VANCOUVER, BC - Playing in their first-ever national championship tournament, Laurier's #4-ranked men's rugby team came up just short in their quater-final match-up on Wednesday night, falling 23-22 to the #5 McGill Redbirds at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium.

The tense back-and-forth encounter saw the lead change hands five times before the RSEQ champions from McGill came away with the win.
 
Laurier enjoyed the better of the first half possession, but it was McGill who got on the board early through a pair of Monty Weatherall penalties.
 
The Golden Hawks came storming back with a pair of Wyatt Brown tries, both of which were converted by Adam McNee.

McGill reduced the deficit to five at the half with another Weatherall penalty.
 
After the break, the Redbirds came out strong to start the second half and Weatherall's conversion of Alexander Armstrong's try saw McGill retake the lead in the 35th minute.
 
A 42nd minute McNee penalty saw the Golden Hawks retake the lead by a point but the Redbirds answered back immediately with a Dakota Stevenson try and another Weatherall conversion to give the Montreal side their second six point lead of the game.
 
Laurier came back once again, with a Nicholas Harington try against a short-handed McGill side with six minutes to go bringing them within one, but a missed conversion kept the Redbirds in a narrow lead and this time it was a deficit Laurier couldn't erase.
 
Dylan Di Girolamo earned player of the game honours for Laurier while Weatherall was named the Player of the Game for McGill.
 
Laurier will now compete in the consolation semifinals, where they will meet Victoria on Friday at 2pm EST (11am PST). For fans and alumni in the Greater Vancouver area, tickets are available for purchase online.

All the action will also be streamed live and on demand free on The Rugby Network. 
 

Scoring Summary

LAURIER  22  MCGILL  23
 
First Half
MCG - Penalty convert, Monty Weatherall  10'  0-3
MCG - Penalty convert, Monty Weatherall  13'  0-6
LAU - Try, Wyatt Brown (Adam McNee convert)  19'  7-6
LAU - Try, Wyatt Brown (Adam McNee convert)  24'  14-6
MCG - Penalty convert, Monty Weatherall  26'  14-9
 
Second Half
 MCG - Try, Alexander Armstrong (Monty Weatherall convert)   35'  14-16
LAU - Penalty convert, Adam McNee  42'  17-16
MCG - Try, Dakota Stevenson (Monty Weatherall convert)  43'   17-23
LAU - Try, Nicholas Harington  (convert unsuccessful)  54'  22-23