Concordia Stingers vs. Carleton Ravens women's hockey on Feb. 17, 2023. Kyran Thicke/ Concordia Athletics
Six goals by six different Stingers end the regular season on a high note
The Concordia Stingers’ women’s hockey team made the most of power plays and dominated the Carleton Ravens 6-0 at the Ed Meagher Arena during their last game of the regular season on Feb. 17.
It was the last regular season game for four Stingers seniors. Defender and captain Olivia Hale, forwards Alexandra Boulanger and Rosalie Bégin-Cyr, as well as goaltender Alice Philbert were honoured after the game alongside their families.
“They are four really important members of this team, we love them and I’m just glad we got a good win to honour their amazing careers,” said Stingers defender Alexandra-Anne Boyer.
Boyer helped the Stingers take the lead in the first period on the power play before Stingers’ forward Chloé Gendreau doubled the lead.
At the start of the second period, Concordia forward Justine Yelle beat the Ravens’ defence while shorthanded and extended the lead to 3-0. Stingers forward Caroline Moquin-Joubert capitalized later on their powerplay.
The Stingers continued to excel in power plays in the final frame, with forwards Megan Bureau-Gagnon and Jessymaude Drapeau making the final score 6-0.
The team was happy to get a big victory for the four seniors.
“I think we were just making sure we got that shut out for [Phibert] at the end of the day,” said Hale.
Stingers’ head coach Julie Chu noted that, with all the excitement surrounding the game, their biggest challenge was to stay focused and eliminate distractions.
Nonetheless, Chu praised her team’s dominance on the power play, their ability to build confidence and to make adjustments where needed in between periods.
“I was really happy with the full effort,” said Chu. “Obviously, what better way to honour our graduating players than with a win.”
With the regular season over, the Stingers will face the Bishop’s Gaiters on Feb. 23 at the Ed Meagher Arena for the first game of the best-of-three series.
“We told our team to enjoy this, enjoy what they’ve accomplished, and enjoy celebrating as a team,” said Chu. “But, when we wake up tomorrow, our focus shifts to preparing and doing everything we can physically and mentally to get ready.”
She acknowledged that there will be challenges ahead as they prepare to face the Gaiters.
“We worked all year for this,” said Boyer. “We’re going to come ready and Thursday is going to be a great game.”
Concordia ends the regular season with a 2-4 record, will face Carleton in the opening round of the RSEQ playoffs
The Concordia Stingers women’s rugby team played their final game of the RSEQ regular season on Sunday afternoon, losing their second matchup against the Ottawa Gee-Gees by a 24-12 scoring margin. The Stingers secured the third seed in division A with the loss, ending the season with a 2-4 record and setting the stage for a quarterfinal matchup against Carleton next week.
Stingers head coach Jocelyn Barrieau said that she expects the upcoming playoff matchup to be competitive given the two teams’ recent history.
“We have a big, physical matchup coming up against Carleton, we’re well aware of the physical nature of their game,” Barrieau said. “It’s also a rematch from the playoffs two years ago, so we know that they’ll be very fired up to come here and perform.”
The last time Ottawa and Concordia met on Oct. 2, the Stingers got shutout in a 50-0 loss on the road. Barrieau said she wanted her team to focus on the little things ahead of their second meeting of the season.
“One of our big points of emphasis this year is continuing to work on our trust in each other, in everyone’s abilities to do their jobs. Coming into today, we also changed our warmup routine, so it was those types of little adjustments that led to the better results on the field,” said Barrieau.
The Stingers seized control of the game early, registering a try in the opening minutes of the match. Ottawa responded quickly with a try of their own, tying the game at 5-5 after both teams failed their conversion attempts. The score would remain tied through the opening 20 minutes as both sides struggled to establish their footprint on the game.
Ottawa was able to impose their will on Concordia to end the first half, notching a pair of tries to head into halftime leading 19-5. Stingers forward Shawna Brayton would register a try at the 59 minute mark, briefly setting the stage for a potential Concordia comeback. However, a late try by Ottawa front row Anna Dodge put the game out of reach. Gee-Gees back Alexandra Ondo and Stingers back Emma Gallagher were named MVP for their respective teams.
Barrieau said the team’s training schedule heading into the playoffs will prioritize recovery with less contact than usual.
