Despite the four-game winning streak, the Stingers head into the break in seventh place. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.
Concordia heads into break with four-game winning streak
The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team beat the Nipissing Lakers 9-2 at the Ed Meagher Arena on Dec. 1.
The Stingers dominated all aspects of the game: they outshot the Lakers 60-20, they got more hits, and they had puck possession for most of the game. Concordia also went 6/12 on the powerplay, and forward Hugo Roy scored their first goal of the game on a five-on-three advantage. Roy led the Stingers with four goals in the game.
Hugo Roy (left) scored four goals in the win. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.
After defenceman Carl Neill scored late in the first period, the Stingers opened the second with three consecutive goals, forcing the Lakers to change their goaltender.
Concordia took advantage of its opportunities on the power plays and was able to build a solid lead early in the game. Concordia spent most of the time in the offensive zone forcing the Lakers to take penalties. It seems like the Lakers spent too much energy defending and didn’t have enough to attack at the other end of the ice.
It was a physical game and the Stingers won most of the battles along the boards. They were also faster than the Lakers with a quick transition game to leave their zone and go on the attack. The Stingers’s defencemen also contributed offensively, transitioning the play from zone to zone.
Even though the Stingers dominated most of the game in the offensive zone, they still played well defensively, blocking numerous shots.
The Stingers have now won four-straight games, a streak that started with a win in Nipissing. Concordia is now on break, with a 9-6-1 record, and will return on Jan. 11 to face the McGill Redmen on the road.
Forward Audrey Belzile (pictured) hit two posts in the game. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
Concordia heads into winter break third in conference
A third-period push wasn’t enough for the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team to comeback against the McGill Martlets on Saturday afternoon. The Martlets beat the Stingers 3-2 at the Ed Meagher Arena in the rivalry game.
“It’s a game of bounces, and in the first period we had a few breakdowns that [gave] McGill a few bounces that we didn’t get,” said Stingers head coach Julie Chu. “For sure it was a fun game, it was back-and-forth and very much like a playoff-atmosphere game.”
The Stingers and Martlets will face off in the first game after the break. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
Early in the game, the Martlets displayed why they are ranked third in the country by U Sports. Emilia Cotter opened the scoring five minutes in, before Concordia’s Marie-Pascale Bernier tied the game four minutes later. McGill continued to fire shots on goalie Alice Philbert, and finally got one past her midway through the first for the lead.
After outshooting the Stingers 13-8 in the first, the Martlets extended their lead to two goals just three minutes into the second. “We have to tighten up so we don’t give those opportunities,” Chu said. “Even their third goal was a tough bounce that deflected weird and ended up going in.”
The Stingers stormed back during the second period. A power play gave them the energy they needed and created multiple scoring chances, only goalie Tricia Deguire to stop them. Stingers forward Audrey Belzile even hit a post in the second, only to hit a second post in the third. Concordia did cut the lead in half with an early third-period goal by Sophie Gagnon. It seemed to energize the team and the crowd at the Ed Meagher Arena, as they outshot McGill 18-7 in the final period—but couldn’t tie the game.
ConU on power play pressing to find that game-tying goal. Once again Deguire making the big saves
“I thought the third period we were tremendous, we were all over them and buzzing, plus we had a lot of good opportunities,” Chu said. “At the end of the day when we play a good team in one of the best leagues [in the country], we’re going to go back-and-forth, and some chances will go in, and others won’t.”
With 10 games played, the Stingers are halfway through their season and have a 5-3-1 record heading into the winter break. They sit third in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec conférence, four points behind McGill.
The Stingers host the Theresa Humes Tournament from Dec. 28 to Dec. 30, before returning to league play against McGill on Jan. 12.
“We’ve worked really hard and grown as a team [this season],” Chu said. “But the key for our girls is to focus on their exams and to make sure to still get some work-outs in December.”
After a first period controlled by the visitors, the Stingers scored three unanswered goals in the last 40 minutes of play to defeat the Paladins. The Stingers finally broke the tie 41 seconds into the third period with a goal from forward Jean-Philippe Beaulieu.
Head coach Marc-André Élément said the Stingers will need better starts if they want to win their upcoming games.
“We didn’t show up in the first period,” Élément said. “We have to learn from that. However, our guys stepped up in the second and third period, allowing us to get two huge points tonight.”
After trailing 15 to 13 in shots after the first period, the Stingers came back strong and finished the game ahead 44-27 in that category.
“I think the big difference between the first period and the rest of the game is that we won our battles [for the puck] and kept it simple in the defensive zone,” said Stingers defenceman Charlie Roy, who scored his first goal of the season in the first period.
Defenceman Anthony Gingras, who scored the Stingers’s second goal, also got his first of the season.
Élément said the team made adjustments and played more aggressive in the second and third periods.
“I wasn’t shy to let the players know after the first period that they had to be better,” Élement said. “At university level, you can’t afford to make the kind of mistakes we made in the first period.”
