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Stingers defeat Team Denmark

Miguel Sullivan has been with the team since last season and has played two playoff games.

Despite a depleted squad, the Stingers found a way to win against a world junior team

It’s not everyday the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team gets to a play a national team that is set to compete in the World Junior Hockey Tournament—yet on Dec. 17 at the Ed Meagher arena, that’s exactly what happened.

The Stingers were approached by Team Denmark to play in an exhibition game as part of Denmark’s preparation for the world juniors. While the Stingers didn’t have much time to prepare for the game, they managed to come out on top with a 4-2 victory.

“We didn’t really have any preparation,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement. “We just went out and played hard. It’s always fun to play against a national hockey team.”

Despite the win, the Stingers came out sluggish in the first period, with Denmark showcasing their impressive speed. In the first few minutes of the period, the Stingers went back and forth with Denmark in terms of shots on net. By the halfway point in the period, the Stingers broke down and allowed Denmark to get better scoring chances.

Stingers goaltender Philippe Cadorette was solid in the first period, turning aside 12 of the 13 shots he faced. Cadorette made a couple of big glove saves as well, which earned some cheers from the Stingers crowd.

It wasn’t until there were 30 seconds left in the period that Cadorette allowed a goal. Denmark forward Alexander True got a breakaway and slid the puck past Cadorette’s glove to give Denmark a 1-0 lead going into the first intermission.

“We all know they’re going to the world juniors and I think we started off being impressed and we weren’t skating with them,” said Stingers forward Anthony Deluca.

The second period was much better for the Stingers, as they started to play physically and increased their speed. The team was rewarded early with a goal by Stingers forward Antoine Masson, to tie the game at 1-1.

The Stingers are now off until Nov. 4 when they play RMC.

Deluca scored a few minutes later to make it 2-1 and then just a few minutes after that, Denmark forward Rasmus Andersson Thykjær tied the game at 2-2.

The Stingers then regained control of the game with goals by defenceman Chris Domsodi and Deluca, who finished the game with two goals.

“I try to bring the puck to the net as much as possible, and fortunately my teammates gave me the puck in good spots,” Deluca said. “We played a really good team game in the second and third and that benefitted my game as well.”

The third period was a quiet one, as neither team was able to add on to the score. Halfway through the second period, the Stingers switched goalies and put in Miguel Sullivan, who made key saves in order to preserve the team’s 4-2 lead.

For Élement, the last two periods were a reflection of the adjustments the team made after the first period.

“We were playing too aggressive and they were swinging by us, so we changed the way we played,” Élement said.

The Stingers are now on break until Jan. 4, where the team will take on the Royal Military College of Canada. Meanwhile, Team Denmark will play their first game of the world junior championships against Sweden on Dec. 26.

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Grinding it out on the court

Olivier Simon played hockey until getting introduced to basketball at the age of 10. Photos by Brianna Thicke.

Stingers basketball rookie Olivier Simon talks about his career

Michael Jordan.

That is who Stingers men’s basketball rookie Olivier Simon was quick to name when asked who he models his game after.

“I first saw him in [the movie] Space Jam. I started reading all of his books,” Simon said. “He was the greatest player to ever play in the NBA. He was the model to follow… playing hard, working hard. It’s the only way you can get to this point.”

Standing at six-foot-seven and tipping the scale at about 220 lbs, it would be easy to assume that basketball was something the Terrebonne native was always good at. However, as a youngster,  Simon played hockey until he was introduced to basketball at the age of 10.

“The basketball coach [at the time] was a really good guy,” Simon said. “He was there in the gym at six o’clock in the morning before class to help kids [play] because, at that age, we have a lot of energy.”

Simon added that participating in those extracurricular activities is what lead him to embrace the game of basketball. He developed a passion for the game which lead him to CEGEP Édouard-Montpetit, despite it being about an hour away from his hometown.

“[Édouard-Montpetit] was the only one that recruited me,” Simon said. “If it wasn’t for that school, I would have probably stopped basketball.”

After three years of relative success in CEGEP, Simon had plenty of offers to play at the collegiate level.

