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Playoffs a chance for Concordia to hit the refresh button

Kaylah Barrett battled injuries and still won RSEQ mvp. Photo by Navneet Pall

It was a tale of two seasons for the Concordia women’s basketball team. A 6-0 start was accompanied with a 2-8 finish, leaving the Stingers with an 8-8 record, and a second place finish in the RSEQ.

Kaylah Barrett battled injuries and still won RSEQ MVP. Photo by Navneet Pall

 

The second place finish means Concordia gets home court for at least the first round of the playoffs, a huge advantage seeing as  the  Stingers have not won a game on the road since a Jan. 20 victory in Ste-Foy against Laval. Likewise, Concordia will be facing the Bishop’s Gaiters who are 1-7 on the road this season but a solid home record carried them to a 7-9 season. Bishop’s lost both games they played in Concordia’s gym this season.

Many of the Stingers’ struggles can be attributed to nothing more than bad luck. The team was bitten by the injury bug coming out of the Christmas break. Natasha Raposo, one of the team’s best outside shooters, missed a significant chunk of time. Kaylah Barrett, who was recently named RSEQ player of the year, saw her production drop dramatically later in the season as she was forced to play through hand and back injuries.

Barrett sat out for Concordia’s final  game of the season hoping to rest up for the playoffs.

Concordia dropped its final two games of the year, a 44-42 home loss to UQAM, and a 16-point blowout loss against Laval on the road.

While no team wants to back in to the playoffs, the final two games meant very little in the standings as the Stingers were virtually locked in to second place, and it was more important for the team to rest some players.

The team’s struggles down the stretch would soon be forgotten if Concordia was able to win the conference and advance to the national championships in Calgary. However, an early exit on home court would be a disappointing end to a season that had began so promisingly and with high expectations.

Bishop’s has been a middle of the pack team for most of the season, but games between the Gaiters and the Stingers have been very close.

Save for a 71-40 blowout Stingers victory that snapped Concordia out of a five-game losing streak on Feb. 10, all the games between the two teams have been decided by four points or fewer.

Concordia is the more talented team, but a lot will depend on just how healthy Barrett actually is. The Stingers are the best team in the conference defensively, but have had spurts where they’ve shot the ball horrendously. If the shots aren’t falling on Tuesday night against Bishop’s, it could spell trouble for the Stingers.

However, if the offensive is clicking, the Stingers should be able to advance into the next round, and likely face top-seeded McGill. Concordia and McGill split the season series this year.

It has been a Jekyll and Hyde season for Concordia. The playoffs will provide the opportunity to see the team’s true identity.

 

The game is Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. at Loyola. 

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See ya later Gaiters

Riddled by injuries in the past weeks, the Stingers went from a team drawing attention nationally to a team hovering near .500, battling for a home playoff game.

Concordia thrashed Bishop’s at home. Photo by Navneet Pall

With the third place Bishop’s Gaiters visiting on Friday night, Concordia came out playing quality basketball and turned in its largest margin of victory this season, with a 71-40 win.

The Stingers built up a 13-point lead in the first half, but Concordia watched a halftime lead of the exact same margin dissipate last week in a loss to Laval.

Coach Keith Pruden was determined to keep his team from befalling the same fate against Bishop’s. “I told the team [at half] it’s the same [lead] we had against Laval last week and that we had to maintain the intensity level we had in the first half and we just had to execute a little bit better and we did both those things,” he said. “I’m very happy with [the team’s] effort.”

Concordia held Bishop’s to just 15 points in the final half, including a fourth quarter in which the Stingers outscored their opponents 21-6, sealing the game with an exclamation mark.

Guard Kaylah Barrett, who has been battling thumb and lower-back injuries and struggling mightily lately, broke out of her slump, scoring 19 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists.

“I’m busted up everywhere but I just try and play through it,” said Barrett, who has not been participating in full-speed drills in practice.

Concordia dominated Bishop’s statistically, outrebounding the Gaiters 53-34 and forcing 26 turnovers, while only turning the ball over 15 times themselves.

“We played with a lot of heart compared with the other games [during the losing streak],” said Concordia guard Magalie Beaulieu, who was second in scoring for the Stingers with 11 points. “Other nights we let teams back in the game, but tonight we played better defence and offence and with much more heart,” she said.