“This game was very physical, and we know next week will be too, so our goal is to try and keep our girls fresh.”
The Stingers will host the Carleton Ravens in the RSEQ playoff quarterfinals this Friday at Concordia Stadium.
The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team’s seven-game win streak wasn’t ended by either of their nationally-ranked cross-town rivals at McGill or Montreal. Rather, it came to an end against the now 2-5 Carleton Ravens in a 3-2 shootout loss.
Despite putting 47 shots on net, the Stingers were unable to beat Ravens rookie Marie-Eve Cote, who put on one of the best goaltender performances in the RSEQ so far this year. In net for the Stingers, second-year Madison Oakes made her first ever start for the team.
“We have a good goaltender group, and Alice has played a lot of minutes,” said Chu. “It’s time to get some other goaltenders experience too. I think that’s just a smart thing for us to do. Madi’s done a good job, this month especially at practice, and deserved the start.”
“We just needed to poke in a couple more there.”
If you just happened to stumble into the Ed Meagher Arena on this Friday night to watch this game, with no knowledge of either goaltender, you probably would have noticed that Cote was lights out as a rookie and that Oakes made more than a couple nice puck plays under pressure. Unfortunately for Oakes, her debut was spoiled by the Ravens.
“I think [Cote] made some tremendous saves,” said head coach Julie Chu after the loss. “They’re a good, hardworking team. They’ve had close games against pretty much everyone all season long, gone into overtime, shootouts. It’s understandable, we knew it was going to be a battle of a game.”
Is it weird to say that a team that got 47 shots on net wasn’t able to generate consistent chances throughout the game? The Stingers shot totals were ballooned by the double-overtime, but for the first two periods of this game, they didn’t test Cote nearly enough. Add in an extremely lucky break where a Ravens shot from the corner seemed to beat Oakes and bounce out of the net, that wasn’t called a goal, and you could feel that the Stingers didn’t play their best game. Chu echoed this sentiment post-game.
“Me personally, I didn’t think we had a good enough net-front presence,” said Chu. “I thought that we had some chances on the rushes that we got to bury, but in zone, we got opportunities, our net-front wasn’t great. We got to be better, especially if a goaltender is playing well.”
The Stingers managed to break the scoreless game with six minutes left in the third period when captain Claudia Dubois tipped a wrister from the point from Brigitte Laganière. While Dubois’ stick looked like it may have been above the crossbar, the goal stood, sending Ravens head coach Pierre Alain into a rage. The Carleton coach would only get more exasperated when the Stingers widened the lead 18 seconds later thanks to a rocket from the slot from Emmy Fecteau. Dubois and Laganière would both finish the game with two points.
A Ravens’ body checking penalty shortly after that second goal, and a bench minor thanks to Alain slamming the bench’s door over and over again would give the Stingers a 5-on-3 power play.
Normally, this would be where the Stingers add another goal and seal the game.
Not this time.
The Stingers power play woes ー which seemed to have dissipated in the previous couple of games ー returned all at once during the 5-on-3. After not being able to generate any chances for the full two minutes, both Ravens players popped out of the box, promptly received the breakaway pass, and Megan Wilson slid the puck through the 5-hole of Oakes.
Two minutes later, the Ravens pulled Cote for the extra attacker and really started to bear down on the Stingers. On the first face-off after a time-out by the Ravens, it was Wilson again who tied the game, walking into the Stingers crease without being touched. Suddenly, we’re back in familiar territory for the Stingers – overtime.
It was in the subsequent two overtime periods that Cote truly earned her win, making stop after stop on high-quality chances. It was only fitting that this would be decided in a shootout.
“Even though they had the time and space, they couldn’t quite get [the puck in] there,” said Chu of the shootout attempts. “Sometimes it’s like that.”
Both Emmy Fecteau and Claudia Dubois couldn’t raise the puck over the right foot of Cote, and Oakes was beaten twice. Suddenly and abruptly the Stingers perfect start to the season came to a screeching halt.
For Chu, the solution is simple: score.
“Now for us, it’s just finding a way to put pucks away.”
The Stingers face the McGill Martlets Nov. 24 at McGill.
Notes:
Madison Oakes didn’t deserve this loss, it was just that Marie-Eve Cote earned it more. 45 saves against the top team in the country. Wow.
