Tag: RSEQ

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Olivia Atkinson trades in her Martlet uniform for the Maroon and Gold

It’s not everyday a player goes from one team to their greatest rival. Names that come to mind are Carlos Tevez, Mark Recchi and Terrell Owens. Now, Olivia Atkinson joins that list along with her teammate Erica Starnino.

The fourth year player began her U-Sports career with the McGill Martlets in the 2015-16 season. She transferred to Concordia last year but was unable to play because of U-Sports eligibility rules. The season did not go to waste by any means for Atkinson, playing 17 games for Les Canadiennes de Montreal.

“It was a learning experience,” Atkinson said. “The pace of the game is much faster. Decisions need to be quicker. The physicality was the thing that showed me what my play lacked, I tried to focus on [improving] that aspect of my game.”

Atkinson joins a talented Stingers team with expectations sky high. She says to be a better, more impactful player for the team, she’s been focusing on her defensive play.

“Offensive [play] was something that I focused a lot on in the past,” said Atkinson. “Coming here with the knowledge of the coaches, I want to learn how to be a better defensive player.”

Nobody can dispute Atkinson’s offensive abilities, having been a top scoring RSEQ player during her time with McGill. Head coach Julie Chu had nothing but high praise for Atkinson when talking about her willingness to improve.

“She works hard all the time, wants to learn and wants to get better,” said Chu. “Even as someone who coached against her for three years, I saw that on the ice through her intensity and compete level.”

Atkinson, enrolled in psychology, says that she made the switch from McGill to Concordia because Concordia offered more specialized courses of behavioural neuroscience that she’s interested in.

It also helps that the Stingers women’s hockey program is year after year regarded as one of the top in the country.

It can be tough coming on to a new team, especially when playing for that team’s greatest rival. However Atkinson says that her new teammates have been nothing short of spectacular in helping her adjust to life with a new team and school.

“In the first couple of games, she had to get back into the swing of playing at the U-Sports level,” Chu said. “The truth is when you’re playing for Les Canadiennes, [Atkinson] probably wasn’t given the same amount of ice time and opportunities that she’s been getting at our level. From day one she’s been such a hard worker and teammate. It’s been great to watch.”

Chu was excited when Atkinson approached her about joining the team but she says she didn’t make any promises to her when it came to her role on the team.

“We don’t talk about roles, it’s about our culture,” said Chu. “What we promise here is that you’ll be loved and supported. You’ll get every resource possible to be successful on and off the ice. We don’t promise anyone a certain role or position on our team. That’s not who we are and it’s not reality of life. We promise opportunities if you work hard and execute.”

Offensive execution is what Atkinson is known for. As a second year player in 2016-17, Atkinson was second in goal scoring and in points, lighting the lamp 12 times that season and finishing with 25 points. In her last year of university hockey in the 2017-18 season, before making the jump to the CWHL, she finished eighth in the RSEQ in points with 16 on the season.

Adding Atkinson and a number of other recruits, along with the team’s returning players makes this squad an incredibly talented one. They started the season ranked as the fourth best team in the country, and after going undefeated in the opening weekend of the season, have shot up to the top ranked team in the country.

“Polls are always a funny thing. It’s so early on in the season and no one really knows how they stack up [against other teams],” said Chu. “It’s a nice compliment, we know we’ve been playing great hockey but we also know that where we stand at the end of the season is what really counts.”

Atkinson shares the same sentiment when it comes to the ranking and says that the teams approach along with her own hasn’t changed.

“Every day we’re coming to the rink and putting in the work,” Atkinson said. “We haven’t been taking our success [for granted]. We’re in a really competitive league and anyone of the teams can win on any given night. We have a target on our back and we need to be prepared for every game that way.”

Atkinson and the Stingers will take on the second nationally ranked Carabins on November 1 at 7 p.m. at the CEPSUM

 

Feature Photo by Laurence B-D

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Concordia 17 McGill 23: Despite loss, Stingers still manage to squeak into the playoffs

Down by a score with less than a minute left.

We’ve seen this situation before. The Concordia Stingers managed this type of exciting last-minute victory against Sherbrooke a couple weeks ago.

Alas, no resurrection this time.

The Stingers dropped their last regular-season game to McGill 23-17, finishing the year 2-6. But after the Sherbrooke Vert et Or lost to Laval Rouge et Or earlier in the afternoon, the Stingers still claimed the fourth and final playoff spot. They’ll play against defending U Sports champs Laval on Nov. 2.

As for this game, well, the Stingers haven’t made it easy on themselves all season, so why would this game be any different.

Turnovers. Check.

Injuries. Check.

Missed opportunities. Check.

The Concordia-McGill rivalry runs deep, and we saw it out there today. Post-whistle scrums, hard hits, chirping, and lots and lots of penalties.

Head coach Brad Collinson was clearly unhappy with his team’s performance after the game. When asked how he keeps the team grounded, he said all they had to do was “look at the score.”

Yikes.

If you just looked at the offensive stats, you saw some familiar trends to close out the season. James Tyrrell, who despite taking a nasty hit in the first quarter, managed four catches for 75 yards, finishing an incredibly impressive regular season. Rookie phenom Jeremy Murphy led all receivers with six receptions for 100 yards and two touchdown catches.

