Category: Rugby

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These Concordia semi-final results may sting

The men’s soccer, rugby and football teams all exited in the first round of the RSEQ playoffs this past week.

The time has come to start playing indoors again. Fall and summer sports are wrapping up as the weather gets crispier and heads turn towards sports with freshly renewing seasons. 

That being said, it seems our teams are ready to get a head start on hibernation. Three playoff games were played by the Stingers, and all three of them turned out to be losses. 

Men’s Soccer

On Oct. 27, the men’s soccer team played the Université de Montréal Carabins in a tough RSEQ semi-final matchup at the CEPSUM. The Stingers not only had an away disadvantage walking onto the field, they were also the underdogs. Of the seven teams in the RSEQ, the Stingers finished the regular season in fourth place, securing the very last spot of the playoffs, with only five victories out of 12 games. Meanwhile, the Carabins finished the season without a loss. 

The Carabins yet again proved why they averaged over two goals per game throughout the season: efficiency. Even though Concordia outshot them six goals to four in the first half, the home team was able to convert twice, once from a penalty kick by centre back Kareem Sow. 

Tristan Nkoghe jumps for a high ball
Photo Credit: Concordia Stinger Athletics

The Stingers weren’t too disciplined around the pitch, as they outfouled their opponents and picked up three different yellow cards in the second half, seemingly out of frustration. The third was given out less than three minutes after the final deal-sealing goal was scored. The Carabins won 3-0. Surprisingly, they lost in the finals to the 6-5-1 Patriotes of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières last Friday. 

Men’s Rugby

It was more or less the same story for the men’s rugby team, who were just able to squeeze into a playoff spot. Bishop’s 15-25 season finale loss at Stade Percival-Molson pushed the Stingers through by point differential, as both the Gaiters and Concordia finished the season with a .500 win percentage. 

Jack Weller and Willem Nijzink make a tackle.
Photo Credit: Concordia Stingers Athletics

For the semi-final game played this past Sunday, Oct. 29, the Stingers had to face the Piranhas of the École de technologie supérieure, who were invincible in the regular season. Lo and behold, another crushing semi-final away loss as Concordia was vanquished 34-3. Five different players each scored a try on the Piranhas, including third line Xabi Chrit, who won game MVP. On Nov. 5, ÉTS lost 18-17 in the finals to the second place uOttawa Gee-Gees. 

Football

Just about the most exciting game of the RSEQ’s 2023 season took place in Quebec City on Nov. 4 when the Stingers football team faced the Université Laval Rouge et Or for the semi-finals. This time around, the Concordia team had a more even matchup, as the Stingers were facing a two-seed as a three-seed in the playoff bracket. ULaval did not play the dominant season everyone expected them to, as they had taken both of their losses to the Carabins, yet Concordia had beaten the latter in their last game of the season. This matchup was a real shootout. 

It started with a safety for Concordia heading into the third minute of the game, putting the Rouge et Or ahead by two points and setting the Stingers at a disadvantage. In the first drive of the second quarter, starting quarterback Oliver Roy threw an interception to Rouge et Or linebacker Justin Cloutier, who took it to Concordia’s 27-yard line. From there, a pass and a one-yard QB sneak took the Rouge et Or ahead by 9 points, then 10 due to a rouge point. 

Just as a 28-yard kick from all-star kicker Eric Maximuik seemed to restore momentum to the Stingers headed into the second half, substitute quarterback Adrian Guay decided to scramble around the halfway line and fumbled the ball. It was recovered by the opponents’ cornerback Maxym Lavallée, who ran it to the house for 49 yards. Laval led 17-3 after the good kick attempt.

Towards the end of the third quarter, Olivier Roy had been back on the field, and managed to throw a stellar 20-yard pass to veteran fifth-year wideout Ezekiel Tiede for a touchdown. The game was on. The Rouge et Or replied with a 22-yard passing touchdown of their own to widen their lead to 14 points, but that didn’t stop the Stingers. 