Eight games into the season, we’ve seen glimpses at what an elite power play this Stingers team might have, but so far, they’ve been objectively worse with the extra attacker so far this season. I imagine some scheme changes will be coming after the holiday break.
The Stingers and Ravens meet one more time this season on Feb. 1. Photo by Hannah Ewen.
Forward Sophie Gagnon scores twice as Katherine Purchase collects third win
The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team beat the Carleton Ravens5-2 Sunday afternoon at the Ed Meagher Arena. Forward Sophie Gagnon scored two goals and added an assist in the victory.
The Stingers won all four games played against the Ravens so far this season, outscoring them 19-3. They also won two of those by shutouts.
In the two games this weekend, the Stingers scored nine goals. Photo by Hannah Ewen.
Stingers head coach Julie Chu was pleased with how her team competed against the Ravens, a team she calls a hard-working opponent. Chu wanted to see consistency from her team throughout the game.
“From start to finish, you could see it,” Chu said. “They scored a late goal. They don’t give up. And so for us, I think it’s trying to have to same intensity, focus, and urgency toward the way that we play.”
The Stingers took the lead early in the first period when forward Lidia Fillion scored her third goal of the season. “It was really great to see that our girls came out on fire in that first period,” Chu said. “They put us in a good place, and just kept getting better and better.”
Gagnon then added two goals in less than six minutes to give the Stingers a decisive 3-1 lead in the first. The forward gave credit to her teammates for her performance.
“I’m just at the right place at the right time,” Gagnon said. “When we need to put it [the puck] in the net, I do so.”
“[Gagnon] is not afraid to go to the net,” Chu said. “She competes in every moment, and I think that’s a big reason why she’s been successful over her career. She has that great determination. She’s willing to go through a knee, go through a wall to get a play done.”
Gagnon said the team had good zone exits against the Ravens, which created good offensive opportunities and helped the whole team produce in the game.
The first of Gagnon’s two goals was on the power play, and Rosalie Begin-Cyr scored a second power-play goal for the Stingers in the second period. Chu said the team really worked on reading plays and executing them at the right time.
“Today, I thought we did a really good job of moving the puck quickly, tape to tape,” Chu said. “Then, when we had opportunities to shoot and find shooting lanes, we were able to execute on those. That was really big.”
The Stingers finished the game with 39 shots, while the Ravens finished with 12. Goaltender Katherine Purchase registered her third victory of the season.
With an 8-4-3 record, the Stingers are still in third place, but sit three points behind first place, with five games remaining in the regular season. They play their next game on Feb. 1 in Ottawa against the Ravens.
“It was really important for our girls to come out after a big win on Friday, to make sure they had a full effort,” said Stingers head coach Julie Chu. “We’re really happy with how they did and how they competed the entire time.”
It didn’t take long for the Stingers’s power play to be a factor in this game: Claudia Fortin scored on the first power play of the game, just over two minutes in. The first period was played primarily in the Ravens’s zone, until Carleton forward Jamie Wainman found the net for their only goal of the game.
Audrey Belzile scored both game-winning goals this weekend. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
Stingers forward Audrey Belzile made sure the game didn’t stay tied for long, as she scored her third goal of the season before the first intermission.
“Great team effort,” Fortin said following her one-goal, two-assist effort. “We came back strong from a tough weekend last weekend. It was important for us to bounce back and be amazing out there.”
The second period played much like the first, as the Stingers were on the constant attack in the Ravens’s zone. Two quick Carleton penalties set up a five-on-three situation and Marie-Pascale Bernier took advantage, scoring her first of the season. Shortly after, Stéphanie Lemelin added another goal to end the period with a 4-1 lead.
The third period was mainly stagnate, and it wasn’t until five seconds left in the game that Melinda Prévost scored to put the game away. By the end, Stingers goalie Alice Philbert made 12 saves.
“We’re constantly learning and the more games we play, the more experience we’re getting,” Chu said. “Consistently playing simple and strong. They played really good hockey and had a consistent effort overall. That’s what we’re working towards as we build.”
The Stingers improve to a 3-2-0 record this season and sit in second place, tied in points with the Carabins. They head to Ottawa next Sunday to play the Gee-Gees, and return home Nov. 18 against the same team.