With the win, Concordia remains in sole possession of second place with a record of 7-5, which would give them at least one home playoff game in the first round of RSEQ playoffs, but will be jockeying with Bishop’s (5-7) for the coveted two-seed the rest of the season.

The Stingers will also continue to be without Natasha Raposo, one of the team’s best perimeter shooters, who is out with an injury. The team will be forced to move forward though, as they hope to build momentum going into the playoffs.

Concordia’s next game is a rematch with Bishop’s this Friday night, on the road at 6 p.m.

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Stingers left to reflect on what could have been

Captain Eric Bégin has played his last game in a Stingers uniform. Photo by Navneet Pall
Captain Eric Bégin has played his last game in a Stingers uniform. Photo by Navneet Pall

An exciting season came to its heartbreaking conclusion on Saturday afternoon for the Stingers men’s hockey team, who will be watching the CIS post-season.

Facing the Carleton Ravens, and needing a single point coupled with a Queen’s loss, the Stingers were blanked 7-0 by a Ravens team that had already locked up a playoff spot in the OUA East.

Though Queen’s lost on Saturday against Nipissing, they still held the tie-breaker over Concordia, which was goal differential in the two teams’ head-to-head match-ups. Concordia defeated Queen’s 6-1 earlier in the year, but a 9-2 loss was what inevitably gave Queen’s the final playoff berth.

Missing out in such a close fashion makes it easy to nitpick every goal or loss, but a few games stand out more than others for Stingers Coach Kevin Figsby.

“There’s probably three games this season I’d like to have back,” said Figsby, identifying a particularly frustrating December loss to Ottawa where the Stingers had their seemingly tying goal disallowed. “There were a few games this year where I thought the players didn’t compete as hard as they needed to and I told them going into those games that those are the types of games that bite you in the ass. And we got bit in the ass, and that’s the sign of a young team.”

Unlike the veteran teams it faced down the stretch, Concordia was stocked with first- and second-year players, many of whom felt the weight of the playoff
pressure.

“When you come into this league as a 20-year-old, you’re facing guys [who have been in the league for five years], that have been where you are, so there is a learning curve there,” said Figsby.

He is also trying to not get frustrated by the fact that Concordia would have qualified, quite easily, for the playoffs if they were in the OUA West. He does think, though, that it is time for the OUA to look at making some changes to the present system that was created when the landscape of OUA hockey was much different.

“The part that’s frustrating is to see how balanced the league has become, and see no changes to allow for the balance,” said Figsby. “The structure was created [to allow for weaker teams to compete], but we’re well past that.”

The end of a season for any team, especially at the collegiate level, often means saying goodbye to some familiar faces. For Figsby, missing the playoffs is as much disappointing from a personal level as a competitive level.

“The disappointing part is that we’re not going to be together everyday,” he said. “It’s the most disappointing because you come in and there’s a group of guys that are committed to each other and when the season ends you know some guys aren’t coming back and you’re not going to see them.”

If Concordia can keep the core of its team together, it will be a dangerous squad next year, especially if it can improve defensively and the three rookie goalies develop after playing a full season.

Figsby did mention, though, that a few players are in talks with professional clubs, primarily in Europe, but would not release the players’ names at this stage of negotiations.

It will undoubtedly be a long off-season for Concordia, but if Figsby can land some of the recruits he has his eyes on, and the team keeps its core together, McGill may not be the only team in this city with championship expectations.

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Cellar dwellers topple division leading Stingers

Jerome Blake is guarded by Sean Monplaisir in the Stingers loss. Photo by Navneet Pall

Playing the Bishop’s Gaiters, the RSEQ’s last-place team who only had one win coming in to Friday, it seemed the Stingers would be able to record their 11th win of the season. Instead, Concordia was upstaged on its home court by a hungry Bishop’s team looking to slay the Goliath of the Quebec conference.

Jerome Blake is guarded by Sean Monplaisir in the Stingers loss. Photo by Navneet Pall

While it is undeniable that Concordia is a more talented team than Bishop’s, the games are not won and lost on paper.