The Stingers received 25 penalty minutes, while the Paladins received 12. Stingers forward Francis Brunelle received a game misconduct penalty in the third period for a hit from behind.
“It was definitely tiring [taking all the penalties],” said Stingers forward Jake Fletcher. “It seemed like there were penalties after penalties.”
Goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 24 saves in the victory. It’s his sixth win this season, and his third-straight after the team’s 8-1 loss against the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Nov. 17.
“You need to focus on the present,” Turcotte said. “It’s about paying attention to what’s happening around, just staying in the game.”
The Stingers play their last game before the holiday break this Saturday night against the Nipissing University Lakers. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Ed Meagher Arena.
Growing up in Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu, Leclerc moved to Quebec City to play basketball in Cégep, and now lives in Montreal. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.
Rookie already impressing women’s basketball team
It’s clear Myriam Leclerc can score points for the Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team. In her three years playing for Cégep Ste-Foy in Quebec City, she averaged 12.7 points per game, and led the league in scoring in her final season last year. But what she brings to the Stingers is so much more than just scoring—she brings leadership.
“I need to be a leader, speak and don’t be shy to say what I think,” Leclerc said about her leadership style. “I think I’m the type of person you could talk to.”
Myriam Leclerc says she wants to be as vocal as possible on the court. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.
Leclerc is in her first season with the Stingers and when head coach Tenicha Gittens was recruiting her, she challenged her to be a vocal leader.
“She always has this poise to her, you never know what she’s thinking, and as a point guard, you have to be poised,” said Gittens about Leclerc. “But you also have to be vocal. You have to get other people involved, directing using hand gestures, and that’s something I challenge her everyday to do in practice.”
The point guard is one of six rookies on the new-look basketball team. Coming out of Cégep, Leclerc chose Concordia because she knew it’s where she belonged right away.
“When I visited here, I felt like it was my place with the girls and coaches, and the atmosphere felt really good,” Leclerc said. She enrolled in accounting because she enjoys working with numbers and business, and heard great things about the John Molson School of Business. “Everything was just a good choice for me, academically and with the team sports.”
Leclerc said she’s enjoying her first semester at Concordia, but is only taking three classes because it’s the first time she’s doing her schooling in English. It’s not the first time she’s playing basketball in an English environment—she first did that with the Canadian national team at various youth levels. Since 2014, Leclerc has been participating in training camps for the youth national team in Toronto, where she first learned how to be a leader.
“The whole experience [with Team Canada] was great, and I could speak more English than I was before, and I’m more confident with meeting people,” Leclerc said, adding that it helped her come to Concordia with knowledge of English basketball terms. Still, her teammates are there for her when she needs them.
“I know if I’m struggling [to find a word], I know the girls have my back, so I’m confident about it,” Leclerc said.
“We make a lot of fun of my accent in the locker room,” Leclerc added with a big laugh, saying it’s all in good fun. “We know it’s friendly and lovely.”
The rookie’s play on the court is nothing to laugh at. She instantly made an impact for her team, carrying the Stingers to a perfect 3-0 record and winning the MVP award at the Concordia Classic tournament. She has already been named the female Stingers athlete of the week twice this semester, once for her performance at the Concordia Classic on Oct. 9, and again on Nov. 13 for her 17-point game in the home-opener. As a point guard, Leclerc controls the play and sees the court well. “My greatest strength is my IQ, like I know when to rush [the ball up] or when not to,” Leclerc said.
“She’s a floor general and understands the game,” Gittens said. “She can score freely and get other people involved. She creates [chances] for other people and creates them for herself, and brings a calmness to the team.”
WBasketball_23_HEwen8 – Leclerc drives the basket against the Bishop’s Gaiters on Nov. 24. Photo by Hannah Ewen.
Gittens is benefitting from having a player like Leclerc. A year after going 4-12 and missing the playoffs, the Stingers went 9-1 in the preseason and sit in second place in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) with a 3-1 record. Leclerc is averaging a team-high 17.8 points, 3.8 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. But this doesn’t come as a surprise to Gittens.
“If anyone followed her throughout her Cégep career and saw what she did on the court with the team she had, then coming here with [the players we have], then it’s no surprise to what she’s done,” Gittens said.
Leclerc credits the team’s success to a good atmosphere. “We’re always together and bonding, we’re a loud team and we’ve just had so much fun so far this year” Leclerc said. “We just like each other, there’s no one [girl] you like more than any other. We’re just like a family with a bunch of sisters and we have each others’s backs.”
The first-year grew up in Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu, a municipality of over 2,000 people close to 80 kilometres east of the Loyola campus. There, she started playing basketball at eight years old, before moving to Quebec City for Cégep. Now in Montreal, she’s closer to her family.
Leclerc said her biggest role models growing up were her parents, Rosanne and Bruno, who were always there for her. “They worked so hard for me and pushed me,” Leclerc said. “When I was not knowing what to do or didn’t know if I wanted to continue playing basketball, they were there for me and kept pushing me.”
The rookie point guard said there were times, such as between high school and Cégep, when she wondered if it was worth pursuing basketball. “But for me, it wasn’t an option to stop—I needed to play basketball.”
