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Stingers head to Prairies for must-win game

After losing in the RSEQ finals to McGill on Friday night, the Concordia women’s basketball team finds itself down, but not out.

Kaylah Barrett led Concordia by Bishop's but the Stingers fell to McGill later in the week. Photo by Navneet Pall

Given the format of CIS women’s basketball, Concordia will have an opportunity to play in a four-team consolation tournament going on in Saskatoon from March 9 to 10. Whichever team wins the two-game, single-elimination tournament earns a seed at the national championships in Calgary.

Concordia will be facing the University of Regina on Friday night and if they win, they will face the winner of the other semi-final game, either Brock or the University of Saskatchewan, in the finals. Concordia will be in tough however, as Regina was the No. 1 ranked team in the country, but was upset in the Canada West final against UBC.

If the Stingers run the table in the tournament, they will head to nationals in Calgary beginning on March 17. A loss sends Concordia home to reflect on a season that was perfect after six games, before an injury-filled, tumultuous second half began to derail the team.

Much like the regular season, the RSEQ playoffs were a roller-coaster ride for the Stingers.

Beginning last Tuesday night, Concordia was facing Bishop’s at Concordia’s gym.

The Gaiters jumped out to an early 24-7 lead after the first quarter, silencing the home crowd, and filling the gym with an uneasy tension amongst the Stinger faithful. It looked as though Concordia would be playing its final game of the season.

Then “the Kaylah Barrett Show” began. The league’s MVP took the team on her shoulders and led the Stingers back into the game.

Barrett scored 10 of her game-high 21 points in the second quarter. She was also a menace on the glass, grabbing 11 rebounds in the game, six coming at the offensive end of the floor. Concordia outscored Bishop’s 20-7 in the frame and had retaken all the momentum and pulled to within three points at halftime.

Concordia would never look back. The Stingers amassed a nine-point lead by the end of the third quarter en route to the 65-53 victory.

Playing in the RSEQ finals on Friday in the home gym of crosstown rival McGill, it was a similar situation for Concordia. The Stingers once again found themselves down early, trailing 16-6 after the first quarter. Unlike against Bishop’s, though, the Stingers couldn’t make the same surge against the first-place Martlets.

Concordia went into halftime trailing by 14 and fell behind further in the third quarter. To the Stingers’ credit, they played hard until the very end, outscoring McGill 20-8 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late as McGill won the game 56-49 to clinch its first RSEQ championship since 1996, and secure a berth in the national championships.

Kaylah Barrett again led Concordia in scoring with 24 points. Natasha Raposo came off the bench and scored 13 points in just 17 minutes on the court.

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Stingers men best in Quebec

The Concordia Stingers men celebrate a second consecutive RSEQ championship. Concordia will be heading to Halifax with seven other teams to play in a tournament for the national championship. Photos by Navneet Pall

It was a great night to be a Concordia Stinger on Saturday.

The Concordia Stingers men celebrate a second consecutive RSEQ championship. Concordia will be heading to Halifax with seven other teams to play in a tournament for the national championship. Photos by Navneet Pall

A sold out gymnasium was electric and loud. The team was fired up and the end result was a centre court celebratory team dance off after the game, as Concordia enjoed its second consecutive RSEQ title that will send the Stingers to the national championship tournament in Halifax as the No. 3 seed in the eight-team playoff.

Concordia left nothing to chance on Saturday, blowing out the UQAM Citadins in what was perhaps Concordia’s best performance of the season at the best possible time.

“We were better prepared tonight mentally and defensively we were great,” said Concordia coach John Dore. “I think tonight we were able to dictate the tempo of the entire game. We sped things up when we wanted to run, and slowed things down when we wanted to.”

This is Dore’s third trip to nationals in the last five years and his experience no doubt helped in preparing the team before the game. “I just told the guys this is what we work for all year,” he said. “I told them to just look around, have fun and get ready to play.”

UQAM had upset a higher seeded McGill team earlier in the week, but couldn’t muster anything against Concordia.

“Give Concordia credit, there’s 40 minutes in a game and they played 41 tonight,” said Citadins coach Olga Hrycak.

Concordia’s swarming defence held UQAM to just 18 points in the first two quarters, allowing the Stingers to take a commanding 12-point lead. While the Stingers have let their guard down at times this season and allowed teams back into games, Saturday was a consistent effort from the opening tip-off that finished with an exclamation mark when Concordia outscored the Citadins 27-13 in the fourth quarter. The moment peaked when Evens Laroche finished an alley-oop that brought the sold out Concordia gym to its feet.