“They outworked us and they outplayed us,” said coach John Dore. “We weren’t prepared and they deserved to win. We played better in the first half, but just weren’t focused in the second half.”

The Stingers trailed by a point after the first quarter, but came out strong to start the second, going on a 12-3 run at the beginning of the quarter, taking a 37-26 lead midway through the second, and went into the break with an eight-point lead.

Whatever momentum Concordia had built up, though, was gone coming out after halftime.

Bishop’s outscored the Stingers 23-13 in the quarter and took a slim, two-point lead in the final quarter when Mukiya Post hit a jump shot in the last minute of the third.

It was all Bishop’s in the beginning of the fourth quarter, as the Gaiters built a 13-point lead with just over two and a half minutes to play. To give the Stingers credit, they refused to fold.

Kyle Desmarais, who led the Stingers with 18 points, made back-to-back three-point shots on consecutive possession to pull Concordia within eight points.

Trailing 75-68 in the final minute of play, the Stingers went on a 7-2 run and had a chance to tie the game after Sean Monplaisir missed a free-throw that would have virtually clinched the victory for Bishop’s.

This allowed the Stingers to run one final play to tie the game. Concordia got the ball to Decee Krah, who struggled on the night, scoring eight points on just two-of-12 shooting. Krah, however, missed a difficult 25-foot three-pointer, giving Bishop’s the upset victory.

Afterwards, Coach Dore stressed the importance of not overlooking weaker teams like Bishop’s. “You have to respect your opponents and come out ready to play every night,” he said.

Despite the loss, Concordia still remains in first place in the RSEQ, two wins ahead of McGill, but the Redmen only have three games remaining, while the Stingers have four.

The Stingers will have a chance to avenge the loss as they face Bishop’s again this Friday night at 8 p.m., on the road in  Lennoxville.

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6-0 feels long ago

The Concordia Stingers started the season off with six wins, but are now in the throes of a five-game losing streak. Currently sitting in third, they trail first-place McGill by six points. Photo from archives.
The Concordia Stingers started the season off with six wins, but are now in the throes of a five-game losing streak. Currently sitting in third, they trail first-place McGill by six points. Photo from archives.

Just two weeks ago, the Concordia Stingers were the class of the RSEQ. The team was riding a six-game winning streak and was poised to run away with the conference.
My, how things have changed.
Lately the Stingers have underperformed, resulting in a five-game losing streak. They now trail first place McGill by six points. This past weekend, Concordia was facing two of the conference’s weaker teams and was expecting to snap out of its struggles. Unfortunately for the Stingers, the games aren’t won on paper.

On Friday night, Concordia hosted a feisty Laval Rouge et Or squad who they defeated twice this season, but only by a combined six points.
This time, though, it was Laval’s turn to eke out a win. Concordia amassed a 13-point lead in the first half, only to watch the wheels fall off in the third and fourth quarters. Laval outscored the Stingers 17-6 and 21-15 in the final two quarters, leaving the Loyola gym with a 56-52 victory.
This wasn’t the end of the Stingers’ troubles; the weekend reached its nadir on Saturday. Matched up against last place UQAM, a team Concordia had blown out twice already this season, the Stingers seemed to get back on track early, outscoring UQAM 24-13 in the opening quarter.
But when it rains it pours.
The Stingers imploded in the second quarter getting outscored 21-11 and were unable to regroup in the second half. After grinding out the third, Concordia brought a five-point lead into the game’s final quarter, only to allow UQAM to run away with the game in the final 10 minutes, leaving the Stingers with their most lopsided loss of the season.
The frustration around the team is undoubtedly building as head coach Keith Pruden is refusing to allow any players or coaches to speak with the media. Pruden himself could not be reached for comment either.
The recent play of Kaylah Barrett is also cause for concern. After a blazing start, Barrett has struggled during the losing streak, not scoring more than 12 points in a game and shooting just 20 per cent from the field. The uncharacteristic struggles leave people to wonder whether or not Barrett is playing with an unknown injury.
Concordia is now battling for second place with the Bishop’s Gaiters, who they are two points ahead of in the standings.
Concordia is hoping to gain some ground on Bishop’s Friday night at 6 p.m. when the two teams meet at Loyola.
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Stingers get back on track with weekend sweep

Taylor Garner battles off defenders in Concordia's victory over UQAM. Photo by Navneet Pall
Taylor Garner battles off defenders in Concordia's victory over UQAM. Photo by Navneet Pall

After watching an archrival end their perfect season last week, the Concordia Stingers were anxious to get back on the court this weekend against Laval and UQAM and atone for the loss to McGill.