The five Quebec university teams—McGill, Bishop’s, Laval, UQAM and Concordia, all wanted to recruit Simon. Simon said he chose Concordia because of the atmosphere and head coach Rastko Popovic set the school apart from the others.. For Simon, everything just seemed to fall into place.

“The team is young—we’re going to build together. I have five years, so that was a big point,” Simon said. “When I talk with coach Popovic, it’s easy. We have the same mentality when it comes to basketball.”

“Saying that he trusted me was the biggest thing you can say to prove to a guy you want him,” Simon added.

Simon smiles for the camera before a game.

When he is not on the court, the rookie forward describes himself as an easygoing person who likes to hangout with friends and family. He particularly likes movies, claiming he watches “lots of Netflix” when he has time.

Besides training on and off the court and juggling his social life, Simon is enrolled in the leisure science program.

“It’s nice. I have a communication and psychology class that I like,” Simon said. “It’s not like math or science with all the numbers. It’s really concrete. We get to know more about us—how we think, how we interact.”

Simon said he wants no part in sitting at a desk with a computer for the rest of his life. He wants to work primarily with kids and be able to give back to the community. He said ideally he would like to stay involved in basketball and even become a part of the program at Concordia.

Simon has already helped make an impact with the Stingers this year, aided by a strong work ethic which he feels came to him early in his career.

“[My work ethic] came from my high school. The CEGEP I went to was the only one that recruited me because, in high school, I wasn’t that good of a player. I always worked hard to get what I want,” Simon said. “It wasn’t always easy to go on the court and do what I have to. I had to overwork. It’s always been like that.”

The Terrebonne native said he knows what his role on the Stingers team is. While he may not play 40 minutes a night, he wants to continue to improve on the little things, each and every game.

Looking towards the future, Simon said he would love to go pro at some point.

“That would be a huge experience,” Simon said.

For now though, Simon is more focused on the Stingers and his university career. He hopes that, while he’s at Concordia, the team can win a championship. Simon would also like to be a leader.

“In my fourth and fifth year, I want to set an example for the new recruits. Like, when they’ll come in the gym, I want them to see me and do the same things because I want everybody to work as hard,” said Simon.

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Concordia Stingers hockey by the numbers

A mid-year look at how the men’s and women’s teams are doing from a statistical standpoint

With Concordia’s hockey teams set to take some time off for the winter break, it’s a perfect chance to take a statistical peak into how the school’s two teams have been performing this year.

The men’s team posted a 9-4-0 record through 13 games this season, while the women’s team has had a rougher time so far, playing to a 2-5-0 record in seven games. All statistics are up to date as of Nov. 24.

Men’s Team

Last year, the Stingers had no trouble putting the puck in the net. What the team lacked was consistent defense—the 2015-16 squad allowed almost four goals-against per game.

However, the Stingers have tightened up their game, improving in virtually every defensive category. In just 13 games, the Stingers have almost matched their win total from last season, thanks in part to solid team defence.

The Stingers were busy this summer, recruiting three high profile players to their roster, adding to their depth at the forward positions and addressing their defensive weaknesses.

Forward Philippe Sanche played four years in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), scoring 200 points in 210 games before joining the Stingers, according to hockeydb.com. He was voted the hardest working player in the league in 2015 and has already had an offensive impact with the team.

Forward Anthony Deluca brings even more experience, having played professional hockey last year in the ECHL. Not only does Deluca lead the Stingers in scoring, but he ranks second in all of U Sports in goal scoring.

Still, it’s goaltender Philippe Cadorette who has had the greatest impact on the team’s success. Cadorette, has 209 games of experience in the QMJHL and has been able to provide the Stingers with the type of consistent goaltending the team lacked last year. He has stopped 322 of 352 shots this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At first glance, it would be safe to assume that the Stingers women’s hockey team has been struggling this season. However, a deeper look into their play reveals that there is room for optimism.

Shots-For-Percentage (SF%) is a statistic that measures how much a team controls the flow of play. The Stingers may have trouble elsewhere, but with coach Julie Chu at the helm, they have been outshooting their opponents more effectively than they have in years.

Where things have gone wrong for the women’s team is in net. The Stingers are dead last in save percentage in the entire country, and not by a small margin.