Forward Alexis Pepin scored two goals in the win against the Ravens. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Both captains injured in a game with 68 total penalty minutes
The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team beat the Carleton Ravens 4-2 on Feb. 10 at the Ed Meagher Arena in their last game of the regular season. Stingers goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced to help lead the Stingers to victory, while back-up goalie Antoine Dagenais played the final three minutes and allowed a goal. The win put the Stingers in third place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East division.
With the Stingers trailing Carleton in the standings by only one point before the game, this game was a fast-paced and physical ordeal from the opening face-off. In just under eight minutes, the Ravens took their first minor penalty. Twenty seconds later, they took another, starting a trend that would carry throughout the game.
Stingers forward Alexis Pepin seized this powerplay opportunity as he tipped in a shot from defenceman Matthieu Desautels, giving the Stingers to a 1-0 lead. The goal was the first of two for Pepin, who head coach Marc-André Élement said really stood out this game.
“Pepin made key goals, and he has a big presence. His physicality is really important for us,” Élement said.
Stingers forward Scott Oke scored his first goal in 10 games. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
As the game continued, the Ravens aggressive style of play took over. This didn’t faze the Stingers though, as they fought back with physical plays of their own. One Stinger whose physical presence was absolutely dominant throughout the game was forward Francis Brunelle, who had a major impact on the game.
“The guys on the bench are really pumped when he’s on the ice,” said Élement about Brunelle. “He motivates them, and he’s working hard.”
Brunelle was able to use his intimidating physical presence to create some good offence, and performed very well on the defensive end as well. Even with the Ravens playing an extremely aggressive style of hockey and amassing a staggering 56 penalty minutes, Brunelle’s physical play never ceased.
“Carleton is a team that plays hard, and I don’t like to be rolled over,” Brunelle said. He added that this type of physical play is his style of hockey. “It’s fun for me.”
It wasn’t all fun though.
Early in the second period, with the game tied 1-1, Stingers defencemen Philippe Charbonneau delivered a massive hit on Ravens captain Brett Welychka, forcing him to leave the game injured. As a result of the hit, the game’s aggressive and physical play got ugly, and fast.
A few minutes after Charbonneau left the ice, Stingers captain Philippe Hudon was subject to a vicious check against the boards by Brett Gustavsen, which left him sprawled on the ice with a bloody nose. Gustavsen did not get a penalty for the hit, but finished the game with 36 penalty minutes from other infractions.
Though a stretcher was brought onto the ice, Hudon gathered the strength to get back on his feet and skated to the bench with the help of his teammates. Hudon did not return to the game, but coach Élement said he will recover in time for the Stingers’ first playoff game, which should be this week.
The period finished with the Stingers up 2-1, after a late period goal from Stingers forward Philippe Sanche.
The third period was a mess from the first whistle. Carleton collected the majority of their penalty minutes in this period, receiving their first minor penalty less than two minutes in.
This continued until the end of the game, with Gustaven receiving a penalty for game misconduct at the final whistle.
Pepin and forward Scott Oke scored in the third period to give the Stingers a 4-1 lead. A late-period power-play goal from the Ravens brought the game to a final score of 4-2.
The win marks the third in a row for the Stingers, who have built up momentum heading into the playoffs.
The Stingers will face the sixth place University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks in the first round of the playoffs. The schedule is not released yet.
Rookie Lidia Fillion scored her league-leading 10th goal of the season in the win. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
Forward Audrey Belzile had four goals and an assist against the Carleton Ravens
The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team dismantled the Carleton Ravens with a 7-2 win on Sunday, Feb. 4 at the Ed Meagher Arena. Forward Audrey Belzile was the star of the game, scoring four goals and adding an assist.
“Everyone decided to play a team game and really come out with a team effort,” said head coach Julie Chu.
The Stingers started off slow, allowing the last-placed Ravens to generate some scoring chances in the first period. Belzile opened the scoring late in the first period with a great individual effort, spinning around one defender before scoring short-side past Ravens goalie Katelyn Steele.
“Our first period is usually really not that good, so we talked about starting strong,” Belzile said. “Everybody was forechecking and making good passes.”
