1889 - RETURN OF THE WINGED WHEELS
Lacrosse's first game with a time limit was a Victoria Day exhibition
contest between Toronto and Shamrocks. 4 twenty minute quarters were
played, with a halftime break in the middle. Toronto marked its return
to the eastern league with a 6-1 triumph. Their first championship win
would also be over the irish. That victory did not come until the last
Saturday in July. The Queen City club struggled to a 2-6 record. The
miserable Shamrocks joined them at the bottom of the league.
The Winged Wheels also returned but lost star Archie McNaughton when he
twisted his ankle in a pre-season game. Consequently M.A.A.A. lost
their season opener to Ottawa. With Brockville out of the circuit, Jim
McConaghy jumped to Ottawa. He let only one shot past and outscored
the Triple A's by picking up two assists.
The defending champs were strong again and won their first three games.
Then they met up with the Winged Wheels and were bounced 4-1. Both
McNaughton and Hodgson had a goal and two helpers for Montreal. The
Colts had three weeks to recover, yet didn't. Their next contest was a
3-1 upset loss to Toronto.
Ottawa suddenly sat on top of the standings with four wins and one
loss. They had put an early 5-2 defeat to Cornwall behind them and
looked to be the surprise of the summer. Their fine run came to a halt
in mid August. The Triple A's topped them 4-1. In their next match,
the pretenders again only scored once. The Colts beat them by two
goals.
That left M.A.A.A.(6-1) and Cornwall(5-2) to decide the title on
September 21st. The titleholders took the lead on an Alex Black goal.
The Winged Wheels answered with four straight, three from Tom Paton.
The final score was 5-2. The Triple A's were new champs.
To the west, the Senior League shrunk again. First Toronto was lost,
then Woodstock quit in mid season. On June 5th they had lost 3-2 in
115 minutes to Paris. A fortnight later Brantford thumped them 4-1 in
65 minutes. That was their grand finale. Paris, Brantford and
St.Catharines were left to fight for the championship. Two Athletic
wins settled the matter. They doubled the Brants 4-2 on June 15th.
Exactly one month later Paris again fell, 4-1 in 50 minutes. The
Double Blues had their first pennant.