One of the loudest ovations came in the final minutes of the game when Dore subbed out his fifth-year players, guard Decee Krah and forward James Clark, who walked off their home floor for the final time in Stingers uniforms.

“It was a great feeling,” said Clark. “With the sold out crowd and the support, it was something I’m going to cherish forever and it was just a great night and I’m definitely going to miss it.”

Dore also acknowledged the special careers of both players after the game.

“I appreciate those guys,” he said. “They’ve been not only good basketball players, but good citizens. They’re both graduating this year and I’m very proud of them. They’re making their third trip to nationals in five years and not a lot of athletes get that opportunity.”

The tournament gets underway this weekend in Halifax. Concordia will be in tough as they face St. Francis Xavier University in the first round at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. While Concordia has the higher seed in the tournament, StFX was above the Stingers in the CIS rankings for the entire season. StFX has already beaten Concordia once this year and will be playing in front of a home crowd in Halifax. The road to a championship is also likely to go through perennial powerhouse Carleton, who went undefeated this season.

It will be a difficult road to glory for the Stingers in Halifax. Fortunately for them though, difficult and impossible are not the same thing.

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Mighty Stingers looking to quash potential playoff upset

Concordia will face Laval in the opening round of the playoffs on Wednesday. Photo by Navneet Pall

Concordia wrapped up its season with two blowout wins on the weekend after falling out of the CIS top 10 for the first time since late November.

Concordia will face Laval in the opening round of the playoffs on Wednesday. Photo by Navneet Pall

The Stingers finished first in their conference with a 14-2 record, but suffered a loss to last place Bishop’s on Feb. 10, clearly weighing on the minds of those who vote for the top 10.

If Concordia is looking to send a message to the country, now is the time to do it. Feeling overlooked by the rest of the CIS, the Stingers will have a chance to prove themselves on a national stage—that is, if they can make it out of their conference.

The RSEQ playoffs begin Wednesday against Laval, with Concordia looking to return to the CIS national championship tournament for the second straight year.

Concordia has been dominant against the Quebec schools this year, but a streaking McGill team that seems to be peaking at the right time poses the greatest threat to the Stingers. Right now the teams seem to be on a collision course to meet in the RSEQ finals on Saturday.

However, with the RSEQ playoffs operating on a single-game elimination format, there is no room for error. Overlooking an opponent, like what happened a few weeks ago against Bishop’s, can send even the most talented teams home earlier than expected.

Concordia coach John Dore isn’t taking anything for granted. “At this stage it’s like starting a new season,” he said. “It’s basically a two-game season to see who makes it out of Quebec. I’m happy how we played to close out the season. We’ve approached things one game at a time all year and that’s not going to change.”

If Concordia were to make a return trip to nationals, it would certainly be an underdog in the tournament. Despite the intra-conference success, Concordia has yet to beat an out-of-conference opponent ranked in the CIS top 10. The road to a championship, barring a major upset, will also run through the Carleton Ravens, who completed their season with a perfect record.

Dore is refusing to look that far ahead though, saying his team’s focus is on Wednesday and nothing else.

This year’s playoffs will also be the final time guard Decee Krah and forward James Clark will step on a basketball court in Stingers uniforms. Both players are in their final year of eligibility and a championship would no doubt be the perfect way for them to end their tremendous collegiate careers.

The regular season is over. All of the practices, days at the gym and long bus rides amount to this. A series of do-or-die games for players to achieve the ultimate goal: winning the final game of the season.

And it all starts Wednesday.

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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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Golden weekend for Concordia men’s wrestling

For the second consecutive year, the Concordia wrestling team will be returning home from the CIS national championship with some serious hardware.

The men won the team championship in Thunder Bay, Ont. over the weekend, narrowly edging out University of Regina, 56 points to 54, bringing home five medals in total.

It was a nail biting finish to the tournament. With Regina wrestler Gaelan Malloy wrestling in the 62 kg gold medal match, Malloy injured his ankle early and his coach eventually threw in the towel, not wishing to risk his wrestler’s health.

If Malloy had gone on to win his match, Regina and Concordia would have each had 56 points, with Regina holding the tie-breaker of most gold medals (3-2).

“I don’t think (Malloy) was going to win anyways, he was going against a better wrestler,” said Concordia’s assistant coach David Zilberman. “That’s part of competition. Things happen.”

Concordia came into the year with high expectations, but was aware of how quickly things can go awry.

“We came in with an open mind,” said Zilberman. “We have to expect the worst because anything can happen, but just being prepared is the most important thing.”

Several Concordia wrestlers, both men and women, brought home medals.

The women finished ninth out of 13 in the team standings, but still had athletes reach the podium.