Luckily for the Stingers, Leclerc has continued playing until now, and wants to help her team succeed. “We want to be the provincial champions for sure. We have the team to do it, we just need to keep pushing and get better every day.”
The men’s rugby team led all fall teams with the most all-star players. Photo by Hannah Ewen.
Men’s rugby highlights individual accolades by Concordia athletes
The 2018 fall varsity season is coming to an end, and Concordia saw its athletes in football, soccer, and rugby represent the Stingers with pride. Some teams did better than others, while some athletes were recognized for their stellar performances. Here’s a breakdown of all the Stingers all-stars winners and Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) award-winners for the fall season.
Men’s rugby
Being the only Stingers team to win their championship this fall season, it’s no surprise the men’s rugby team have the most all-stars. Out of the 14 first-team all-stars, seven are Stingers: Stephen Martinez, Julian Alexander, Charles Debove, Thomas Goetz, Jackson Marquardt, Eliott Goussanou, and Lucas Hotton. Surprisingly, none of these players won any of the individual awards.
On the second all-star team, Dylan MacDonald, Michael Laplaine-Pereira, Jérome Lévesque, and Jonathan Banks represent the Stingers.
After winning their second-straight RSEQ championship, the Stingers finished fourth at nationals in Victoria, B.C.
Women’s rugby
Under new head coach Jocelyn Barrieau, the Stingers just missed the playoffs with a 2-5 record. The women’s rugby team was young—out of 28 players on the team, 21 were in their first or second year, with only two fifth-years.
Despite the amount of younger players, fourth-year veteran back Lia Hoyte was the Stingers’s sole representative on the first all-star team. Two of the other team’s backs, second-year Shawna Brayton and first-year Jasmine Baxter, were on the second all-star team.
Football
Like the women’s rugby team, the Stingers football team had a new head coach this season. Brad Collinson faced plenty of challenges, as the team went 2-6, missing out on the playoffs for the first time in five years.
The football team had two stars shining bright this season. Offensive lineman Maurice Simba and wide receiver Jarryd Taylor both made the first all-star team. Simba is draft-eligible for both the NFL and CFL, and will be one of the first players from a Canadian university to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in January. Taylor led the league in receiving with 527 yards on 24 catches with two touchdowns.
Assistant coach Peter Regimbald, who was in his 50th and final season with the Stingers, also won the RSEQ’s assistant coach of the year award. He has been with the team since they were still known as the Loyola Warriors.
Women’s soccer midfielder Chama Sedki made the RSEQ second all-star team. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.
Women’s soccer
Following the theme of new coaches, the women’s soccer team, in their first season under Greg Sutton, finished with a 4-9-1 record, 13 points out of a playoff spot. Regardless, it’s tied for the most wins they’ve had in a season since 2013.
Even though forward Sarah Humes and defender Claudia Asselin finished tied ninth in league scoring with five goals each, only midfielder Chama Sedki made the second all-star team. Sedki played in 12 games, scoring three goals and adding three assists.
Men’s soccer
On the men’s side, the Stingers had their worst season since 2014, finishing with a 1-10-1 record. It’s at least one win better than their winless season four years ago. Forward Yazid Dawiss led the team with two goals, while eight other players had one goal each. No players made the RSEQ all-star teams.
With three wins this season, the women’s team have one less than last season. Photo by Hannah Ewen.
Basketball teams combine for 4-0 record in games versus McGill and Bishop’s
The Concordia Stingers basketball teams swept the Bishop’s Gaiters Saturday afternoon at the Concordia Gym, as the women won 72-52 and the men won 105-91.
Stingers guard Caroline Task scored a game-high 20 points in the win. Photo by Hannah Ewen.
Women’s game
The Stingers women’s team was in a battle against the Gaiters. Bishop’s came into the game with a 1-2 record, but didn’t go easy on the Stingers.
The game was tied at 17 by the end of a competitive first quarter. Both defences were playing well, forcing shooters to settle for contested and difficult shots. The second quarter was quite similar, but the Stingers went into the halftime break up 34-33.
The third quarter was much sharper for both teams, as points were being scored almost at ease. Stingers guard Areej Burgonio was not a starter, but made her impact as she was the one that sparked the Stingers run and had control of the offence. Her ball handling and quickness really stood out. With six seconds left in the third quarter, she started with the ball in the Stingers’s end, and went coast-to-coast to finish it off with a beautiful spin and lay-up at the buzzer.
After the back-and-forth game, the Singers took the momentum they had from that play and pulled away in the fourth quarter. The Stingers’s 72-52 win improved their record to 3-1.
Stingers point guard Myriam Leclerc said they turned it around in the second half. “We weren’t really ourselves in the first half,” Leclerc said. “We were not showing our true identity. In the second half, we came out strong and that is why we won by 20.”
🐝🏀 WBB – Good luck stopping Areej Burgonio driving to the basket. Burgonio spins off her defender and scores a big basket for the Stingers.