Audrey Belzile (right) recorded the league’s second hat-trick by any player this season. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
The Stingers dominated the second period, outshooting the Ravens 15-5 in the period. Forward Sophie Gagnon doubled the Stingers lead six minutes into the second, scoring on a bit of a controversial goal, as Steele lost her glove during a scrum in front of the net and tried to stop Gagnon’s shot bare-handed.
After Belzile scored her second of the game and the Ravens got on the board with a power-play goal, the Stingers scored three times in a two-minute span late in the second period. They had a 6-1 lead at the second intermission. Belzile and Gagnon each scored, and forward Lidia Fillion got her league-leading 10th goal of the season. Belzile scored her fourth goal late in the third period.
“There was a lot of hard work going not only into [Belzile scoring four goals], but also what’s happening around her to allow her to be in positions to get a great opportunity,” Chu said.
This was Belzile’s first multi-goal game of the season, and she said it was the first time she scored four goals in a game. She said good chemistry with her linemates, Stéphanie Lalancette and Fillion, led to her goals.
“With all my goals there were good passes, so it wasn’t just me. It was a team [effort],” Belzile said.
Fifth-year goalie Fréderike Berger-Lebel got her first start as a Stinger in a regular-season game. Chu said even though Berger-Lebel has been the third-string goalie for much of her time at Concordia, she remains a team player.
“Instead of being someone who is resentful in that role, she embodied it, and she allowed all her teammates to understand to push everyday in practice and still be ready if she gets the nod,” Chu said. “She earned the right to start this game, and her teammates loved the fact that she got that opportunity.”
“For sure we wanted her to win the game,” Belzile said. “We are so proud of her because she’s a good teammate, always coming to the rink with a smile.”
With the win, the Stingers improve to a 12-4-1 record, sitting in second place in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ). With three games remaining, they are three points behind the Montréal Carabins, but the Stingers have a game in hand. The two teams play each other at Montréal on Feb. 16.
The Stingers’s next game is at home against rivals McGill on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 3 p.m.
6-3 win included a fight, 77 total penalty minutes
The Carleton Ravens handed the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team their first regulation loss of the season with a 6-3 win on Oct. 27 at the Ed Meagher Arena.
“We were awful,” said head coach Marc-André Élement. “We didn’t execute the game plan. We all need to be better.”
The first period was a roller coaster of emotions for both teams as Dalen Hedges, the leading scorer on the Ravens, scored on just their first shot of the game one minute into the first period. The Stingers quickly answered less than a minute and a half later as forward Massimo Carozza banged a rebound past Ravens goalie Francois Brassard, for his third goal of the season.
After the fast-paced opening three minutes, the Carleton Ravens controlled the majority of the play in the first period. After Stingers goalie Antoine Dagenais gave up the first goal on the first shot he faced, he made three big pad saves during the period, keeping his team in the game.
“I was pretty nervous at the beginning,” Dagenais said. “But the more the game went on, the better I felt. I just need to work harder to help the team.”
In the first period, both teams got under each other’s skin. A total of six minor penalties were given between the two teams. Stingers forward Francis Brunelle was given a game misconduct with seven minutes left in the period, leaving the Stingers down a man on the bench for the rest of the game.
“Emotions were running high,” Élement said. “We all need to do a better job of controlling our emotions, myself included.”
The Concordia Stingers come off the ice at the end of the first period in their Oct. 27 game against the Carleton Ravens. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.
Forward Philippe Hudon hit another milestone in his Stingers career in the second period when he scored his first goal as captain of the team, on the penalty kill, early into the period. However, after the goal, the Ravens started what would be an offensive onslaught against the Stingers, firing 22 shots at the Stingers net in the second period.
The Ravens scored two unanswered power play goals by first-year player Jared Steege and fourth-year veteran Ryan Van Stralen to give themselves a 3-1 lead midway through the second period.
“We didn’t have the puck very much the entire game,” said Stingers defenceman Carl Neill. “I think we need to take care of some things in our own end before worrying about the other. Bad mistakes and mental errors cost us.”
Five minutes into the second period, six-foot-five Stingers forward Justin Doucet and five-foot-nine Ravens forward Dakota Odgers dropped the gloves. Both landed some good punches, but Doucet’s size was too much for Odgers.
The Ravens did not take their foot off the gas until a holding penalty by Derek Brown with five minutes left in the second. That finally opened the door for the Stingers to get some offence going. On the power play, forward Anthony Beauregard took control of the puck and fired it towards the net before forward Alexis Pépin tipped it in.