Starting goaltender Katherine Purchase and backup Briar Bache have combined for an 84.6 per cent save percentage this season, meaning the team has allowed 3.28 goals-against per game. For reference, the average save percentage in U Sports this year has been 91.2 per cent.

Despite her struggles, Purchase is poised to bounce back from her weak start. This season’s results included, she’s posted a 91.6 per cent save percentage in her three years in U Sports. She was also named Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) rookie of the year in 2014-15.

If Purchase is able to return to form and the team maintains their strong defensive play,  the Stingers could become one of the toughest teams to score against in the league.

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Stingers bounce back against Paladins

Miguel Sullivan has been with the team since last season and has played two playoff games.

The Concordia men’s hockey team defeated the Royal Military College of Canada after two straight losses

After losing to the Carleton Ravens 4-0 the night before, the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team bounced back and defeated the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) Paladins 7-1 on Nov. 26 at the Ed Meagher Arena.

“The win was very important since we didn’t play well last night,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement. “I wanted the guys to be physical tonight and to execute the gameplan, and that showed on the scoreboard.”

The Stingers came out flying in the first period, out-shooting RMC 19-5. Despite the pressure, Paladins goaltender Austin Hannaford was a nuisance for the Stingers forwards, as he made save after save.

Five minutes into the opening period, the Stingers were able to solve Hannaford after a goal by forward Vincent Watt. The goal was Watt’s first of the season and his first with the Stingers.

“Getting my first goal of the season felt great especially since it was for my hometown team,” Watt said.

For the rest of the period, the Stingers kept up their high-tempo offence but were unable to convert. Halfway through the period, the Paladins tied the game at 1-1, after a goal squeaked by the arm of Stingers goaltender Miguel Sullivan.

Just a few minutes later, the Stingers took the lead back with a power play goal by captain Olivier Hinse, which put them up 2-1 going into the first intermission.

“Tonight we wanted guys to throw pucks on net and have a physical presence in front of the net,” Élement said when asked about his team’s offensive performance.

The Stingers kept up their dominance in the second period as they continued to generate shots on net. Just four minutes into the period, the Stingers increased their lead to 3-1 when forward Charles-Éric Légaré scored on a rebound.

The Stingers will now play against UOIT in their last game before Christmas.

Throughout the period, Hannaford continued to be the Paladins’ best player, as he stopped shot after shot. However, the Stingers proved to be too much for him to handle. With three and a half minutes left in the period, the Stingers went up 4-1, after forward Philippe Sanche sent a cross-crease pass to Hinse, who scored his second goal of the game.

Two minutes later, Hinse scored his third goal of the game for a hat-trick. The goal came on a five-on-three power play and put the Stingers up 5-1, which was the lead they took into the third period.

“Tonight the puck was just coming to my stick and all I had to do was put it in,” Hinse said. “My goal with Sanche was amazing. He did all the work and I just had to tap it in.”

In the third and final period, the Stingers weren’t as energetic as they were in the first two periods. However, they were still too quick for the Paladins. Seven minutes into the period, Stingers rookie Anthony Deluca scored to make it 6-1.

With just under three minutes left, Hinse put away his fourth goal of the game, which would be the team’s last of the night en-route to their 7-1 victory.

The Stingers will play their next game on Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. against the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. It will be their last game before the winter break.

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Concordia student pursues career in mixed martial arts

Ahimon is currently focusing on kickboxing, which he said can be exhausting. Photos by Elisa Barbier.

Exercise science student Sean Michael Ahimon is training hard for a career in the UFC

Sean Michael Ahimon, a mixed martial arts fighter and Concordia University student, has been practicing one specific philosophy for most of his life.

“When you go [into the fighting ring], there is no blaming anyone else. If you mess up, it’s on you,” Ahimon said.

Ahimon, 18, started martial arts at the age of nine when his mom suggested he get into it because he was being bullied at school. Early on, he met Derek Watson—his instructor—who gave him a strong passion for martial arts. However, Ahimon said his instructor left only six months after he arrived, as Watson was unhappy with his superior’s choices when it came to running the school.

It was only during a taekwondo demonstration by Watson at Ahimon’s middle school that the two had the chance to meet again. Right after, Ahimon signed up at Watson’s school, Strive Martial Arts. This was a turning point for Ahimon and his art. He furthered his training and earned his black belt. He had his first competition during his first year of high school.