Nikita Chicoine had the best finish among the Stinger women, winning a silver medal in the 63 kg weight category. Linda Morais won bronze in the 59 kg weight class and her teammate Veronica Keefe also came away with the bronze medal in the 72 kg category.

Things were golden on the men’s side. David Tremblay and James Mancini both found themselves standing on the top of the podium in the 61 kg and 65 kg categories, respectively.

Scott Schiller won silver for the Stingers and left his coaches very impressed with his effort.

“He was wrestling two weight classes up,” said Zilberman. “He was much smaller than his opponents and still managed to beat the number one seeded wrestler in the first round.”

First-year wrestler Nariman Irankhah won a bronze medal in the 82 kg class and Greg Rossy also came in third in his weight class.

The Concordia men were close to winning even more than an astonishing five medals, with two wrestlers, Noel Tremblay and Mitchell Krauter, finishing just off the podium in fourth place of their respective categories.

Head coach Victor Zilberman was also named coach of the year.

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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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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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Winning ugly is still winning

Jean-Andre Moussignac moves the ball down court for the Stingers. Photo by Julian Mei

A fired up McGill team came closer than any other Quebec school has in putting a smudge of imperfection on the Concordia Stingers’ undefeated season.

Jean-Andre Moussignac moves the ball down court for the Stingers. Photo by Julian Mei

Coming off a win in Ste-Foy over Laval the night before, Concordia came out looking sluggish and unmotivated on its home court against the team’s biggest rival on Saturday afternoon. As a result, McGill was able to amass an early 10-point lead, the largest deficit Concordia had faced after one quarter so far this season. Concordia showed more life in the second quarter and managed to cut the deficit to six. Still, there were many areas of concern for Concordia at halftime. The Stingers were outrebounded in the first half by an embarrassing margin, 33-15 as McGill picked up almost as many offensive boards, 14, as Concordia did in total.

“Our forwards just didn’t do their jobs tonight,” said coach John Dore.

Whether or not the late travel night on Friday had an effect on the Stingers’ play, their coach wasn’t giving the benefit of the doubt to a team that has been starting games slow lately.

“There’s no excuses,” said Dore. “You’ve got to come out and play. Both teams have 40 minutes to play and we don’t make excuses.”

After building some late second quarter momentum, Concordia came out of the half looking sluggish yet again, and quickly found themselves back down by 11 points. Finally, though, the Stingers awoke from their slumber and closed the quarter on an 18-6 run, which ended with Decee Krah making a three-point shot as time expired in the quarter, firing up his team and the packed gymnasium, and giving Concordia a three-point lead going into the game’s final quarter.

The Redmen deserve credit though, as they were unwilling to simply play the role of red carpet on the Stingers’ march to perfection.

Redmen point Vincent Dufort hit two free throws to give McGill a one-point lead with only 1:44 to play in the game—the latest
Concordia had trailed in a game
all season.

As is often the case in university sports, experience prevailed over youth as a Stingers team stocked with veterans was able to force six turnovers in the final 90 seconds of the game and closed out the afternoon on a 9-0 run, securing the team’s seventh RSEQ win of the season.

Afterwards, the team was happy with the win but not the effort.

“We won and that’s what matters, but it’s the same story,” said Stingers fifth-year guard Decee Krah who finished the game with 14 points. “We won every quarter after the first but we had to battle back the entire game. We won by eight but we [wanted to win] by 20 or 30.”

Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the weekend for Concordia was the fact the team failed to “send a message” by blowing out teams in its weak conference, something many players have said is a priority.

“We know how good the competition is out east and out west,” said guard Kyle Desmarais. “We lost by 16 to St. F-X (who is ranked fourth in the CIS). We have no delusions about being a top three team right now. We are very far from that but we believe we have the capabilities.”

Ironically, the losing team may have come away feeling more like winners.

“I’m very proud of my team,” said McGill coach Dave DeAveiro. “When you play on the road against a good team like Concordia you need to almost be perfect to win. We did a lot of good things but there are still things we need to improve on.”

Concordia’s next game is on the road against Bishop’s, Friday Jan. 27 at 8 p.m.

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Stingers introduce newest members to the hive

Stingers alumni in the CFL are helping with Concordia’s recruitment difficulties. Photo by Julian Mei

Stingers stars, past and present, were in attendance last Friday afternoon as football coach Gerry McGrath introduced a group of young men he hopes will lead Concordia in the future.

Stingers alumni in the CFL are helping with Concordia’s recruitment difficulties. Photo by Julian Mei

Liam Mahoney of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (pictured on the right), and Cory Watson  of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (left), among other former Stingers now in the CFL were on hand to welcome the 18 newest recruits to the Concordia Stingers football program at a luncheon at the Perform Centre.