Moving forward, the Stingers want to continue their current three-game winning streak. “We want to end the first half of the season with a [win] so we just have to work hard at practice and continue to get better,” Leclerc added.
Guard Adrian Armstrong made 4/7 three-point shots in the game. Photo by Hannah Ewen.
Men’s game
The men’s team was almost in full control of the game leading up to their victory. Despite missing multiple opportunities early in the game, they were up by seven after the first quarter. Guard Adrian Armstrong started the game with a hot hand, hitting three three-point shots to start the first quarter—and making it look easy. He finished the game with 22 points, hitting nine of his 14 field-goal attempts.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Stingers led by 17 points and it looked all but over. The Gaiters went on a run and, at one point, cut the Stingers lead to only four points. That was as close as they would get, though, as Concordia hit a few key three-pointers and came away with a 105-91 win. Like the women’s team, the men also hold a 3-1 record.
Stingers guard Cedrick Coriolan liked how they played, despite the fourth-quarter lapse. “We stuck to the game-plan and played really hard for pretty much the whole game,” he said. “We had a little bit of a lapse in the fourth quarter, but everybody stuck to what they had to do and we came up with the win which was the objective.”
The men’s and women’s team host the UQAM Citadins on Dec. 1 for their final game before the winter break.
Ricardo Monge (#15) fights for the ball in the game against the McGill Redmen on Nov. 22. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.
Basketball teams both 2-1 on the season
Both Concordia Stingers basketball teams beat McGill Thursday night at the Love Competition Hall in downtown Montreal. The women’s team won 77-63, while the men avenged their loss in last year’s final with a 87-81 win.
The Stingers have now won two-straight games after their opening loss against Laval. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.
The Stingers’s defence had to set up strong early in the game. The team allowed only six points in the second quarter, and led 46-23 at halftime. However, the Martlets scored 40 points in the last 20 minutes of play to give a good battle to the Stingers.
“I think we did a good job in general,” said Stingers head coach Tenicha Gittens. “There are still things we need to be tightening up defensively and fix. In the second half, a lot of their shooters got loose, and that’s just us having a mental lapse.”
First-year point guard Myriam Leclerc carried her team, registering 24 points, four assists, and four steals. Leclerc now has 59 points in three games played this season, giving her an average of 19.7 points per game.
According to Gittens, Leclerc takes pressure off her teammates. “She’s our floor general,” Gittens said. The term “floor general” in basketball is used to describe a player that brings leadership by dictating the offence. “As she goes, we go. When she’s playing well, it makes it easier for girls like [guard] Caroline Task to do what she has to do. [Forward] Coralie Dumont comes in and does what she does.”
Leclerc said the trust between the players helped her against the Martlets. “If there’s something, we let each other know,” Leclerc said. “We’re confident when we play and it helps me to know when to shoot.”
The Martlets’s crowd was loud and intense, at times making it hard for the players to hear each other, but the Stingers expected that. “We were prepared the same way we did for the other games,” Leclerc said. “We knew the crowd would be loud, but it’s an atmosphere we love to play in.”
With this win, the Stingers are now in second place in the RSEQ standings, behind the Université Laval Rouge et Or.
Men’s Game
The Stingers got back on the win column against the Redmen after losing their last game 85-68 on Nov. 15 against the Université de Québec à Montréal Citadins.
“It was that kind of game where I wanted to see how we were going to respond,” said Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic, who wanted a bounce-back effort from the loss. “We had some injuries, and now Sami Ghandour was back [for that game]. We didn’t have a great start, but I think we showed a lot of passion and we didn’t quit.”
The Stingers lost to the Redmen last March in the RSEQ final, and it was the first meeting since. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.
In his first game back from an injury, Ghandour finished with nine points and nine rebounds. The Stingers scored 30 of the 47 points registered in the third quarter. Popovic said the Stingers’s defence made the difference in the second half.
“They turned the ball over, which allowed us better opportunities for easier shots, and made their defence scramble,” said Popovic about his defence.
Popovic added that his players really improved once they took the lead.
“We weren’t necessarily great in the first quarter,” Popovic said. “We missed some shots, and that’s why I think we were trailing that way. However, we really played better and consistent after.”
Stingers forward Olivier Simon led his team with 32 points, a career-high. He also finished the game with seven rebounds in 30 minutes of play. The forward credited his teammates for his performance.
“Those are team points,” Simon said. “We moved the ball well, and we knew what to do to win. Everyone contributed, so it’s a great team win.”
Simon said early wins in the season like this prove to the team what they are capable of. “We had a lot of difficulties against the Redmen in the last couple of years,” he said. “It’s a good team, but also a rival. It helps to build some confidence for the next games when we’ll face similar situations.”
Both teams play their next game on Nov. 24 against the Bishop’s Gaiters at the Concordia Gym. The women play at 2 p.m., and the men’s game is at 4 p.m.
The Stingers’s most successful football season was in 1998 when they played in the Vanier Cup. Archive photo by Pascale Dion.