“I mean, I played a great game,” said Murphy. “But at the end of the day, we didn’t win so I don’t care.”

Finally, the individual performance of quarterback Adam Vance, who went 24/42 for 334 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions and two fumbles. With that, the American quarterback has surpassed 2,000 passing yards on the season.

The offence struggled to gather momentum until the final minutes of play. A good run? Next play was a fumble. A nice completion? Sike, penalty flag. Luckily for the Stingers offence, its defence was there to bail them out, time and time again.

They held McGill quarterback Dimitrios Sinodinos to 9/22 for 69 yards in the air. Considering how strong Sinodinos has been throughout this season, that’s an impressive feat.

“Defence was the only reason we were in this game,” said Vance. “You gotta tip your cap to them because that’s a good football team. I know it’s discouraging to have to go out and play defence every five minutes, so you gotta respect it.”

Linebacker Sam Brodrique led the way for the Stingers with 7.5 tackles, who along with the nine other seniors, played in his final game at the Stingers Stadium. After playing in last year’s East-West Bowl, Brodrique is one of the top draft-eligible players on this team.

“It’s been great. I’ve had a lot of coaches, a lot of changes,” said Brodrique. “I hope this last change was for the best and I hope the team builds from there. Even though we lost a lot of games this year, we’re a better as a team honestly. I hope they build from that.”

This was a slugfest from start to finish. A long, drawn out affair that didn’t make for great entertainment. Then the fourth quarter. With McGill up by six points, the Stingers began their march downfield. Vance evaded sacks, made great reads, found his receivers, and even made the runs himself. This put his team with a 1st-and-10 on McGill’s 11-yard line with three attempts to win the game. First down, an Adam Vance run for six yards. Second down, an incomplete pass to Tristan Mancini. Third and final down, with only 20 seconds left on the clock, a corner pass to Tyrrell that was knocked out of the air by the McGill corner. Turnover on downs.

No one was happy about the way this game, or this season ended. But at the end of the day, the Stingers are still in the postseason. Speaking of which…

We talking ‘bout playoffs???

The Stingers will take on the Laval Rouge et Or on Nov. 2 in Quebec City. Last time these met, things didn’t go well for the Stingers. The team is hoping for a different result this time around with an RSEQ finals berth on the line.

“Back to the drawing board,” said Vance post-game. “We still have another game, we gotta go back to Quebec City and play a good football game. We’ll sob about this one tonight and get into the film room tomorrow. We got to game plan against them, we’ll probably see something similar because obviously it worked.”

“One of our goals was to make the playoffs,” said Collinson. “Now we just need to go out there and compete.”

“I think today we only played one half,” said Brodrique. “Next game, we gotta focus up and play two halves. Last time we went there, it wasn’t really great. We have to bounce back from that. For the team, having a good game against Laval would be good to follow up and this season. They have a good running game, so we gotta have a great gameplan.”

“We can’t afford to just play one half,” said Murphy. “That’s it. We gotta play better than the last time we played them that’s for sure, we can’t get stomped again.”

Notes:

  • A scary situation with James Tyrrell not being taken out of the game after a clear head-to-head hit. I don’t understand why no one on the sidelines made that call.
  • This year’s senior class included a number of key players, the list is Vance, Tyrrell, Sam Nadon, Zamaad Gambari, Jordan Hurley, Jersey Henry, Sam Brodrique, Gordi Lang, Joel Slavik, Thiery Taillon and Michael Asibuo.

Feature photo by Arianna Randjbar

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Stingers rugby teams remain unknown by students despite success

It’s already been a year since I started covering Concordia Stingers games for The Concordian. I’ve always dreamed of being a sports journalist, and being in an environment where you enjoy your job so much that the word ‘work’ doesn’t exist for you.

To get the chance to cover sports games, interview people, and gain experience every day while having fun doing it is amazing. To be able to do so constantly during my studies is a privilege.

I remember one of my first assignments for the paper; to cover a rugby game. When I talk about the pleasures of gaining experience while having fun, that’s exactly it.

A few years ago, I started watching rugby games on television. I was interested, but mostly intrigued by this sport which, in my mind, had many similarities with American football. I was pretty excited the day I was covering the game, but I didn’t know all the rules and had to do a bit of research beforehand.

I’ve covered a couple of rugby games since, and each time it seems like my love for the sport just keeps growing.

That being said, when I cover those games as a journalist, there’s one thing I never forget, and it’s the reader. I am not writing a sport game recap for myself, but for the people reading it. Sometimes, it happens that you know your subject so well that you could talk about it forever. However, that doesn’t mean the person in front of you can do the same. Last week, someone put exactly what I mean into words.

Rugby doesn’t seem to be well-known by the Concordia community. That’s what I realized when someone asked me to repeat the word ‘rugby’ three times because she never heard it before.

More popular in other continents like Europe and Oceania, rugby was born more than 2,000 years ago. In what was first considered a game of football, the sport started to present unique rules that then differentiated it from other sports.

Rugby developed and became popular in many schools and regions in Europe, which can explain the popularity of the game there today, especially in England. The country’s currently ranked third in the men’s rankings of World Rugby, the most prestigious international league. A Rugby World Cup is played every four years, opposing the top international teams.

