CUFLA Check In: Off and Running!

The 2025 CUFLA season is off and running, as the league leads up to the 2025 Baggataway Cup in Brampton. 

The Western Mustangs took home their second straight trophy last year, and their sixth in the last eight seasons. But with an influx of talent around the province, this season could prove to be one of the more interesting seasons in recent history. 

Some of the games are being streamed around the province, including this one between Trent and McGill.

Standings-wise, McGill (East) and Guelph (West) are leading their respective divisions in points, with both sitting at 4-1 early in the season. However, the story of the year could be the Nipissing Lakers, who are the only remaining undefeated team. 

They have played just two games, but one of their victories came against Guelph, who as mentioned is an early season favourite. The Lakers are led by Halifax Thunderbirds forward Jason Knox, who is one of a few NLL players competing in CUFLA this year. Knox is leading the circuit with 7.5 points per game, including 9 goals in the first two contests. He is completing a graduate degree at Nipissing and is coming off scoring 89 points in his first two NLL seasons. 

Speaking of Guelph, they added some big-time talent this year as well, with Will MacLeod deciding to forego his last year of NCAA lacrosse, enroll at Guelph, and enter the NLL draft. Ironically, MacLeod was recently drafted to play the same side of the floor with Knox and the Thunderbirds, going 12th overall. 

MacLeod is second in league scoring with 31 points in 5 games, second only behind teammate Liam Aston. Aston was a second round draft pick to Ottawa in the draft, coming off a nice season and career with the Toronto Beaches. He has an impressive 35 points in 5 games thus far. 

Those offensive stars join NLL regulars like Nicholas Volkov (Guelph / Oshawa Firewolves), Caelan Mander (McMaster / Calgary Roughnecks) and several 2025 draft picks as players who are representing their university programs across the province. 

The eastern division looks to be a dog-fight, with Trent, Bishop’s and Carleton all sitting between 3-1 and 1-1-1. There is a long way to go yet, so we will know more about their playoff jockeying as the season continues. Trent and Carleton square off Sunday in a game that will be indicative of where each team is at. 

In the west, McMaster and Laurentian are winless and risk being left behind the pack, while U of Toronto is off to a solid start at 2-1. But like the east, the conference seeding is pretty tight in this conference as well, with several games coming up this weekend. 

As mentioned, the 2025 Baggataway will be played at Terry Fox stadium in Brampton, marking the first time CUFLA will play their championship at a neutral site. More details on that announcement can be found here!