Twenty years later, players recall the journey to the Vanier Cup
The 1998 Concordia Stingers football team made history, being the only team from Concordia to play in the Vanier Cup, the national championship game for Canadian university football. They ended up losing that game 24-17 against the Saskatchewan Huskies, at the Skydome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.
Pat Sheahan, who is the current head coach of the Queen’s Gaels, became head coach of the Stingers in 1989, winning the Dunsmore Cup with them in 1993. After that title, he had a whole new recruiting class by 1998.
Players from the 1998 squad remember how they came together as a team throughout the season. Archive photo courtesy of Concordia Athletics.
Out of 66 total players on the team, 33 were from Ontario, 32 from Quebec, and one from British Columbia. But for Montrealer cornerback Sean Gordon, who was playing his second season with the team in 1998, this many cross-national players created a divide in the locker room.
“The years before, there were a lot of factions in the locker room, basically we had two locker rooms: offence and defence,” Gordon said. “But the 1998 team broke down the locker room. There weren’t any factions, no little groups and everyone was together.”
Sheahan said most of those players came together in 1995, and suffered through a 2-6 season in 1996, but developed well as a unit. “A terrific group [of players]; they really came together, bonded together and became a team,” Sheahan said. “It was so gratifying to see.”
By 1997, the Stingers improved to a 5-3 record, losing the semi-final in the dying moments against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. But Sheahan said he really started to notice how good the team became by the end of that year. “I think what the guys learned in 1997 is that they were pretty good,” said Sheahan. “In 1998, it just all came together; they were a year older and a year wiser, and they really played well.”
Rocky start
The 1998 Concordia Stingers didn’t start the season how they would have liked. Before their first game against Queen’s, and on the way from their motel to the Richardson Memorial Stadium in Kingston, Ont., their bus broke down.
“As people were driving by, our guys were sitting on the side of the highway on their equipment bags waiting for another bus to pick us up,” Sheahan said.
The Stingers had a rushed warm-up and started the game nearly an hour late, eventually losing 32-11, but Gordon said it was a season-defining moment, bringing the players together.
Concordia beat the Carleton Ravens 19-7 in the home-opener a week later, but lost 9-4 to cross-town rivals the McGill Redmen after that.
“I gathered the team after the McGill game and I hauled them in and said: ‘Look guys, there are going to be some good things happening to us this year,’” Sheahan said. “The reason why is because we were getting great defence and great special teams. It was only a matter of time before the offence started clicking.”
Wide receiver Sylvain Girard, who was in his fourth and final year, doesn’t remember the exact turning point for the team. “At one point, we just decided that’s it. [If we] keep going the way we’re going, obviously something isn’t working,” Girard said. “At one point we just started playing together, and the offence started clicking.”
Setting records
The Stingers had a bye week after their game against Laval, although they did play the State University of New York Canton Kangaroos in a non-conference game, and lost 23-6. But on Oct. 3, 1998, in a home game against the Université de Laval Rouge et Or, the Stingers’s offence exploded for a 45-32 win. Girard caught six passes that day, five of them touchdowns, which remains tied as a U Sports record for most touchdown catches in a game. It also happened to be his 23rd birthday.
The Concordian’s sports section after Sylvain Girard caught five touchdown passes on his 23rd birthday.
Defensive coordinator Paul Chesser said that win gave them confidence moving forward, as they won their next four games to finish the regular season. “A little success goes a long way and people start to believe,” Chesser said. “The leadership of the team really dictated the camaraderie in the locker room.”
Girard went on to set many Concordia records that season. In 1998, he set the school record for most touchdowns in a season, with nine. His 22 career TDs in maroon-and-gold is the second-most in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) history.
The Montreal Alouettes drafted Girard fifth overall in the 1999 CFL draft, and he played with them until 2006, winning a Grey Cup in 2002.
“The defences we were playing against were so worried about our running game, they had to put extra attention to it,” said Girard, crediting his Stingers teammates for his success. The team’s running backs, Evan Davis Jr., Scott Ashworth, and Richard Gaboton, along with quarterback Sean Hoas, all had over 250 yards of rushing that season. “They had to put extra attention to [the running game] so whenever we decided to pass, it made so much more room for me and the other receivers,” he added.
Ring of Fire
After every win in 1998, Girard remembers the whole team singing along to “The Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash in the locker room. “Every time I hear that song, it brings me back to the 1998 season,” Girard said. “With experience now, I’ve come to realize every good team has something to bond over, and for us part of it was that stupid song.”
“It was a really diverse group coming from all sorts of backgrounds,” Chesser said. “[Ring of Fire] was the one song that could take this whole diverse group and unite them.”
For Girard, this tradition added to his fun experience at Concordia. “They’re the reason why I played football for so long, because they made it fun,” Girard said. “They’re the reason why I’m still coaching today.”
“I came here in 1995. I didn’t speak a word of English, didn’t know anybody, and didn’t know what I was doing,” Girard added. “But then they made me appreciate everything here, and the coaches made a football player out of me.”