The last World Rugby Cup, in 2015, was won by the New Zealand All Blacks team. It was the first time a team won back-to-back World Rugby Cups. The All Blacks are considered by many as the best. In fact, they are on top of the league’s rankings.

However, what people most often talk about with regards to the All Blacks is their unique choreography before games, called ‘haka,’a traditional dance form of the Māori people of New Zealand.

Rules of today’s rugby aren’t the same as the ones used in the game’s early stages, neither are the terms and equipment. Main elements differing rugby from other sports include backward passes of the ball, mauls, scrums, and even tries scored by teams.

In rugby, a team scoring a try, which is five points plus an extra two with a successful conversion after, can only do so by placing the ball behind the opponent’s dead ball area. In football, such a try is called a touchdown and may also be scored with a passing play.

That is one of many differences between rugby and other sports. I could write a thousand words about the rules of rugby, but that would make this a boring piece.

Instead, let’s focus on the rugby played at Concordia with the two Stingers rugby teams.

In fact, the teams can’t do any better right now. The men’s team, back-to-back Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) champions, is currently on a 22-game winning streak and haven’t lost a game in the league since 2016. The team has even participated to the previous and first two editions of the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship with their RSEQ titles of 2017 and 2018.

Concordia will host the Championship this year, marking a third appearance at the tournament in as many years for the Stingers. The event will be held at Concordia Stadium from Nov. 20-24.

On the women’s side, the team has bounced back from a 2-7 season last year to a perfect 6-0 record this season. Despite their RSEQ semi-final loss against the Université Laval Rouge et Or, the team has been impressive all season long.

Fourth-year player on the men’s team Lucas Hotton said it’s understandable that people aren’t familiar with the sport. He said that rugby grew up from what we now call American football, but people grew up following the evolved North American version of the game.

“If you go elsewhere than North America, rugby is likely the leading contact sport,” Hotton said. “It has a low barrier to entry, great core values, and is a sport accepting everyone. To grow the game’s popularity is really difficult with football’s market already in place, but I believe you can work with high schools and clubs to improve participation at junior levels, and hopefully keep the kids in the sport as they grow older into senior level. It’s a tough task, but one that really needs to be addressed on this continent, in the country and in this province.”

To have Concordia’s sports facilities at Loyola’s campus instead of near downtown’s campus might explain in part why most students aren’t connected to Stingers rugby. That’s at least what Hotton suggested, saying there is a lack of connections between them and the teams.

“Most students study and have based themselves downtown,” Hotton said. “Loyola is quite foreign and far to them. Even the shuttle bus doesn’t operate most game days, which are during weekends. I don’t think we’ll see any field appear downtown, but if there’s a way to bring the [games] to downtown’s campus, I’m sure the connection would be made.”

Hotton played other sports before discovering rugby at CEGEP. A friend invited him to try out for the school’s team and his love for the game started to grow. He explained that like in many sports, rugby brings fundamental values. However, he thought this was even more true with rugby.

“I’ve had the privilege of playing many sports, and there’s not one like rugby,” Hotton said. “[You’re playing your game, might hurt someone], but at the end you’re still hanging out and buying that person a beer after the game. Most of the time it’s someone you’ve never met before.”

Both Stingers rugby teams play in the RSEQ. But there are slight differences. With seven teams in the RSEQ men’s rugby, each team faces each other once during the regular season for a total of six games. There is only one division, or in other words pool, with all seven teams together.

However, the RSEQ women’s rugby presents eight teams, which divides teams into two groups of four. The Stingers are playing in Section B and are facing each teams of their division twice in the season, for a total of six games. They can’t play teams of Section A except in the RSEQ playoffs.

While the women’s team’s season is officially over after their loss to the Rouge et Or, the men’s team will play its next and final game of the regular season on Oct. 27 at 3 p.m. against the Bishop’s University Gaiters. With a current 5-0 record, the team will look to conclude its regular season undefeated for a third straight year.

 

Feature photo by Laurence B.D.

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Championship doesn’t change men’s Stingers basketball team’s season approach

For the first time since 2011-12, the Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team will start its Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) season as league defending champions. Yet, the mindset remains the same for the Stingers.

For head coach Rastko Popovic and his team, expectations that come with being the defending champions are more of a cliché in sports.

“We still try to recruit the best players we can,” Popovic said. “We still spend time in the gym with our players to try to make them better. There’s no guarantee we’ll win again this year. We’ll obviously do our best to do so, but it’s a new season and a new challenge.”

Popovic said that last year’s success is the result of many years of work. He explained that some of the players who won last year are the same who went through the pain of losing a semi-final and a final game before winning the championship. Yet, new players will be at their debuts with the team this season and won’t have lived last year’s success.

“It’s part of the process in sports,” Popovic said. “You hear it a lot now with many professional sports team saying to trust the process. If anybody could just do something by snapping their fingers, it would be that easy to coach in any sport, not just basketball.”

Seven months after their championship and nationals participation, fourth-year player Olivier Simon said he and the team finally had time to reflect on what last year meant to them. Yet, he said the focus was turned to this season in a matter of time.