Concordia turned in two impressive performances, beating Laval 80-59 on Friday at home, and then picking up a 73-62 win at UQAM.

The slow starts and periods of lackadaisical play that plagued the Stingers in recent weeks were addressed this week during practice, and the changes were noticed come game time.

“I think it was our attitude on the team [that made the difference],” said coach John Dore. “The guys had a wake-up call. We had better practices, we were more focused and intense, and maybe had a bit better understanding of what we need to do.”

While he was happy with his team’s effort, Dore was never too concerned with the overall motivation level of his team. “The guys should get excited about playing the games, that’s why we work so hard in practice,” he said. “They’re here because they want to be here, so it shouldn’t be hard to get motivated.”

On Friday night, it was guard Kyle Desmarais leading the way for the Stingers with 18 points and seven assists. Despite falling behind by nine points early in the game, Concordia battled back to take a lead into the second quarter and would not trail again in the game.

Concordia faced a quick turnaround from the Laval game and was on the court against UQAM on Saturday. The Stingers jumped out to an early 17-4 lead, and though they let UQAM back into the game, Concordia dominated play for the most part and was never seriously threatened late in the game. Rookie guard Jerome Blake led the Stingers in scoring with 16 points in just 19 minutes coming off the bench.

With five games remaining in the season, Concordia has a six-point lead over second place McGill. Thus far the Stingers have been right on par with coach Dore’s preseason expectations.

“I thought we had a chance to be in first place and I sort of expected to be in first place,” said Dore. “I don’t know if I expected [to be in first by six points]. Our goal right now is to create some distance from the pack.”

Dore has never been one to rest players down the stretch, even if playoff seeding has been determined, but given some tough late season scheduling it is not something that has been ruled out.

 

Concordia’s next game is this  Friday at 8 p.m. against Bishop’s at Loyola.

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Big win and tough loss for Concordia men

Peter Karvouniaris makes a sprawling save in a 5-3 loss to the Ottawa Gee-Gees. Photo by Navneet Pall

Just like the women’s team experienced a week before, the men’s hockey team was unable to stop the Ottawa Gee-Gees as they played their second game in a row on Saturday night.

Peter Karvouniaris makes a sprawling save in a 5-3 loss to the Ottawa Gee-Gees. Photo by Navneet Pall

The night before, however, the men played what may have been their best game of the season, knocking off the CIS’ top ranked McGill 4-2. Concordia has defeated McGill in two of the teams’ three meetings this season.

This loss to Ottawa greatly dampened Concordia’s chances of making it into the CIS top 10, a place the team would love to find itself in as the regular season winds down.

“The guys played as hard as they could today with what they had left, but we just didn’t have enough energy to compete,” said head coach Kevin Figsby of the Ottawa game. “Ottawa was coming in with a must-win situation. If they lose, they are out of the playoffs. It was a tough game for us today, but you can’t do anything about it, that’s how the schedule dictates itself.”

With two games to go in the regular season, the Stingers will be without the help of goaltender Peter Karvouniaris, who is out indefinitely with a concussion he suffered in the second period as Ottawa forward Stephen Blunden ran him into the net.

Figsby believes the play was a critical turning point of the game. “We were still in a 1-1 hockey game when they ran our goaltender,” said Figsby. “We didn’t know when he got hit that it was a concussion, so he stayed in and they took two shots that went in. That turned the game around.”

The first period had Ottawa written all over it as the Stingers had trouble getting out of their own zone. The Gee-Gees had one opportunity after another as the defence was scrambling, but everything was stopped by Karvouniaris keeping the game 0-0.

Three minutes into the second period, Concordia forward François Lanctôt-Marcotte opened the scoring, making it 1-0 for the Stingers. “It’s a lucky goal I guess,” he said of the goal scored on the rebound of Charles-Antoine Messier.

