Photo: Cam Mancini/CUFLA
On the same day that Atlético Ottawa won the Canadian Premier League title with the ‘icicle kick’ seen around the world, another Canadian championship was being contested for in the blizzard that made its mark on Ontario on Sunday.
Black Bears Liam Aston and Nicholas Volkov were two of the driving forces behind the Guelph Gryphons’ 16-5 win over the Nipissing Lakers at Terry Fox Stadium in Brampton that secured the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association championship for the Guelph Gryphons.
First awarded in 1985, the Baggataway Cup had been won by the Gryphons five times entering last weekend, the third-most of any school behind the University of Western Ontario and Brock University. Still, 2025 marked the first win by Guelph since they hoisted it in 2014.
Making the weekend even more crazy for Aston and Volkov was the fact that they had just completed the second full weekend of training camp with the Black Bears. Both made the hour-and-a-half drive to Brampton immediately after they got off the court in Six Nations, where the Black Bears played their first preseason game.
Aston said he skipped a postgame shower and arrived with about 25 minutes to spare before the opening faceoff of the Baggataway Cup. Volkov, though, who lives with Type 1 diabetes, got a bit unluckier with traffic, and also had to make a stop to check his blood sugar on the way.
“It was a crazy weekend,” said Volkov. “I think in the span of 36 hours, we played 10 hours of lacrosse, so it was an absolute battle, that game was incredible. I couldn’t feel my legs,” he laughed, adding that he had no time for breakfast, sticking to juice and granola bars to maintain his blood sugar. The 6-foot-3 defender (who plays offensive midfield in field lacrosse) arrived as the anthems were playing at the beginning of the final game against Nipissing.
All worth it, though, for both to close out their Gryphons’ careers as champions — in a similar fashion to Black Bears drawman Jay Thorimbert to boot.
Players who have played professional field lacrosse are ineligible to compete in CUFLA, but players who play professional box lacrosse are, like Volkov and Aston. The list of historical CUFLA standouts includes Thorimbert, who captained the Gryphons for three years between 2005–2008.
Thorimbert was a key member of the 2008 Gryphons team who defeated McGill to win the program’s third Baggataway back in 2008. The NLL’s all-time leading faceoff winner actually started taking draws at Guelph back in 2004.
Aston, Volkov, and Thorimbert met for the first time last weekend, with the alumnus offering the pair good luck.
Despite the nearly two decades separating their time at Guelph, the three are linked by more than just the crest on their jerseys — head coach Sam Kosakowski and athletic therapist Krista Braiden remain with the program.
Both Aston and Volkov said that the intense preparation and film work Kosakowski demands from his teams prepare them well for the NLL season. The Gryphons also practiced five nights a week during the CUFLA season, with time spent every night on individual skills.
“It’s only a 10-game regular season, so you’ve got to make every game count when you have a week to prepare for each team,” said Aston. “The film aspect of things was really helpful and something they do in the pros a lot.”
Volkov says Kosakowski is a very disciplined coach, but also very knowledgeable. “He tells us to watch a lot of film, and every week we schedule our practices based on who our opponent is,” said Volkov.
“I think it’s really transferable to the NLL, where you have to watch a ton of film,” he adds. “It’s honestly really professional, the structure he has at Guelph, and it’s really transferable into the NLL, so big shout-out to Sam.”
The grind of the lacrosse season — be it CUFLA or the NLL — of course, made harder by having a fourth-year university course load (Aston) or a full-time co-op placement in downtown Toronto (Volkov).
“My professors have been pretty understanding of it,” laughed Volkov, saying he’s had to defer a few midterms and exams over the past season as he played for Albany while attending Guelph. “I think when you tell them, ‘Hey, I play lacrosse professionally,’ they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s totally cool.’”
While Aston and Volkov are still finishing off degrees at Guelph, at least they won’t have to worry about a blizzard affecting them as they play for the Black Bears.
“When I was starting a dodge or something, I had no speed, no foot control,” said Volkov, “I’m slipping everywhere, and you know, the snow is blowing into your eyes when you’re trying to catch the ball, so it was crazy.”
Volkov laughed, recounting trying to pick up a loose ball and getting a pocket full of snow.
“I think it was a like a battle of grit, in a sense, where all your playbooks were kind of thrown out. There was no transition at all, it was pretty slow because guys had to change on and off and no one could run.”
“I had never, and I don’t think a lot of us had ever played in conditions like that,” said Aston, who led the game with four goals.
“Just definitely something really cool, I found myself in the middle of the game just thinking ‘I can’t believe this is the finals, this is the last field lacrosse game I’ll ever play, and it’s in these conditions.’”