“We worked hard this summer in order to recreate [our accomplishments of last season this year],” Simon said. “Yes, it’s fun to win a championship, as you celebrate for a week or two, but after that you just want to get more. I knew [last season] it wasn’t my last year, so my mindset was more about winning more championships. Of course we took the time to reflect on our season. To get that win and see our efforts pay off was the best feeling we’ve had for a while.”

Some of those players will have bigger leadership roles in 2019-20, as the Stingers lost important pieces this summer, including team captain Ricardo Monge. In his final year with the Stingers, the point guard was named the MVP in Quebec university men’s basketball conference and received all-Canadian honours.

Simon said that after the experience he and the other returning players acquired, he wanted to be more of a leader for this season. The players might have to earn their next championship, but the experience he acquired is invaluable.

“Now I know what’s needed to [win the RSEQ title and go to nationals],” Simon said. “Guys just need to follow and be on board with us because we know what it takes to win. For me, it’s just to bring that energy and effort every day in the gym.”

For Sami Ghandour, also entering his fourth year, last season served him as a motivation this past off-season. Ghandour said that despite winning the RSEQ championship, the loss at nationals hurt and pushed him to get better.

“In my first year, we didn’t get past semi-finals,” Ghandour said. “In my second year, we reached the final, but lost. In my third year, we won, but lost in the first round [at nationals]. We saw that we were good for the RSEQ, but once on the national court, the level [of play] was different. Even after winning all that, it hurts when you lose like that at nationals.”

With the season set to start next month, Popovic said there’s a long process to follow before thinking about championship goals for 2019-20 campaign. He said it’s a long season, and there are many games to win before those in the RSEQ playoffs.

“Yes, we can talk about [the fact that] our goal is to go to nationals, but we don’t get there by just saying it,” Popovic said. “We still have a lot of things to work on before [coming to this moment]. We’re trying to get better one day at the time. We’re trying to get better this weekend than [we were the previous one]. That’s how we see progress, with small steps to get to where we want to get.”

Ghandour said the team wants to win consecutive championships. However, he explained that with this new season, the Stingers and all teams in the league will start at the same point.

“We are the defending champions, which makes people even more hungry to play us,” Ghandour said. “[We] need to keep working, and keep [our] feet on the ground. [We] want to win the championship every single year.”

 

Photos by Britanny Clark

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Stingers football benefitting from full off-season

The Stingers will lose some of their top offensive lineman including Marc-Antoine Sevigny and Maurice Simba. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

Head coach has announced multiple recruits, new assistant coaches ahead of new season

Since becoming head coach of the Concordia Stingers football team last June, Brad Collinson finally had a full off-season of work. He was able to work with his coaching staff and team to prepare for the next campaign.

Collinson, a former Stingers captain and CFL player, was officially announced as the new head coach last June. Compared to last summer, when he only had two months to meet his new team and work with them, Collinson’s first full off-season with the Stingers this year finally allows him to speak with the players about their aim for next season. He said it’s beneficial for them to have time to work and prepare for next year.

Expect quarterback Adam Vance (pictured) to be challenged for his starting role. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

“Last year, with the situation that we were in, we learned and [had the chance to see] and evaluate what was going on,” Collinson said. “This off-season, we decided to go in a different direction and make changes—sometimes change is good.”

The head coach added that this time of year gives him the chance to meet all his players in order to know them better and identify what stage of development the team is in.

“Last year was not easy because [I arrived] in the summer,” Collinson said. “Now, with this full off-season, they know how [the coaches] are and what we are trying to accomplish, so getting that message passed is a lot easier.”

The Stingers recently recruited new players to the program with hopes of improving the team. Collinson said these recruits will help build the foundation the program wants to have for years to come.

“I think the thing with recruiting is that you never know,” Collinson added. “You try to recruit the top ones. They are the type of people we want here playing at our university. We have a lot of recruits from Quebec, which will be interesting because Concordia hasn’t been able to have a lot of them in the last few years. I think it’s been a major plus to be able to recruit in CEGEPs, and, moving forward with the new staff, I think it will be our focus to try to get as many CEGEP players as possible.”

Collinson expects his team to be competitive next season. He said the team will focus on one game at a time and aim to be a tough opponent.

“At the first day of training camp, that will be the message,” the coach said. “One day, one repetition, one practice at a time. Every week and weekend, when [it will be time to] play our opponent, we will definitely be prepared.”

The 2019 Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec football calendar was unveiled earlier last week, with the Stingers playing their first game of the season against the Montréal Carabins at home on Aug. 23.

They will then play the historic Shaughnessy Cup against their rival, the McGill Redmen, on Aug. 30.

Main photo by Gabe Chevalier.

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Head coach Tenicha Gittens wants players to get stronger

From left: Tenicha Gittens, Caroline Task, Myriam Leclerc, Areej Burgonio, and athletics director D’Arcy Ryan. The players received their RSEQ awards before their semi-final game. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

Stingers hope to learn from first experience at nationals in 20 years

A year after finishing the regular season with a 4-12 record, the Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team made it all the way to the U Sports nationals this season. They qualified after losing in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) final against the Laval Rouge et Or, and were eliminated by the McMaster Marauders in the quarter-finals at nationals.