“Our power play is working really well,” Neill said. “We need to get going five-on-five, but the power play is definitely a positive to take out of this one.”
Two minutes into the third period, Brett Welychka gave the Ravens a two-goal lead off a shot that beat Dagenais on the glove side. The Ravens did not look back with the lead and added two more goals for the 6-3 win.
The Concordia Stingers beat the Queen’s Gaels on Oct. 28, 4-3, in overtime. Their next game is at home on Nov. 3 against the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks.
Concordia improves to a 8-6 record with 2-1, 13-3 wins
The Concordia Stingers baseball team earned two wins in a doubleheader against the Carleton Ravens on Sept. 24. They have now won four consecutive games and hold a 8-6 record.
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Stingers and Ravens battled through sun glare and temperatures that reached 31C. The Stingers defeated the Ravens 2-1 on a walk-off in the seventh and final inning when second baseman Michael Makarios scored off an error.
Starting pitcher Shane Mullen played six innings, allowing five walks, two hits and only one run. Pitcher Justin Benoit relieved him at the top of the seventh and collected the win.
At the plate, the Stingers’ bats were unusually quiet. Catcher Dario Vincelli was responsible for the only run batted in (RBI), which came on a fielder’s choice in the second inning. In the bottom of the seventh inning, with the game tied and runners on first and second, outfielder Chandler Philippas struck out on a ball in the dirt. The catcher’s throw to first was over the first baseman’s head, though, and into right field, allowing Makarios to score from second base. This secured the 2-1 win for the Stingers.
The score was not as close in the second game as it was in the first game. The Stingers’ bats exploded for a 13-3 win. The 10-run mercy rule was called after the fifth inning. Several Stingers had great games offensively, including first baseman Stefan Brady with three hits and two runs scored.
The Stingers scored three runs in the first inning, five in the third inning, one run in the fourth inning and another four in the fifth.
A Stingers player talks to a coach at the baseball game on Sept. 24. Photo by Ben Fraser.
Sam Blondeau pitched in the second game, going four innings and allowing three runs on four hits, with a walk and two strikeouts. Pitcher Jackson Morgan replaced him in the top of the fifth inning, but by then the game was all but over.
Brady said playing in hot conditions like they did was a mental challenge. “[The first game] was a hard battle the whole way,” he said.
Concerning the second game, Brady commented on how Concordia wore down the Ravens.
“[The Ravens] were a little bit taken out of it,” he said. “We just had to wake up the bats and put the pressure on them.”
Errors were a major focal point of both games, and with serious sun glare, it becomes very hard to track the ball. However, Philippas said defence is always a priority for the team.
“Defence makes the team. Offence can always bounce back in the end, [but] defence runs the game,” the first-year player said.
Manager Howie Schwartz was happy with the way his team played, especially in the second game.
“Once we got three runs early, they sort of packed it in,” Schwartz said. “They were counting on [their] pitcher to shut us down.”
With the Stingers in a position to make the playoffs, the focus now turns to the next two games against the McGill Redmen. Schwartz said he is sure the team will be ready to go.
“They want to beat us, we want to beat them,” he said. “We’re just going to go out there and play hard, aggressive ball and make it close.”
The Stingers finish the 2017 regular season with games against McGill on Sept. 27 and 28.
Pitcher Jackson Morgan prepares for a pitch in the Concordia Stingers season opener against UdeM on Sept. 6. Photo by Ben Fraser.
Despite solid pitching performance by Jackson Morgan, Concordia lost 5-3 to UdeM
The Concordia Stingers baseball team opened up the 2017-18 season with a 5-3 loss to the Université de Montréal Carabins on Sept. 6. Pitcher Jackson Morgan did what all starting pitchers should do—he gave the team a chance to win, going 5 2/3 innings and only giving up two runs.
Morgan ran into some trouble in the top of the sixth as he allowed a run, and had two men on base before he was pulled from the game with two outs.
“I was starting to tire a bit, and when that happens, the curve[ball] doesn’t curve as much, and the change[up] doesn’t change as much,” Morgan said. “So it became about finding outs, the best way I could.”