Our field general put on a fourth quarter showcase. The very next play, Roy threw a bomb to his trusty wideout Tristan Mancini for 37 yards and then another to Tiede. A couple of handoffs to the running backs, and Roy found the endzone after an eight-yard run. The Stingers defense banded together to shut the Rouge et Or down for a drive amounting to less than 15 yards, and it was Roy’s chance again.

With two and a half minutes left of the game, Roy managed to lead a drive that lasted just over a minute and score a touchdown in six plays, topped by a pass to Tiede for 34 yards into the endzone. Not to mention Roy capped off his night by tying the game and by asserting his sixth point of the night out of six points attempted. The teams tied 24-24 at the end of regulation.

Unfortunately, the Stingers did not have it in them to maintain the progress that they’d made over 60 minutes. A couple of 40+ yard field goals and a touchdown from the Rouge et Or, and Concordia’s season was over. 

A few Stingers players had performances to remember, despite overall shortcomings. Roy had 310 passing yards and the third most rushing yards on the field with 51. Defensively, middle linebacker Loïk Gagné dominated the game with 9.5 tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss. The whole receiver core should be recognized for the work they all put in, Tiede especially. 

It’s an exciting year to be a Concordia fan, although the ending may sting. All three of these teams surpassed what was expected of them. The future seems bright!

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Football Rugby Sports

Concordia Stingers Legends Inducted into Stingers Sports Hall of Fame

The Concordia Stingers home basketball court. Kaitlynn Rodney/The Concordian

Concordia held their annual Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Sept. 24

At the downtown Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile Hotel, the Concordia Stingers’ annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place in front of hundreds. Concordia alumni were inducted by different categories with current students in the crowd to support. In this year’s ceremony, Concordia inducted four athletes, one builder, and one team. 

On the ballot, an “athlete” is defined as a student-athlete who displayed outstanding athletic performances in their respective sport. A “builder” is an individual, coach or administrator who had a positive impact on Concordia athletics. A “team” is a roster in Stingers history that will be remembered for their performance and significant contributions to its sport.

Dave Miller-Johnston (left) with his Hall of Fame plaque. Photo courtesy of Joe Dresner.

On that 1998 Stingers football team was Dave Miller-Johnston, one of the athlete inductees in this year’s ceremony. Miller-Johnston went down in Concordia sports history after kicking the Atlantic Cup-winning field goal to send the Stingers to their first National Championship Final. While Miller-Johnston was the MVP following the game-winning kick with a minute remaining, he credited his teammates and coaches for the team’s success in his acceptance speech. “To my teammates–though it is me receiving this award today, this is really a shared celebration,” Miller-Johnston said emotionally. “We did this together. Winning or losing on and off the football field, we kept pushing each other. I want to thank you for inspiring me, pushing me and challenging me.”

Then there was Richard Mackay, graduate of Concordia in 1958 and athlete inductee in 2023. Mackay is known for his contribution to the 1957-58 men’s basketball team, then known as the Sir George Williams College Georgians, who won their fourth championship overall. That team, coached by the legendary Mag Flynn, got inducted into the Stingers Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. To honour his late coach, Mackay made generous donations to the basketball team since 2021 totalling $200,000.

Sheila Turner was the next athlete to be inducted in this year’s ceremony. As a member of the women’s rugby team between 1992 and 1994, Turner won provincial championships in all three years she played for Concordia. The 1994 team that Turner was a part of also got inducted this year. They were the only team to hold this honour in 2023. Turner graduated from Concordia in 1995, then went on to coach the Stingers in 1996, bringing more success and championships to the school in later years.

Inducted as an athlete in 2011, George Lengvari is now in the Hall of Fame as a builder in 2023. As part of the 1962-63 Loyola men’s basketball team, Lengvari helped the team with the first annual Ottawa-St. Lawrence title that season. Once he graduated in 1963, Lengvari paid back his time at Concordia as well as at McGill University. In 2021, Lengvari donated $1 million to each of his alma maters’ basketball programs in hopes of growing the sport at both institutions. Lengvari goes down in Concordia history as the only member of the Stingers Sports Hall of Fame inducted as a builder, athlete and team member.