Despite their successful season this year, head coach Tenicha Gittens believes her team needs more depth. “Our bench has been thin all season long, so when we get [to nationals], it does matter,” Gittens said on CJLO Sports on March 11.

Injuries contributed to the short bench this season. Rookie Nelly Owusu was injured before the regular season began, and hasn’t played since, shortening the roster by one. “She was a big part of what we wanted to do,” Gittens said. “She was part of our starting line-up [in preseason games]. I think if she had been healthy throughout the season, she would have been fighting for the rookie of the year.”

Caroline Task (pictured) finished third in league scoring with 15.6 points per game. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

Looking ahead to next season, Gittens hopes to increase the team’s roster through recruiting, but doesn’t have any official commitments right now.

“Not having Nelly, this is where it really hurt us, in this postseason,” Gittens added. “To have her in that rotation would have done wonders for us. It would have been a completely different basketball team.”

Leclerc was the third-straight Stinger to win the RSEQ rookie of the year award after Task won in 2017, and Coralie Dumont last year. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

Gittens wants her team to get stronger physically for next season, to avoid any future injuries. “Physically, I thought we were weaker than most teams out there, so that’s something we have to get better at,” she said. “We have the talent, we’re just inexperienced. There’s ways we can get around that, and it’s just building our mind to sustain [the season].”

The Stingers benefitted from having the U Sports and RSEQ rookie of the year, Myriam Leclerc. She led the RSEQ in points and assists per game, with 18.8 and 4.6, respectively. Leclerc was also named to the U Sports second all-Canadian team, and the RSEQ’s first all-star team.

Guard Caroline Task was also named to the RSEQ first all-star team, and rookie guard Areej Burgonio made the RSEQ all-rookie team.

“[Leclerc] is just a special talent, and every once in a while, you’re lucky enough to get a talent like that in your program,” Gittens said. “She does everything. She’s a shooting point guard, she’s a passing point guard, and she gets buckets at will […]. She’s a tremendous talent and she’s raised everybody’s level of play.”

However, Gittens wants to see Leclerc get stronger over the summer, just like the rest of the team. “She’s been banged up all season long, but she’s one of those players that’s going to play through [injuries],” Gittens added. “She literally has to be broken to stop playing. We saw that in the final against Laval, when she didn’t play the second half because she physically could not go anymore […]. After that final game at nationals, she told me, ‘Coach, I’m going to be tank this summer,’ so she knows what she needs to work on.”

Burgonio (pictured) averaged 4.1 points in nearly 24 minutes per game this year. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

At the national tournament in Toronto, the Stingers lost to McMaster 86-68 in their first game. The Marauders went onto win the national championship, beating the Rouge et Or in the final. In their consolation game against the Acadia Axewomen, the Stingers had a two-point lead after three quarters, but they ultimately lost 86-74.

“It was a disappointing end to the season,” Gittens said. “But we ended the season at nationals, so even though it seems like losing those two games made the season a wash, we have to remember we got to this point. I knew our biggest challenge going in would be the inexperience of it all, and I knew the other teams going had a taste of nationals.”

The Stingers last played in the national tournament in 1999, and started with the seventh seed as a wild card berth. About this year’s trip to nationals, Gittens said: “We enjoyed the banquet and being treated as one of the top eight teams in Canada, because they have to soak all of that in. We watched basketball and just kind of learned from the other teams that kept moving on.”

If they do get back to nationals next season, they’ll know what to do.

“The experience [at nationals] was definitely the biggest takeaway,” Gittens said. “You try to get them to buy in and believe, and kind of sell them on a dream that they can get there. Now they know the path to take.”

Main photo by Gabe Chevalier.

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Stingers experience nationals for the first time

Head coach Popovic expects Sami Ghandour (#24) to have a bigger role in next year’s team. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Losses to Ryerson and Saint Mary’s give Concordia vision for next season

In their first U Sports nationals appearance since 2012, the Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team lost both of their games in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In their quarter-final game against the Ryerson Rams, the Stingers lost 87-47; the Saint Mary’s Huskies beat them 84-67 in a consolation game.

“It was a first experience for all of us at nationals, players and coaches included,” said head coach Rastko Popovic on CJLO Sports on March 11. “We knew it was going to be a different experience since it’s something we never lived before. You can’t just imitate walking into a big [arena] like that.”

Adrian Armstrong shoots a free throw during the RSEQ final. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Dalhousie University hosted the nationals at the Scotiabank Centre, which has a seating capacity of over 10,000 people. The Stingers qualified for nationals after winning the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) championship on March 2.

In their opening game, the Stingers played a strong Rams team that lost in the final last year, but won bronze this year. The Rams had five players 6’7 or taller, while the Stingers’s tallest players—Aleks Simeunovic, Olivier Simon, and Matthis Guerut—are all 6’7.

Popovic said he spoke to other coaches before playing Ryerson, and they all said the Rams do a good job at contesting inside shots. The Stingers’s game plan was to shoot three-pointers, but they went 3/36 from three-point range, which hurt them on the scoreboard.

“We knew we were going to have to make some three-point shots to stay in the game,” Popovic said. “Early in the game, it didn’t help that we fell behind 12-0. We had some great looks, but they just didn’t fall down.”

