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.

A season for blue shirted celebrations. In the east Cornwall romped to a 7-1 record. To the west the Double Blues of St.Catharines were perfect. The A's went 8-0, sweeping away challenges from Niagara Falls, Toronto Capitals, Paris and Brantford. With John Notman on offence, Jack Downey controlling the midfield and Frank Williams on defence the Garden City club was invincible.

Cornwall was the class of the N.L.U., though they needed to win some close games early to carry them through. They edged M.A.A.A. 3-2, Toronto 4-2 and Shamrocks 5-4. Their only loss came in the rain when Toronto doubled them 4-2. The Queen City club already had two losses and proceeded to tie their remaining games. Alex Black dominated for the Colts. He scored 13 of their 30 goals, 5 more than anyone else in the league. 'Red' Dave Danaher and James Broderick also helped Cornwall's cause with 5 markers each.

With three defeats in their first four matches the Winged Wheels never gave themselves a chance to repeat. Tom Paton and Hodgson had retired(half of their offensive output from 1889) leaving the offence solely on the shoulders of Archie McNaughton. Archie was in his final year with the Triple A's. He would head west during the off season and be instrumental in building New Westminster into a lacrosse powerhouse. For M.A.A.A. the decline was only beginning. The previous year's championship was to be their last winning season until 1905!

It was another difficult year for Shamrocks. Their only win came at Ottawa's expense, a 7-1 rout. They declined to play the rematch in the nation's capital, at season's end. Yet irish fortune was also about to change. Thanks to good, young players such as: James McVey, Willie McKenna and Tom Dwyer Shamrocks would soon be Montreal's number one team again.

By winning their fourth pennant in five years the Colts proved that they had the greatest lacrosse dynasty to date. The '91 title came in a walk over. Nine straight wins, outscoring their opposition 38-14. Alex Black and 'Red' Danaher both averaged more than a goal per game, while Norm Carpenter backstopped another championship run. Only twice was Cornwall even threatened with defeat. Ottawa Capitals battled them hard in their debut, losing 3-2. A month later Willie McKenna's hattrick gave the Colts a scare but they rallied to beat Shamrocks 5-4.

It was a season of change. Toronto and M.A.A.A. were out, while Ottawa fielded two teams. Ottawa L.C. had a fine mix of youth and experience but lacked the overall talent to challenge the best. 3 wins was all they could manage. The young blood included defenders Frank Bissonette(25 years old) and Midland's Tommy Crown(26). On offence were the Carson brothers from Orangeville. Hugh(24) was in his second year, while younger brother George was a noted speedster, having run the 100 yard dash in 10 1/2 seconds. Bert Henry appeared as a junior call up and scored in his debut. Henry would dominate Ontario lacrosse in the next century. The veterans included Joe Kent and goal saver Jim McConaghy. McConaghy would head west in '92 to make a name for himself.

After a number of seasons in minor leagues Ottawa Capitals had joined the majors. They boasted an impressive line up: 22 year old Ottawa College football star James Murphy, teenager Harry Ketchum, who had only picked up a lacrosse stick upon moving from Orangeville to Ottawa the previous year, 25 year old Bramptonite Harry James, former Shamrock 24 year old Jimmy Devine and teenager Harry Carleton. All that potential, however only two wins to accompany seven losses. Still time was on the Capitals' side.

The saddest event of the summer occurred in an all Ottawa match on August 29th. The father of Capital captain Egan died of a heart attack during the contest. The 58 year old had been suffering from Bright's Disease the past three years. The game was postponed with Capitals leading 2-0.

To the west, Ontario's crown remained on the Niagara Peninsula. It simply shifted from St.Catharines to Niagara Falls. The flipside to such success was Brantford. The Telephone City representatives lost a disputed game when the league ruled against them. The club was so upset that they quit in mid season. Not only that, Brantford ceased to have anything to do with the C.L.A. again in the 19th century. Lacrosse had temporarily lost one of its major centres.

Montreal contractor William Stewart changed lacrosse in the nineties. The Capital manager brought about a merger with Ottawa L.C. which instantly made the Capitals contenders. Stewart made two other key moves. He switched Tommy Crown to goal and he signed defender Barney Quinn. The latter change cost Ottawa two victories because Quinn had started the year with Orillia Intermediates, then joined Capitals without waiting the necessary 30 days. Both wins, over Cornwall, had to be replayed.