Gordon said that, because of the team’s camaraderie, they wanted to play for each other.
“We had good communication, so if somebody got out of place, you backed him up,” Gordon said. “We were all on the same page.”
The Dark Bowl
The Stingers ended up finishing first in the division and beat the Bishop’s Gaiters 27-17 in the semi-final. On Nov. 14, 1998, they hosted the Dunsmore Cup against the Laval Rouge et Or. The game kicked off at 2 p.m. at the Concordia Stadium, where lights had not yet been installed.
Ashworth scored a one-yard rushing touchdown less than three minutes into the game to give the Stingers a 7-0 lead. On the other side, Rouge et Or quarterback Dominik Goulet had left Concordia to go to Laval, so Chesser knew how to play defence against him.
“We knew he wasn’t particularly mobile but he was a precision passer, so we played the whole game with six defensive backs [as opposed to five],” Chesser said. “They weren’t going to beat us running; they had to beat us throwing the ball, so we put an extra person in coverage and it made a huge difference.”
Gordon said this meant, as a defensive back, he had to play man-to-man coverage, and couldn’t let his wide receiver get away from him. “They had confidence in our defence, so we just blitzed all game,” he said.
Coverage of the two-day Dunsmore Cup in The Concordian on Nov. 18, 1998.
The Rouge et Or slowly climbed back into the game with three-straight field goals and a punt single, to hold a 10-7 advantage in the third quarter.
“They gave us all we could handle that day, there was no question about that,” Sheahan said.
Girard said his memory of the game isn’t the best, and didn’t realize how close the game actually was. He made a catch late in the fourth quarter to set Dave Miller-Johnston up for a field goal, which tied the game and sent it into a scoreless overtime. According to historical data, civil twilight ended just before 5 p.m., but the game continued in the darkness.
“At the end of the overtime period, it was dangerously dark,” Chesser said. “We had turned on the practice-field lights, so we got a little bit of light, but I was standing on the sideline and could not see the other side of the field.”
That’s when Sheahan met with Laval head coach Jacques Chapdelaine, late Stingers athletic director Harry Zarins, and officials to discuss what to do next. The officials didn’t want to play on the practice field, because it didn’t have football lines, and they had to decide quickly, because the winning team had to play in Halifax the following Saturday.
“We just came to the agreement that we would have to play [the next day],” Sheahan said. “We played two 10-minute halves and determined the winner that way.”
The players had to recover in time to play 20 minutes of football, and Concordia had the advantage of being at home and using their facilities. “The game finished and it was a numb feeling,” Gordon said. “When I got home, my mom said, ‘They didn’t beat you that day, they’re not going to beat you tomorrow.’”
That night, Chesser invited the defensive coaches over for pizza to discuss strategy for day two. They weren’t allowed to review game film, but watched the highlights on TV, as the game was nationally-televised. During the game, Chesser sent a defensive back blitzing on the quarterback’s weak side, but by the end of the game, the Rouge et Or adjusted and gave more protection.
“So a light bulb went on in my head and I thought if they were going to slide protection to the weak side the following day, we’ll blitz on the strong side,” Chesser said. On the game-winning play, defensive tackle Jeff Anderson sacked Goulet, forcing a fumble, which linebacker Jason Casey scooped up to score a touchdown. “Those adjustments that we made over pizza at my house were pivotal,” Chesser said.
Just short
The Stingers beat the Acadia Axemen 25-24 a week later in the Atlantic Bowl. They went to Toronto for the Vanier Cup, carrying the school’s colours with pride.
Defensive coordinator Paul Chesser believes if they played the Vanier Cup again, they would win it.
“To see the Concordia flag waved at the Skydome, to see all the Concordia fans there and how the city was behind us, it was a golden moment in my footballing scrapbook,” Sheahan said.
“I don’t have any regrets from that year, none, zero,” Girard said. “Except, of course, we should have won that last game.”
With the current edition of the Stingers football team not doing well, Gordon would like to see a team eventually do better than that 1998 team. “It’s nice be up there, and we’re the bar, but I would like to see a team jump over the bar and bring a championship to Concordia.”
Chesser jokingly said that, when the team got together for the Hall of Fame induction, they still weren’t over the Vanier Cup loss.
“Georges Vanier was the valedictorian for the class in 1906 at Loyola College, and the Vanier Cup is named after him,” Chesser said. “Sometime, we have to bring his trophy home.”
When a team goes undefeated for two-straight years, it might seem like things couldn’t be better, but don’t be fooled—the Stingers’s face a demanding schedule.
“The main challenge of playing loaded rugby seasons is that there is no room for error,” said fifth-year player Jonathan Banks. “Rugby is such a competitive sport with heavy amounts of contact. Injuries occur and it’s important that we have the appropriate players to fill in these gaps in the lineup, which we did.”
Third-year player Lucas Hotton said time management and good nutrition are musts in extended seasons.
“Really keeping the body in good condition would be the most important challenge,” Hotton said. “Diet, training, and rest are all factors that have to be considered in such a long year. It’s so imperative to [take care of] your body if you want to make it through.”