Morgan praised his defence behind him, calling them incredible all night long. It was a very defence-oriented game for both teams, as the Stingers scored three runs in total. Two runs batted in by Bruce Tejada and another by Miles Arecchi-Schuh drove in the Stingers’ runs of the night.
Concordia Stingers baseball players look on from the dugout in the team’s season opener against the UdeM Carabins on Sept. 6. Photo by Ben Fraser.
It was a rough night for Concordia pitcher Frederic Lalande, who entered the game in the top of the seventh with a 3-2 lead. He had a chance to pick up a save but took the loss instead.
He struck out the first two hitters he faced, but ran into issues locating his pitches, eventually loading the bases. The Carabins capitalized, getting a bases-clearing triple to deep centre field. This gave the Carabins a 5-3 lead, and handed Lalande a blown save.
“They got some cheap hits,” he said. “I felt really in control, confident, but that’s baseball.”
The Stingers had a chance to win with a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth, but failed to score, handing the win to the Carabins.
The Stingers inability to hit with runners in scoring position was a reason for their loss. The team went two-for-nine with runners in scoring position, an occurrence that manager Howie Schwartz said won’t be a common occurrence.
“It’s early in the season. These guys all played in the States, they’re major ballplayers, [but] their timing is off,” Schwartz said.
Aside from the lack of clutch hits, the Stingers struck out 12 times, all against UdeM starter Simon Brisebois, who threw a complete game. Schwartz said his team’s ability to hit will come with time.
“Brisebois is an excellent pitcher. We managed to take care of him last year, [but today] he kept us off balance,” he said. Schwartz added that the first five hitters in the lineup are fantastic, and he expects improvement from them.
Morgan also commented on his team’s offence: “We’ll get the bats going. [We] know how to swing … and I’m expecting them to put up 10 to 12 runs a game”.
The Stingers travel to Ottawa to face the Carleton Ravens for a doubleheader on Sept. 10.
Stingers centre Alyssa Sherrard (11) and Carleton Ravens forward Sadie Wegner (44) face off. Photo by Alyssa Tremblay.
Stingers centre Alyssa Sherrard (11) and Carleton Ravens forward Sadie Wegner (44) face off. Photo by Alyssa Tremblay.
The Concordia Stingers lost 3-1 in a tight game on Saturday afternoon against the Carleton Ravens at Ed Meagher Arena.
The first period saw the Stingers go down after a controversial call by the referee. At 15:18, Ravens defenseman Kelsey Vander Veen shot at a scramble in front of the Stingers net. The puck did not seem to have crossed the line, and the goal light did not go on. However, the referee credited the goal to Vander Veen, which gave the Ravens the 1-0 lead.
“I thought [the call] was a little bit unfair,” Stingers captain Mallory Lawton said. “We have people who sit [behind the net] to put the goal light on and the goal light never went on.”
Just before the first period ended, Stingers defenseman Margaret Hotte was boarded and injured her ankle. She left the game with the help of a trainer and did not return.
In the second period, Concordia pressured Ravens goalie Tamber Tisdale to try to tie the game. Left winger Veronique Laramee Paquette took a nice cross-pass from right winger Erin Lally with just under six minutes to go in the period, but she couldn’t find the back of the net.
The Ravens doubled their lead when a weak wrist shot by forward Ainslee Kent from the side of the net managed to go past Carolanne Lavoi-Pilon at 7:12 of the second period.
But with one minute left in the period, Laramee Paquette blasted a shot past Tisdale to cut the Ravens’ lead to 2-1.
The third period was quiet, until 16:36, when defenseman Laurie Proulx-Duperre was sent to the penalty box for roughing. Frustration ensued for the Stingers and a short scuffle broke out.
Just after play continued, the Stingers found themselves down two players when defenseman Mary-Jane Roper was sent to the box for four minutes for a hit to the head from behind, destroying the Stingers hopes to tie the game.
At 19:17, the Ravens put the game away when Alexandra Yallouz scored into the empty net.
“I thought we worked hard,” said head coach Les Lawton. “Obviously we’re having a hard time putting the puck in the net. It’s a real tough loss for us because […] we’ve been working hard. Hopefully we could get it together for next weekend.”
Concordia travels to Ottawa to face the Gee-Gees on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. before returning home to play McGill at Ed Meagher Arena on Sunday at 3 p.m.