Carol Ann Tull gives her Hall of Fame Speech. Photo courtesy of Joe Dresner.

To conclude the ceremony, Carol Ann Tull was inducted into the hall of fame as an athlete. Tull played on the Stingers women’s basketball team between 1996 and 2000, winning an award as the Defensive Player of the Year, as well as two Most Valuable Player awards in Quebec women’s basketball. In her acceptance speech, Tull thanked her teammates and coaches for all they did to get her to this point. Tull, a university sports legend and an inspiration to many, shared this note of motivation to close out her speech: “Together, we have proven that when passion aligns with purpose, any individual can achieve the most extraordinary feat.”

All the inductees should be proud of accomplishing the achievements they did. Their contributions to the Stingers are now etched in Concordia University history.

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Rugby Sports

Concordia Stingers seem to have a promising year ahead

(From left to right) Madeleine McTavish, Roxanne Galarneau, Fallon Coulouris photo by Shahlah Dilmahomed

Concordia Stingers’ women’s rugby Players confident after securing a 93-0 win in season opener against McGill Martlets.

The Concordia Stingers women’s rugby team tackled the home-opener and won against the McGill Martlets in their most anticipated game of the year, the 19th annual Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup, on Wednesday, Sept. 6.

This cup is dedicated to Kelly-Anne Drummond, a former Stingers rugby player. Drummond tragically passed away in 2004 due to a domestic violence incident. “Us as women, we’re playing a contact sport—something that empowers us—and I think rugby specifically is such an amazing way to honour her. To play in that game for her is something so special,” said Stingers fullback Madeleine McTavish.  

The game attracted many supporters, as it does every year. Each player put in their best performance and contributed to the score. “Everything was falling into place. Passes were sharp, it was flowing well. Everybody had their little moment [in the game],” said Stingers forward Roxanne Galarneau. “We were all playing for each other and for a greater purpose,” added Stingers prop Fallon Coulouris.

The team has also been adjusting to a new coaching style. Certain positions were switched, players were learning and trying different things. Nevertheless, everyone played as though they had been in these positions for a long time, according to Coulouris. At one point, the players were even anticipating the possibility of a three-digit score in the end.     

Following this big win, the team continued to assert dominance in another successful game against Bishop’s Gaiters on Sunday, Sept. 10,  beating them with a final score of 60-5. “The win against Bishops was to solidify our position in the standings. We’re not going to be underestimated in the RSEQ and we’re not going to be underestimated in the U Sports Canadian Rugby Championship,” said McTavish

Coulouris, Galarneau and McTavish emphasized on the bonds between the Stingers players, when sharing some of their highlights of rugby . Galarneau, who is entering her third season as a Concordia Stinger, revealed that she has learned so much by being on the team. 

Coulouris began playing rugby in her last year of high school and went on to play for Dawson College. She explained that playing the sport in college was a much different experience than playing in university, and that a lot has changed and developed in her five years of being part of the Stingers. 

McTavish was also introduced to rugby in high school and continued playing in college. She expressed how everyone was welcoming and encouraging when she joined the Stingers. She spent her first season watching players she looked up to and working very hard towards her debut. “I made such lasting friendships. This team has been so special for us,” she said.

As part of their biggest achievements, all three women were proud to share that they made the roster for Rugby Quebec. McTavish added that all three of them are recipients of the Kelly-Anne Drummond scholarship, and that it was a very emotional experience for them. “It’s a lot more than a scholarship,” she said. 

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Rugby Sports

Stingers’ Women’s Rugby Team confident for a winning Year amid coaching Shuffle

Captain Mahalia Robinson (Top right) coaches her teammates during a scrum

Coach Jocelyn Barrieau to be replaced during the 2024 Olympic run.

The 2023-2024 season is looking bright for the Stingers’ women’s rugby squad. Although there’s been some restlessness in the coaching staff, the team not only seems to be in great hands under new interim coach Craig Beemer, but according to long-time teammates, this is the best women’s rugby team to wear the Concordia colorway in years.

