3-2 lead into the first quarter break.  The Gryphons took control of the second frame and grabbed a 6-5 halftime lead thanks in part to last second goal. Guelph maintained their lead through the third stanza, leading 9-7.
 
The Gryphons led by as much as four goals in the fourth quarter at 11-7 before Bishop's made a run and tried to salvage their season. The Lennoxvillians got as close as 11-9, before Guelph restored their three goal advantage.  Bishop's pressed and found the back of the net one more time but Guelph controlled much of the possession in the final few minutes and punched their ticket to the semi-final against the west's best, the Brock Badgers.
 
In the day's first quarterfinal, Queens scored three late goals to surprise the Western Mustangs 12-11.
 
The Gaiters 2013 campaign comes to a close, two games shy of their ultimate goal; however the purple and silver once again showed they are one of the premier teams in Quebec.
 
Follow all the Bishop's Gaiters teams anytime at www.gaiters.ca.
 
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