Adrian Armstrong, who made a team-high 56 three-point shots this season, went 2-12 in the game against Ryerson. The Stingers did a better job with their threes in their second game, going 12/32, but Saint Mary’s did better with their overall shooting.

“It was a great learning experience, but we’re disappointed with the results,” Popovic said. “Now we have a good idea of what it takes to make it to the next level.”

Near the end of their game against Saint Mary’s, Popovic subbed off fifth-year guards Garry Merrisier and Ricardo Monge for the last time in their Stingers careers. Popovic said it was an emotional moment for the whole team.

“We see these guys more than we see our family some days,” Popovic said. “We spend a lot of time together at practice, in the weight room, individual workouts, etc. So these guys are like my family. You never think about that moment until it comes, when you realize this was the last time they came off the floor.”

The head coach was already thinking about next season with some of the substitutions he made in the last quarter of that final game. Rookie guard Tariq Bakri-Hamad, who averaged 1.6 minutes per game this season, played 12 minutes against Saint Mary’s and scored 10 points.

“Against Saint Mary’s, we made a run [and cut their lead] in the second half,” Popovic said. “Tariq was on the floor during that run so those are very valuable minutes for him.”

The players will take a break to focus on their exams, but Popovic wants to see them in the weight room as soon as possible. Even though the 2019-20 regular season starts in November, the Stingers could be playing preseason games as early as August.

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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Learning season for Stingers women’s hockey

Despite finishing second in the RSEQ, the Stingers couldn’t repeat as champions. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Concordia went 8-1-1 in 2019 after a rocky start to the regular season

It was a learning season for the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team, which saw many ups and downs. They were eliminated in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) semi-final in February.

The Stingers started the season with 11 rookies, and finished the regular season in second place with a 13-4-3 record. Head coach Julie Chu said that if there’s one thing to take away from this season, it’s growth.

“[Every season], we start at a different point,” Chu said. “This year, we [did so] because we were young and had a lot of new players.”

Forward Lidia Fillion (pictured) finished the season with seven goals. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

After winning five of the first 10 games, Chu asked her players for patience.

“We had a young team in a lot of ways,” Chu said. “Even if they’re talented players who have been successful, it still takes time to develop and play a complete team game for a full 60 minutes. I think that’s what we saw in the first half of the season. We didn’t have the consistency and execution that we needed in order to win games.”

Five Stingers earned individual RSEQ awards, including forwards Audrey Belzile and Rosalie Bégin-Cyr, the Stingers’s best scorer and the RSEQ’s highest-scoring rookie, respectively. Chu said the working environment her players built help them to succeed.

“They want to get better and learn,” Chu said. “They push themselves, and they do it in a competitive and awesome environment where they find a way to support each other. I don’t think it’s surprising that we had individuals from the team who were honoured for successful seasons.”

Veterans Katherine Purchase, Devon Thompson, Melinda Prévost, and Sophie Gagnon won’t be back with the Stingers next season. Chu said these graduating players helped develop Concordia’s hockey program into what it is.

“They are huge part of why we have the foundation we have [today],” Chu said. “When young players arrive in our program, they know what to expect. They know what they’re building off [of], and I think that’s a really special part of the culture and tradition we want to have here at Concordia.”

Despite Purchase’s departure, the Stingers will still be able to count on goaltender Alice Philbert for the upcoming season. Chu said that having Philbert with the team for the seasons ahead is huge.

“Alice has been a great part of our team the last two years,” Chu said. “She always works hard, she wants to get better. She asks questions and because of that, she’s been able to develop and become a really great goaltender.”

The Stingers announced in December that forward Scout Watkins Southward of the Kingston Junior Ice Wolves will join the team for the beginning of next season. Chu thinks Watkins Southward will bring a lot to the team.

“She has the work ethic, the personality, and the character we want to include in our program,” Chu said. “I think that she will arrive and have a really big impact right off the start. We’re really excited for everything that she will be able to bring.”

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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Stingers had a long journey to the championship

Guard Ricardo Monge (centre) won his first championship in his last game with the Stingers. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Basketball head coach Rastko Popovic is proud of everybody involved

The Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team played their first preseason game on Aug. 6, 2018, against the Ole Miss Rebels. Almost seven months later, the Stingers won the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) championship, beating the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins, 73-69.

Since the Stingers last won a title in 2012, they changed their coach from John Dore to Rastko Popovic. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

“To become a champion, it’s a long road,” said head coach Rastko Popovic after the Stingers’s win against the Citadins on March 2. “You don’t just show up; you have to put in the work. I told our guys that game against Ole Miss paid off.”

From that first game against the Rebels, the Stingers played 33 preseason, regular season, and playoff games. They won 20 times, and had an 11-5 regular-season record.

“We struggled with some injuries, but I thought we had a pretty good regular season,” Popovic said. “We had some losses near the end, but you can’t expect to win every game in our league when you play each other so many times.”

For most of the Stingers, this championship title has been the result of hard work throughout the years. They last won the title in 2012, before Popovic was named head coach in 2015. Under him, the Stingers lost two semi-final games in 2016 and 2017, before losing last year’s final to McGill.  