The recruits certainly have a local flavour to them; 17 of the 18 have experience playing in the CÉGEP system.

Coach McGrath believes that players coming out of CÉGEP can be more valuable than out-of-province recruits, as often times the players are ready to step into important roles immediately.

“The best players in Quebec are in the CÉGEP system,” said McGrath. “[Players from Ontario] are usually a year or two behind. You expect a kid from Ontario to have an important role in his third year, but the CÉGEP kids can come in right away.”

While the atmosphere around the event was optimistic and upbeat, McGrath did speak about some of the difficulties Concordia faces in the recruitment process, further explaining his comments from last year about the unfair financial advantage Laval has.

“We can compete, but there are obstacles that make it difficult,” he said. “As I look at my five losses from last year, two of them are to Laval and a third in the playoffs. What I’d like to see is everyone in the country have a minimum and a maximum [budget] so that every team at the top of their cycle [of players] has a chance to win a national championship. I think every great league has that type of [balance]. I think it’s important that the CIS gets to that point.”

As it presently stands, Laval gets private funding from a corporation whereas the Stingers rely solely on funding from Concordia.

Finances isn’t the only uphill battle McGrath and his staff face when recruiting. Language and the program’s reputation are also factors in the decision of recruits. McGrath, though, thinks Concordia does have some advantages over schools such as Laval and Sherbrooke.

“Well first of all [a team] can only dress 48 players, so you have to ask yourself [as a recruit going to a premier program] are you going to be one of those 48?” he said. “Second of all, the school plays a large role in it. Finishing school and being bilingual is a great asset for any young man.”

While Concordia has had success producing great individual talents, such as the CFL players on hand, and most recently Max Caron, winner of the defensive player of the year award, the school is hoping to take the next step: competing for national championships.

“We send as many people to the pros as any school,” said McGrath. “We now need to get to the point where we develop 40 or 50 great players so we can have the depth that Laval or Montréal has.”

A full list of the recruits can be found on the Stingers’ website.

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Stingers lose ground in battle for playoff spot

Peter Karvouniaris and the Stingers are sitting in the final playoff spot in the RSEQ. Photo by Navneet Pall

Concordia’s men’s hockey team played its fifth game in eight days on Saturday which didn’t end in the Stingers’ favour, losing 5-4 to the Carleton Ravens.

Peter Karvouniaris and the Stingers are sitting in the final playoff spot in the RSEQ. Photo by Navneet Pall

“We’re in a race for the playoffs, we needed those two points,” said captain Eric Begin. “We played good, but not good enough, I guess.” Begin scored a goal and added two assists and is leading the country in points by a defenceman.

The first period brought solid defensive play by Carleton, along with two quick goals. After some strong physical play from Begin, Concordia responded with a goal of its own, from the hands of budding star Etienne Archambault.

“[Archambault] has come in here, and he’s worked as hard as I can ask him to work,” said coach Kevin Figsby. “He’s got [six points in five games] and that to me bodes well for the future.”

Carleton also opened the second period scoring, but Concordia yet again responded quickly, adding another goal a minute and a half later. Michael Stinziani, leading scorer in the CIS, took the comeback into his own hands, skating down the right side of the ice with tremendous speed, and sending the puck into the top corner of the net making it a 3-2 game. Charles-Antoine Messier tied the game for Concordia on a power play. The tie was short lived, though, as Matt Stanisz scored to put Carleton back in front. The Ravens also scored with 15 seconds left in the period, to head into intermission with  a two goal lead.

The third period brought more solid effort by the Stingers, and outstanding goaltending from first-year Peter Karvouniaris. He stopped several sure goals on a Carleton five-on-three, allowing Concordia to score a fourth goal on a two-man advantage of its own. But, despite a hard-fought third, the home team just couldn’t get the tying goal past Ravens goalie Matthew Dopud.

“I’m really proud of our team today,” said Figsby. “That’s our fifth game in eight days, and we’ve got nine injured players right now. For us to stay on the game plan the way we did for 60 minutes today and battle as hard as we did, I’m proud. We’re upset we lost, we’re going to be upset any time we lose, but I’m proud of every kid in that dressing room for the effort they put in.”

The last few games will also test Concordia’s strength, as they are slated to take on Ottawa, UQTR, second-ranked McGill twice, and Carleton again.

Begin is confident in the talent of the team, and says this will bring them success. He also suggested the return of key players to the lineup, a welcome change that could potentially come as early as Wednesday.

The Stingers’ next game is Wednesday, Jan. 25 on the road against UQTR at 7 p.m.

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