After Concordia’s goal, it was all Gee-Gees once again. The Stingers had a chance to take a 2-0 lead as Ottawa forward Stephen Blunden was called for goalie interference. But the Stingers were sloppy on the power play, and gave up on a two-on-one which resulted in the puck finding its way past Karvouniaris and to the back of net.

A minute later, Ottawa added another marker as Stephen Blunden scored with a wrist shot, making it 2-1.

Ottawa made the game 3-1 before the intermission as Luc Olivier Blain was able to beat a woozy Karvouniaris.

The third period started with Nicholas Champion taking the place of Karvouniaris in the net after he suffered his concussion. To welcome Champion to the game, Ottawa scored just 40 seconds into the period.

The teams exchanged goals for the rest of the period en route to Ottawa’s 5-3 victory.

Despite the win against McGill, captain Eric Bégin wasn’t letting his team off the hook for Saturday’s game. “I don’t buy into that fatigue factor, that’s not an excuse,” he said. “We play 28 games in a season, not 82 like the pros. It’s not an excuse.”

Concordia is up against McGill this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Ed Meagher Arena.

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What happened to the winning ways?

The Concordia Stingers started the season off with six wins, but are now in the throes of a five-game losing streak. Currently sitting in third, they trail first-place McGill by six points. Photo from archives.

For the first time since the season began, the Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team can no longer look at the very top of the standings to see its name.

McGill wore pink in Saturday's win to raise money for breast cancer. Photo by Julian Mei

A loss to the McGill Martlets on Saturday night, Concordia’s third loss in a row, has dropped the Stingers into second place, a win behind McGill, though Concordia has played one less game.

Concordia went into Saturday’s game coming off a road loss the previous night at Bishop’s, and was hoping to get revenge against the Martlet team that handed the Stingers their first loss just over a week ago at the Loyola campus gym.

However, It was not the Stingers’ night.

Concordia shot just 27 per cent from the field, compared to McGill’s 40 per cent. The Stingers started slow and found themselves trailing by five after the first quarter. While they awoke in the second frame, a sluggish start to the third sent Concordia into the final quarter trailing by eight points.

Ice cold shooting prevented the Stingers from mounting any type of comeback.

Stingers coach Keith Pruden spoke about the inconsistencies that have been resulting in the recent losses. “We’re only playing defence the way we should be about every second possession and we’re only executing well on offence every third possession and that’s just not enough,” he said.

Despite the recent struggles, Pruden is not ready to press the panic button just yet. “There’s still quite a few games left, and we’re still 6-3. We’re still right there near first place. I would be worried if [the recent problems] were things we could not correct, but I believe these are things we can correct, the question is whether or not we will correct them.”

Pruden also said that although the goal was to go undefeated, it wasn’t something he was counting on. Pruden did not let players speak to reporters after the game.

While it would be unfair to place the losing streak on one person, it has not helped the Stingers’ cause that their best player, Kaylah Barrett, has gone in a mini-slump of her own. After averaging 22.3 points per game to begin the year, Barrett has averaged just 11.3 during the losing streak.

The Stingers will take the court next against the Laval Rouge et Or at Loyola campus at 6 p.m. on Feb. 3.

 

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Not so great eight for Stingers

Forward Valerie Watson celebrates the game winning goal for Ottawa against Concordia on Sunday afternoon. Photo by Navneet Pall

The frustrating season continued for the Concordia women’s hockey on Sunday afternoon at Ed Meagher Arena.

Forward Valerie Watson celebrates the game winning goal for Ottawa against Concordia on Sunday afternoon. Photo by Navneet Pall

The Gee-Gees came to town hoping for results similar to the last time the two teams faced off; a 4-3 loss for the Stingers, the eighth in a row, has left them six points out of the playoffs with only five games to go.

“We had our moments, I thought, but overall we weren’t really satisfied with our full 60 minutes,” said Stingers head coach Les Lawton. “We have to realize that we have to play with a little more passion and a little more intensity at the important times of the game.”

The Stingers started the first period by getting outplayed in their own zone as forward Alyssa Sherrard took a penalty for a hit to the head. Concordia managed well on the penalty-kill with some good saves from goalie Marie-Pier Rémillard, keeping the game 0-0.