“We just had progression every year, but lost a couple of tough games in the playoffs,” Popovic said. “You have to learn the daily habits of becoming a champion and you have to live by that. We pushed our guys, and I’m so proud of our guys.”

Although the team had a handful of rookies this year, they might not have won the championship without help from their veterans. Fifth-year players Garry Merisier and Ricardo Monge stepped up and performed when it counted—Merisier played 22 minutes and collected four rebounds in the final, while Monge had a team-high 19 points and made four of his six three-point shots.

“Big-shot Rick, MVP, team captain, whatever you want to call him, he does it all for us,” said guard Adrian Armstrong.

Monge, who won the RSEQ’s MVP trophy, played in the last home game of his Stingers career, and his teammates saw it as inspiring. “We were going to ride or die with him making [important] shots,” said forward Olivier Simon. “He’s been working on shooting all year. He has confidence [in himself], so we’re not surprised.”

One of Monge’s biggest shots of the game came right at the end of the third quarter, while the Citadins started to come back. He made a three pointer, giving the Stingers a 48-43 lead heading into the final quarter. Popovic said it gave his team energy for the fourth, and helped them win.

“This is the materializing of all the hard work I’ve put in throughout all these years,” Monge said. “It never happened for me, but it feels good to win my first championship.”

The point guard said only his team knows exactly what they had to go through to reach this point in the season. “We worked so hard, we’ve been through so many ups and downs,” Monge said. “Practices in cold gyms, hot gyms, it’s just a grind. It’s really special.”

Popovic added his team wouldn’t have won the championship without the work from everybody around the team. “I’m so proud of our coaching staff, our therapists, everybody in the [athletics] department,” he said. “This is for everyone involved with Concordia basketball, from the alumni to the supporters. Everybody has a piece of this [trophy], and helped us and seen our progression since day one.”  

The Stingers will now play at the national tournament in Halifax from March 8 to 10. When they last won the RSEQ title in 2012, they lost two games at nationals. Popovic played at the tournament for the Stingers in 2005, also in Halifax, and lost in the final.

“It’s the first time at nationals for all these guys,” Popovic said. “Going to nationals is the best experience of your life. You represent your school and it’s just a great reward for all the hard work these guys have put in.”

The players want to represent not only their school, but also the RSEQ as a whole, as they are the only team from Quebec. “We want to go out and show Quebec is one of the stronger conferences,” Armstrong said. “Obviously, we had some respect this season being ranked [in the Top 10], but it’s not enough.”

Main photos by Mackenzie Lad.

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Stingers clinch second place with 7-0 win

The Stingers have gone 8-1-1 in 2019. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Three veterans honoured in final regular season game

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team concluded their regular season with a 7-0 win against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees Sunday afternoon at the Ed Meagher Arena.

This was the last game of the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) 2018-2019 season before the playoffs. This game meant a lot for the Stingers, who needed a win to secure home-ice advantage in their playoff semi-final matchup against the McGill Martlets.

The Stingers successfully secured a home-ice advantage with what was their seventh-consecutive win. Head coach Julie Chu said everyone is playing well right now, which explains the team’s current success.

“We’re not having lags,” Chu said. “We’re able to roll four lines right now, our three [defensive pairings] are doing a great job, and our goaltender is being really solid.”

Sophie Gagnon (#11) was one of the graduating players honoured after the game. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

All four lines contributed offensively to help the Stingers beat the Gee-Gees, including goals from five different players. Chu said it’s important to not just rely on one line scoring.

“Everyone knows they’re a valuable part of this team,” Chu said. “At different points, we’ll ask different people to be able to score, or to produce in different ways. Whatever it might be, our players buy into that. I think when you have people buying in all year long it allows us to score goals, but also to do smaller things that don’t end up the scoresheet, but are equally as important for us.”

Forward Audrey Belzile, who scored the Stingers’s third goal, said that even ahead 6-0 after two periods, players kept giving their best, knowing they had to enter the playoffs with good habits.

“We told ourselves we were preparing for Thursday,” Belzile said. “We [wanted to do those] little things and give our all until the end because we’re not a team that gives up, and it would give momentum to the opponent.”

In the victory, Stingers defenceman Sandrine Lavictoire scored her first career goal in the RSEQ. Her goal was the last of the game and came with six minutes left in the third period.

“I’m happy I did it before the season ended,” said Lavictoire. “I waited until the 20th game to do it, but I’m happy.”

After the game, the team honoured graduating players Devon Thompson, Sophie Gagnon, Melinda Prévost and Katherine Purchase, who registered her third shutout of the season. Chu said these players can serve as an extra motivation for the playoffs.

“Those four graduating players have done a lot for this program,” Chu said. “They monitor themselves in that locker room. We don’t have to spend as much energy on making sure that the team is running strong and that the voice in the locker room is positive. They make sure it is.”

The Stingers have won two of the five games against the Martlets this season, scoring eight goals. Chu said the Stingers will face a really good team, which makes the home-ice advantage huge for that best-of-three semifinal series.

“Getting a chance to be in your own locker room, your own rink, with your fans and an environment that [you] love, it’s always a bonus,” Chu said. “However, we also know that at this point it’s going to be a war out there.”