Coming off the 2017 championship season, the Stingers knew they were going to be the ones to beat.
“Our confidence was high, yet we knew that every other team had their game against us circled on their schedule and would give us everything they got,” Banks said. “We had to keep pushing ourselves to get better and give our all every game.”
The Stingers will play the opening game of nationals against the UBC Thunderbirds. Photo by Hannah Ewen.
Head coach Craig Beemer described the Stingers’s second-straight undefeated season as a long process requiring the involvement of many people. He said he had a good coaching staff supporting him, as well as 50 hard-working players on and off the field.
“Players were really committed to the team,” Beemer said. “It also takes a lot of video sessions and practices to get there, and I think everybody did a fantastic job on that point.”
Hotton, who was with the Stingers during the 2016 season when they went 1-6, said the team’s current success is due to their mental strength. He was part of a core group of players, including Moritz Wittmann and Charles Debove that turned the team around to go undefeated in RSEQ play.
“Having come from the depths of a season where we finished last, and still having a lot of those players around, really propelled the guys last season, which really showed in our record,” Hotton said. “Then, to go to nationals and to have that same feeling we had when we finished last really pushed the guys once again to go back into that grind mode.”
The Stingers are headed to the 2018 Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship, in Victoria, B.C. from Nov. 21 to 25. Beemer said each individual on the team will have to play a key role if they want to win the tournament.
“We’ll need the best from all of our guys there,” Beemer said. “It’s not just about one or two individuals. We need everyone to step up and bring their A-game. The defence will need to be strong, and I think that was one of our assets this season.”
Third-year prop Stephen Martinez said having success at nationals has been the team’s goal since the start of the season.
“We all knew what was up for grabs with nationals, and that right away was our goal,” Martinez said. “Getting a RSEQ championship is a great accomplishment, but we wanted to try to take it to the next level and get a national championship.”
Hotton said the team’s participation at nationals last year in Guelph helped the players better prepare this season. The Stingers lost their two games in last year’s tournament against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, 46-0, and the McMaster Marauders, 38-11.
“That left a bit of a sour taste in our mouths coming back from Guelph,” Hotton said. “We really understood what work needed to be put in to get to a level were we could compete at the national stage. We sort of switched to a one-game-at-a-time mentality and progressed our defensive systems much more than before. To have so many returners really helped that new mentality, as they all understood what our goal was, and the work needed to get there.”
Banks credits the trust level between the coaches and players as a reason for their successful season. It allows the coaches to come up with the best game plans in order to win.
“When we stepped on the field game after game this season, we knew exactly what to do play after play,” Banks said. “Our coaches trusted in us because we trusted in them, and that’s what I believe makes this team so special.”
Stephanie Lalancette scored her first goal of the season after an injury. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.
The Stingers took control of the game early in the first period. Forwards Rosalie Bégin-Cyr, Marie-Pascale Bernier, and Stéphanie Lalancette scored three goals in less than nine minutes, giving them a 3-0 lead at the first intermission.
“I think one of the big things we’ve had trouble dealing with [recently] is playing a full 60 minutes,” said head coach Julie Chu about their start. “In the last couple of games, we haven’t been the best in the first period, so I think that’s what our main focus was. It’s making sure we have a great start. We did and we pushed the pace. We were really happy with our first period.”
The Stingers played a fast game and were first on the puck most of the time, which Chu said forecheck is something the team has been working on this season.
“I think when we get our forecheck going, a lot of great things happen,” Chu said. “Obviously, forecheck is your first line of defence, through our ability to force the opponent to create turnovers, from there to get opportunities is really big. I think that’s what happened, especially in the first period.”
Marie-Pascale Bernier scored a goal when a point shot deflected off her foot. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.
The Stingers took six of their eight penalty minutes of the game in the second period. Ottawa’s Alexane Papineau took advantage to score the Gee-Gees’s lone goal on the power play.
“They probably had the better on us in the second period,” Chu said. “However, we bounced back in the third and had a really solid game.”
Stingers’s goaltender Alice Philbert made 17 saves in the victory. However, she was mostly occupied in the second period, making nine saves.
“It’s about getting used to it,” Philbert said. “We had fewer shots [against us] last year, so it helped me to get used to it. What I do is thinking I’m the other goalie. I imagine myself making the saves, and it helps me to stay in the game.”
Chu said Philbert’s second period performance was a huge part of the win.
“The great thing about Alice is that she always works hard, and she always puts herself in a position to be ready to play,” Chu said. “In the second period, especially with six minutes of power play that we gave up, we obviously had to rely on our goaltender.”
The Stingers will play the Carleton Ravens on Sunday Nov. 25 at the Carleton Ice House at 3 p.m.
It’s already the third time the Stingers played the Carabins, winning one of the three games. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.
Head coach Julie Chu still happy with the team’s performance
The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team lost another tight game against their rivals, the Université de Montréal Carabins Friday night. The Carabins won 4-3 in double overtime at the CEPSUM arena.