After trading a few penalties, Ottawa opened the scoring with two minutes left in the first as forward Dominique Lefebvre put one behind Rémillard.

Concordia tied it up with one minute to go in the period as forward Emilie Bocchia scored her first of three goals.

Picking up from where she left off, Bocchia scored her second off her own rebound only a minute and a half into the second period.

Ottawa forward Asha Kauffeldt had a great chance on a breakaway midway through the second, but Rémillard stood tall and kept her team’s lead.

With forward Jaymee Shell in the box for elbowing, Concordia couldn’t hold off the Gee-Gees powerplay as Fannie Desforges scored on a wrap-around, making it 2-2.

“We came out strong but we let down at times and penalties really were an issue for us,” said Stingers captain Alynn Doiron.

The third period started with a lot of back and forth action that had both teams trading chances. Ottawa came out on top with the momentum as Janie Paquette made it 3-2 at the 17:21 mark of the third period.

After the goal, Concordia seemed to struggle in its own zone, giving pucks away and making turnovers. Forward Maggie MacNeil was called for a body check at 11:39, and Veronica Lang went to the box for tripping one minute later, giving Ottawa a 5-on-3 opportunity.

Gee-Gees forward Valerie Watson made it 4-2 a few moments after the beginning of the 5-on-3, scoring from the slot on a wrist shot that went five-hole as Rémillard had her vision blocked in front.

Bocchia completed her hat trick with four minutes to go in the third, but the Stingers, even with the goalie pulled, weren’t able to come back in time. The loss put a damper on Bocchia’s accomplishment.

“Don’t give me too much credit on that, I really wanted to win this game,” she said. “My line worked hard and I just wished I had one more.”

Concordia now sits in last place in the RSEQ conference, six points behind Ottawa.

The Stingers’ next game is Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. on the road against Carleton.

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Stingers winning streak ends at eight

Karim Sy-Morissette drives by Jerome Blake of Concordia. Photo by Navneet Pall/

Like a little brother who has to catch up to his older sibling, a young McGill team finally toppled a Concordia team stacked with veterans, after showing steady improvement against the Stingers all season.

Karim Sy-Morissette drives by Jerome Blake of Concordia. Photo by Navneet Pall

After suffering a blow-out loss on home court to start the season, McGill came close to beating the Stingers at Loyola on Jan. 21 in a spirited game. Though the Redmen came up short on the scoreboard, it was evident the team had greatly improved from opening night.

The Redmen took the final step on Saturday night and, for the first time this season, it was Concordia’s turn to watch its greatest rival celebrate a victory.

“Last week we thought we had a chance to beat them and let it slip away, so this was big for our confidence,” said Redmen coach David DeAveiro.

Similar to the teams’ last meeting, McGill took advantage of Concordia’s slow start and grabbed and early lead. The Stingers shot only 29 per cent from the floor and made just one of 11 three-point attempts in the first half.

Playing in front of a vociferous and packed arena, the Redmen had help of a “sixth man” so to speak. “The crowd was great. I hope it keeps getting better and better,” said DeAveiro.

While last week at home the Stingers were eventually able to find their comfort zone late in the game, this was not the case on Saturday.

The poor shooting continued for Concordia in the second half, except Decee Krah who scored a team-leading 17 points on the night, all in the third and fourth quarters.

The Stingers, however, did their best not to let the game get out of reach, and remain within striking distance.

Unfortunately for Concordia, it was McGill’s turn to receive some gratuitous bounces from the basketball gods.

Trailing 63-55, forward James Clark had an opportunity to bring the Stingers within five points, but the fifth-year forward missed an easy layup underneath the basket. The ball eventually popped out to Redmen guard Vincent Dufort to explode down the floor for an uncontested dunk  that gave McGill a 10-point lead with just over three minutes remaining, and raised the noise level of the gym a couple decibels. Dufort led McGill in scoring with 16 points.

Mirroring last week, Concordia made several free throws late, making it a three-point game with just 18 seconds left. However, this time McGill didn’t turn the ball over and made their free throws when it counted.