The Stingers open their series against the Martlets Thursday night at the Ed Meagher Arena.

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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Stingers split doubleheader on senior’s night against McGill

It’s guaranteed the Stingers and Martlets will meet in the first round of the playoffs. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.

Women take sole possession of second while men remain in first place

The Concordia Stingers men’s basketball team were defeated 70-59 by the McGill Redmen, while the women’s team defeated the Martlets 63-51 Thursday night at the Concordia Gym. It was also senior’s night for the graduating Stingers on both teams.

Women’s Game

McGill built an early lead in the first quarter when Concordia struggled offensively to start the game. However, Stingers guard Caroline Task registered nine points in the quarter to keep her team in the game.

The Stingers then took control when their defence stood out and helped bring their game to another level. The team dominated from the paint and the perimeter, while forcing many turnovers and shot clock violations from McGill.

Task continued to dominate in the second quarter, even hitting the 1000-point mark in her career. Her performance helped the Stingers finish the first half ahead, 31-27.

Things continued to work well for the Stingers in the third quarter. The team converted a lot of three-point shots and capitalized on offensive rebounds. The Martlets scored less than 10 points for a second straight quarter, allowing the Stingers to lead by 19 points approaching the last quarter of the game.

While the Stingers entered the fourth quarter with a 55-36 lead, poor shot selection and turnovers gave Mcgill energy. The visitors dominated a good part of the last 15 minutes of action and managed to get back in the game. However, the lead established by the Stingers earlier was too difficult to overcome.

With the win, the Stingers improve to 9-5 this season. Task finished the game with 28 points, a game-high.

Before the game, the Stingers honoured graduating students Elise Roy, Aurélie d’Anjou Drouin, and Ladonna Lamonth with framed jerseys.

The men will need to win one of their final two games to guarantee first place. Photo by Gabe Chevalier.
Men’s Game

Both teams battled for the majority of the first quarter. Stingers guard Ricardo Monge helped his team close the gap early in the game, but McGill still finished the first quarter ahead, 18-17.

Monge continued to produce offensively in the second quarter. His successful three-point shots in the first half allowed the Stingers to stay in the game and even take a brief lead in the second quarter. McGill replied and headed to the locker room ahead 29-28 at the intermission.

The third quarter was McGill’s affair. The visitors put the Stingers in a difficult situation in the third quarter, and entered the fourth with a seven-point lead. However, the Singers continued to fight and cut the deficit with back-to-back successful three-point shots from Sami Ghandour and Adrian Armstrong.

McGill came back to extend their lead with less than two minutes left. The Stingers continued to show resilience at the end of the game, as the team created scoring opportunities and received free throws.

Despite the loss, the Stingers remain first in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec ranking with a record of 10-4.

Both teams play the Bishop’s University Gaiters on Feb. 16 at the Mitchell Gym.

Main photo by Gabe Chevalier.

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Full team effort gives women’s hockey team six-game win streak

Lidia Fillion’s two second-period goals helped the Stingers beat the Carabins. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Stingers beat the Carabins 3-1 at home in final meeting between rivals

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team continued their winning streak Saturday afternoon. They beat the Université de Montréal (UdeM) Carabins 3-1 at the Ed Meagher Arena for their six-straight win. Head coach Julie Chu credits a full team effort for the win streak.

“With our culture, even players that aren’t dressed, they bring great team energy in practices and in the stands, and that makes a huge difference,” Chu said following the win. “We’re happy with how our whole team is playing.”

It was the fifth and final meeting between the Stingers and Carabins this season. UdeM got the better of Concordia in three of the four previous meetings, winning all three games by one goal, including two in overtime. The Stingers’s only win against the Carabins before this game was a 2-1 victory on Nov. 2, 2018. The two teams, placed first and second in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), were separated by three points in the standings.

“We know every game is big at this point because our league is so tight,” said Chu when asked if the Stingers needed extra motivation heading in. “We just had to bare down and play good hockey. For sure [we’re thinking] about the playoffs, but we had to think about today and they played great.”

Goalie Alice Philbert allowed one goal in her last two starts. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Alice Philbert got her second-straight start in the Stingers’s net in place of Katherine Purchase. She missed Thursday’s 6-0 in Ottawa and this game for unknown reasons. Chu said the Stingers are lucky to have three strong goalies who she can rely on when called upon.

Montréal’s Aube Racine had to make 12 saves in the first period, and kept the scored tied 0-0 at the first intermission. The Stingers finally beat her five minutes into the second with a good shot from forward Lidia Fillion.

“Anytime we could put goals away against them, it’s a good thing [because] their goaltender is really strong,” Chu said. “For sure, it’s something we talked about between the first and second with our opportunities to make sure we capitalize [on scoring chances].”

The Carabins tied it 1-1 with a goal from Annie Germain 10 minutes later, but the even score didn’t last long. Less than two minutes later, Fillion scored her second of the game, which turned out to be the game-winning goal.

“She had some injuries early on the year, but now she’s playing really good hockey,” said the head coach about Fillion, who has seven goals this season. “She’s steady and solid, and we’re happy with the way she’s playing.”

Main photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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