The Winged Wheels returned and the Montreal rivalry was as heated as ever. The final meeting was so violent that the city's mayor rushed from his seat down to the Shamrock bench. Mayor McShane shouted: "For God sake Mr. Polan, control your men!" To which the irish captain replied: "I know Mr. Mayor, but what can I do?"

It was a record setting year. Montreal's Hugh Adams began the season by throwing a lacrosse ball 449 feet 5 1/2 inches. In September, Barney Quinn broke that record. During a pre-game warm up the 23 year old tossed a ball 497 feet 7 1/2 inches!

The two returnees had a rough time. M.A.A.A. managed only two victories, both over Toronto. The Queen City crew went 0-8 and scored only 10 goals.

In the Factory Town it was the farewell season for Alex Black. He led the league in goal scoring for the third consecutive year as he averaged two per game. The defending champs were only able to split eight contests. They lost all their meetings with Ottawa and Shamrocks.

The championship race was a two horse affair. Head to head Shamrocks and Capitals split their two meetings. On June 11th the irish prevailed 4-1 as Joe O'Meara scored three and Nick Neville had a trio of assists. Ottawa responded on July 23rd by doubling the green shirts 4-2. James Murphy's pair of goals were the difference. The Montreal squad completed its schedule on September 17th, leaving Ottawa with two must win games to tie. The first was the final Cornwall replay, in the Factory Town. It began disasterously as Capitals fell behind 3-1 in the opening half. The contenders elevated their play during the final 40 minutes. With George Carson's two goals, Ottawa rallied for a 4-3 win. A week later they easily defeated a short staffed Toronto team. Prior to the contest the Torontos asked to see Barney Quinn. They gave the new record holder three cheers.

The tie break for the pennant created unprecedented interest. The Govenor General, Lord Stanley of Preston, insisted that the results of each quarter be telegraphed to him. He was not the only interested sports fan. A crowd of 14,000 gathered in Montreal for the title match. The cold October weather did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm. Shamrocks entered the contest at a disadvantage because their regular goalie, James McKenna, was injured. William Duggan replaced him and performed admirably. He was under siege early as Ottawa came out fast and stormed to a 2-1 lead. Harry Carleton scored first, from Frank Bissonette, then combined with George Carson to set up Harry Ketchum for the second. In between Joe O'Meara answered with a solo effort. O'Meara tied it again, in the second half, with help from John Tucker and James McVey. It was McVey who counted the winner, late in the affair. The irish then defended furiously as Capitals threw every man forward. With the final whistle the green shirts had their title.

Ottawa lost a Victoria Day encounter to Shamrocks 4-1 but avenged it with a 7-1 victory ten days later. The second exhibition game would be a sign of things to come.

Inter league exhibitions produced several matches of interest. On Dominion Day Ottawa played Stratford. The Iroquois were defending C.L.A. champs and would repeat in '93 and '94. Against Capitals they were no match, losing 5-1. Toronto took on New York Athletics and doubled them 4-2. In mid September the same score went against them in a match versus Victoria. A hint that the west would soon be heard from.

A horrific season for the Triple A's as they lost all eight of their matches. Toronto and Cornwall both faired a bit better by winning three each. Yet they were miles behind the Big Two.

Capitals opened championship play with a pair of three goal triumphs over M.A.A.A. and Toronto. The irish also beat the Winged Wheels 4-1, plus they prevailed in a couple of two goal games over Toronto and Cornwall. The two undefeated clubs met on July 22nd. Ottawa produced a convincing 6-1 win. Billy Leacy, formerly with Cornwall and Brockville, assisted on half the goals. George Carson was a bigger contributor with five points, including two goals.

The leaders followed that victory by steamrolling over their next opponents. Yet the pennant remained in doubt until their final meeting with Shamrocks. The green shirts struggled after the Ottawa loss. They barely defeated Toronto and Triple A's in one goal games. Still they remained in striking distance of Ottawa, setting up a big finale. Capitals completed their perfect season with a 3-2 victory. James Murphy's two counters were key.

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