There were a lot of broken plays in the first period, which was not expected between these two top teams.
“We have to start on time,” said Stingers head coach Julie Chu. “We got a good second and third.”
After Carabins’s Annie Germain opened the scoring early in the second, the Stingers answered 35 seconds later with a goal from Rosalie Bégin-Cyr, giving them confidence for the rest of the second period. Forward Claudia Dubois scored on a power play after a nice set-up from her teammates, Claudia Fortin and Amélie Lemay.
Montreal scored a goal in the first five minutes of the third period, tying the game 2-2. Less than two minutes later, Concordia’s Maria Manarolis scored the go-ahead goal, setting the table for a high-intensity ending as there was a lot of speed.
Forward Claudia Dubois scored a goal in the game. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.
Both goalies had to make key saves, but Stingers’s goalie Alice Philbert had no chance when she allowed the Carabins’s third goal off a screened shot by Jessica Cormier. Both Philbert and Aube Racine didn’t allow another goal until overtime.
There were many scoring chances in the first five minutes of four-on-four overtime, but there was still no winner. The game went into double overtime, played three-on-three. The Stingers had their chances, but Carabins forward Estelle Duvin got the final word with the game-winning goal.
Despite the loss, the Stingers were happy about their performance. “I think we didn’t play a full 60 minutes,” said forward Audrey Belzile. Fortin also noticed the slow start, but liked how her team fought back.
“We battled—I mean, it’s not a lack of effort,” Fortin said. “These are tough games and we are not depressed in the locker room right now. We are on the right way.”
Coach Chu also believes in the learning process of her young team. “We are still growing and we are going to become the team that we want to,” she said.
The Stingers are now looking forward to their next game this Sunday, as they will host the Ottawa Gee-Gees.
Carl Neill scored while goalie Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 33 saves. Photo by Hannah Ewen.
Hugo Roy, Carl Neill help Concordia snap three-game skid
Despite allowing a game-tying goal with 10 seconds left, the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team beat the McGill Redmen 4-3 in a shootout win Friday night at the Ed Meagher Arena. This comes a week after the Stingers lost to the Redmen 6-3 at the McConnell Arena, in a game that had 75 penalty minutes.
“Last week was the first game against each other. [The players] don’t like playing them, but we did some video and we were more focused [tonight],” said head coach Marc-André Élement on what changed in terms of discipline, as there were 14 penalty minutes this game. “The guys played well and I’m really happy about that.”
Despite only 14 penalty minutes, the game was still physical, as is expected between Concordia and McGill. Photo by Hannah Ewen.
One difference between last week’s game and this one was that Marc-Antoine Turcotte was available to play in the Stingers’s net, making 33 saves, including five in overtime. He was hurt early in last Friday’s game, and missed Saturday’s game versus the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks.
“He played a huge game,” Élement said. “He kept us in the game and, in the shootout, he stopped the guys.”
The Stingers opened the scoring late in the first period when defencemanCarl Neill stepped out of the penalty box, grabbed the loose puck, and scored on the breakaway.
“To be honest, I was kind of lost, I had my stick halfway out my hand,” Neill said. “I looked back and saw I was on a breakaway, closed my eyes and [the puck] trickled in.”
The Stingers controlled most play in the second period, getting the majority of scoring chances, but came out on the losing end. Redmen forward Nicolas Poulin took advantage of two lucky bounces in the final three minutes of the second to go into intermission with a 2-1 lead.
“Both teams were waiting for opportunities, and we made mistakes on back-to-back shifts and it cost us,” Neill said.
Stingers forward Chase Harwell tied the game three minutes into the third, which Élement said was bound to happen.
“The first 15 minutes [of the second period] was our best of the season,” Élement said. “I just told the guys [at intermission], if we keep playing like this, we’ll have our chances, and the guys responded well in the third.”
After Stingers captain Philippe Hudon scored his second of the season to give his team the lead halfway through the third, Poulin scored his hat-trick goal to tie it. The Stingers didn’t let the late goal affect them as both teams swapped chances in overtime, with neither scoring.
Final score: Stingers 4-3 Redmen in shootout!
Hugo Roy and Philippe Sanche scored in the shootout while Marc-Antoine Turcotte made two saves pic.twitter.com/BdMT4oGF16
Before Turcotte made the shootout-winning save on Guillaume Gauthier, forward Hugo Roy beat goalie Louis-Philip Guindon with a five-hole shot. “I knew what I was doing right off the bat, so it was either a goal or a shot in the chest,” Roy said.
The Ed Meagher Arena was full of energy – as you would expect for a Concordia-McGill game – and was loud up until the end.
“It was fun to see the rink that full, and of course it’s never a disappointing game with Concordia and McGill,” Neill said. “Tonight was real fun to see, and we came out on top, so I’m sure the fans are happy with that as well.”
With the shootout win, the Stingers break their three-game losing streak and improve to 5-5-1 on the season. They play the undefeated Ottawa Gee-Gees Saturday night on the road.