It was announced in early April that head coach Jocelyn Barrieau had been selected to train the women’s Canadian senior rugby seven-a-side team for the NextGen Rugby Americas North Sevens. Pulling through with a final 53-0 win over Mexico in Langford, B.C. on August 20, the team qualified to move on to play in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

When coach Barrieau started her career with the Stingers in 2018 in the RSEQ women’s rugby league, four of the eight teams’ training staff were led by women. Today, she is the only female head coach.

Since coach Barrieau will be absent for a majority of the season,  Beemer was introduced as a replacement. A friend and associate of Barrieau, Beemer has an extensive rugby coaching resume. He became the head coach of McGill’s rugby team in 2007 after assisting for two years. In 2014, the Ontario native was offered an opportunity to coach for the men’s rugby team at Concordia, and led the Stingers to a championship. Beemer remained with the Stingers ever since.

“Big sigh of relief for me to have someone here who I know cares about the Stingers, that I know cares about the student athletes and also cares about the game of Rugby,” Barrieau said.  “I’m super happy that Craig decided to be involved.” 

Captain Mahalia Robinson is satisfied with the interim’s efforts to not stray too far away from the old plan. To her, coach Beemer is keeping Barrieau’s core values from over the past four-five years.  “He’s doing a good job of keeping that and also adding his own. So it’s a mix of the two,” says the leader. “Even after she’s gone, I hope that we can still draw on her energy, because she drives this team and is the core of this team even if she’s gone.”

Beemer strongly believes that the team’s progress won’t stagger long thanks to their symbiosis and the reigning HC staying close to her team. “I can walk in, punch in and bring my strengths into the program, ” coach Beemer remarked. “When I punch back out and [Barrieau] slots back in I don’t think the program will miss a beat.”

Jocelyn Barrieau (left) and Craig Beemer (right)

Last year, the team finished the season with a 3-3 record. Since the start of training camp on August 17, it seems new training methods were brought to the table.  “I think Beemer is bringing a lot of experience in terms of winning, which we haven’t had, so it’s nice to have different perspectives of what it takes as a team to win,” Robinson added.

Robinson scored 55 points last season, which is more than half of what 6th place Université de Sherbrooke managed to break as a team at 90 points. She is a product of the strong leadership values that Barrieau has cultivated over her tenure with the Stingers.

Coach Beemer appreciates that his predecessor set high standards within the oraganization. “It’s really important to [Barrieau] that players take ownership of certain aspects in our program, which builds leaders, whether it’s on or off the field,” he adds. To him, its about putting in work on the field every week, and less about winning or losing. So far, the new coach is impressed with the team’s attitude and effort over the past two weeks.

Maxine O’Leary, a third-year number eight majoring in Communications, adds that the senior players, including herself, look forward to passing on some of their own insight to the rookie players. “We want to grow the game and leave it better than we found it,” she said. “It’s about building for next year, when we leave, whenever that is. We want the program to stay the same and for the newcomers to take on those leadership roles.”

To the team, the most important game of the season is the Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup, held in honor of the titular Stingers alumnus, who sadly passed away in 2004 in a domestic confrontation. Her mother, Doreen Haddad, is beloved in the Quebec rugby community for charitably starting the Kelly-Anne Drummond scholarship in 2019, whichis given to outstanding full-time Concordia student players.

“It’s our biggest game of the year,” emphasizes Robinson. “It’s the only one that we really have to win, it’s unacceptable to lose and this is the game where we show the most love on the field because we know what it means to be more than a team and be friends and be family. That’s how we play at the Kelly-Anne.

         This year’s legendary cup game will be played on Wednesday, September 6 at 8 p.m. The Stingers aim to surpass last year’s achievement of out-scoring McGill 55-3.  As for the rest of the season, expectations are high, and there’s a visible hunger around the squad to go 6-0.

“This is the best training camp that I’ve been at for the past three years so overall the energy’s super high from day one,” Maxine O’Leary said. “Everyone’s fighting for a jersey. And I think that’s a big difference, everyone’s fighting for a spot for the team.”

ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BY JEREMY COX/THE CONCORDIAN

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