“It’s hard to win a game when you shoot this poorly from the field,” said Concordia coach John Dore. “We had our chances in the end and just didn’t perform well enough to win the game.”

Despite being disappointed with the loss, the Stingers were well aware the cycle of slow starts was bound to catch up with them.

“Honestly, I think that we needed this,” said guard Kyle Desmarais. “I feel like if we’d gone undefeated we could have lost in the finals or semi-finals. This way we see that we’re not unbeatable and that we still have things to work on and it will make us that much better.”

Concordia’s next game is Friday, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. at home to Laval.

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Stingers overcome challenges on and off the ice in playoff race

With four games to go in the season, it must be frustrating for the Concordia Stingers and other OUA East hockey teams to look across the conference to the West Division where the Laurier Golden Hawks, sporting a 7-16-1 record, have practically clinched the final spot in the divisional playoffs.

By comparison, Ryerson, with a record of 11-10-3, would miss the playoffs if they started today. In the East, only four points currently separate the fourth seed (Toronto) from ninth-place Ryerson. Concordia is sitting in seventh, tied with Queen’s with 26 points, only one point up on Ryerson.

But such is life in the CIS. Due to geographical circumstances, unbalanced conferences and schedules are something that all teams have to deal with.

Concordia’s head coach, Kevin Figsby, is not frustrated with the fact that, this season, the East is better than the West, pointing out it is “cyclical” and that in past years the West has been better than the East.

The biggest change Figsby would like to see, though, is the balancing of the conference schedule. As it stands, Concordia plays four games a year against McGill and UQTR (perennially strong teams), while teams like Queen’s and Toronto play four games a year against RMC (a perennially weaker team). All teams in each conference also have to play four “crossover” games, often resulting in long bus rides. This year Concordia had to play Windsor, a 12-hour drive away.

“We’ve got the same teams competing for the same [playoff spots] with an unbalanced schedule,” explained Figsby. He also pointed out that the West Division has nine teams vying for eight spots, compared to the East where 10 teams are jockeying for the same number of positions.

Changes have been proposed during meetings, but ultimately the majority has ruled to leave the present system in place.

“The coaches’ association has looked at [changing the system],” said Figsby. “We’ve debated over it and we’ve voted over it. There’s always a diverse conversation that goes on around the table, and obviously for competitive reasons some people don’t want to go to a full conference schedule. You can also look at the [West Division] and they’re pretty content having eight out of nine teams make it, so why would they vote to do anything different?”

For Figsby, perhaps the most frustrating thing is not having more universities in Quebec with men’s hockey programs, thus making it possible for a Quebec conference to exist, and sparing schools like Concordia, McGill and UQTR trips to Ontario. “I still can’t figure out how we can have as much passion about hockey in Quebec, and have one francophone school [in Quebec] with men’s hockey,” he said referring to UQTR.

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Women’s bid for perfection ends

Concordia 55 Laval 51
McGill 57 Concordia 52

The dream of a perfect season came to its disappointing end for the Stingers women’s basketball team over the weekend.
Coming off a hard fought, four point road win on Friday night against Laval, the Stingers just didn’t have enough left in the tank to get past a streaking McGill Martlets team the very next day in their own gym.
On Friday, Concordia was in a dog fight with Laval. The Stingers took a seven point lead into halftime but imploded in the third quarter. Laval started the quarter on a 12-4 run and outscored Concordia 24-13 in the quarter, turning the Stingers halftime lead into a four point deficit.
With a perfect season still in tact, Concordia clamped down on defence and held Laval to just five points in the fourth quarter en route to the victory. Kaylah Barrett led the Stingers with 21 points.
On Saturday the story was similar. Concordia found itself trailing by five going into the fourth quarter, except this time the clock struck midnight on the perfect season as the Stingers just couldn’t muster enough energy for the comeback.
Barrett scored a season low 11 points and shot just two-for-11 from the field, though she did manage to get to the free throw line nine times, making six shots.
McGill was led by its bench, primarily Helene Bibeau who led the Martlets in scoring with 16 points.
McGill is now surging, having won three games in a row and at 5-3, and is now only two points behind Concordia for first place in the RSEQ, though Concordia does still have a game in hand.

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