“It was nerve-wracking. I didn’t know what to expect. I remember watching a bunch of videos of taekwondo Olympians and trying to copy what they do,” Ahimon said. “When the fight started, I just went blank. I just remember spinning, spinning, spinning.”

On that day, Ahimon would dodge every kick and countered with roundhouse kicks—a semicircular kick that strikes the opponent with the front of the leg. Yet, as he executed a tornado kick—a roundhouse kick with a body rotation—he mistakenly landed on his kicking foot, performing a 540 tornado kick that directly hit his opponent. The kick got him the attention of 10 different martial arts schools, since it is rarely used for purposes other than displaying one’s abilities outside of fights.

From then on, Ahimon started taking taekwondo seriously. He started wrestling with his high school team and started kickboxing during his sophomore year. By the end of high school, Ahimon was the fifth-ranked wrestler in his home state of Maryland. During that time, he also fought three kickboxing fights and 70 taekwondo fights.

As he continued to participate in multiple competitions for different martial arts, Ahimon said he learned how to deal with the tension from competing. Nevertheless, Ahimon said he still feels nervous sometimes, but he thinks it’s a good thing—it creates an out-of-body experience that makes the fight more memorable, he said.

In terms of his fighting ability, reaching a higher level pushed him to be more conscious of his moves, since opponents at higher levels are better at countering. He said fighting is more of a strategy game for him now.

In April, Ahimon competed at the German Grand Prix in Hamburg with the US national taekwondo team. It was his first national tournament and the team lost by three points to Germany. After the competition, Ahimon said he wanted to move from competing in taekwondo to kickboxing, as he was tired of it.

When it comes to practice, Ahimon described it as fun, although the intensity has continued to increase.

“[There is] lots of kicking and I get tired fast,” Ahimon said. “But when you are tired, you still have to kick.”

Nowadays, Ahimon trains three hours a day, five days a week at Tristar gym, which is the same gym UFC fighter George St-Pierre trained at. When he trains, Ahimon switches between pad work, sweep drills, weight-lifting and cardio. Sometimes, he even gets to spar with other MMA fighters.

Ahimon does cardio in addition to his other exercises.

When reflecting on what made him want to pursue his dream of becoming a professional MMA fighter, Ahimon said it was all because of a fight he saw on TV.

“I always threw [dreams] out there when I was a little kid,” Ahimon said. “One day in seventh grade, I was thinking of extreme things I wanted to be, and I turned on the TV and UFC was the first thing that came on.”

The fight was between Chad Mendes and Rani Yahya. According to Ahimon, if it wasn’t for that fight, he probably wouldn’t be pursuing a career in MMA, and would never have gotten so invested in combat sports.

Ahimon is currently studying exercise science at Concordia, but his main goal is to switch into the journalism program. Writing articles in high school gave him the passion to want to pursue journalism.

“I like writing articles, specifically about sports and music. I like to break those things down,” Ahimon said.

Ahimon has been trying to adjust to life in Montreal, all while finding a healthy balance between his new training regimen, his schoolwork and his social life. He said it’s hard to find a happy medium. However, living in residence has allowed him to cut down transportation time and meet with friends easily. When it comes to school, he said his mindset is, if he completes his assignments properly and quickly, he will be able to compete more.

While talking about the difference between team sports and an individual sport like mixed martial arts, Ahimon said the feeling you get from both are different, as individual sports allow you to truly feel and see your strength. This is something he feels team sports lacks.

“When you play a team sport, you will never ever ever understand what it is to win a fight,” Ahimon said. In his opinion, in combat sports, “it is all your hard work that determines the outcome of the fight.” Ahimon added, with a team, on the other hand, one’s ability may be less decisive in competition.  “When you win, you physically controlled your own destiny, not your team,” he said.

Ahimon’s next fight is Dec. 3, although his opponent and the location of the fight are still unknown.

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Empowering women through sports

hen Ouellette isn’t playing for Les Canadiennes, she is a skills coach for the Concordia Stingers. Photos by Yacine Bouhali.

Concordia Stingers skills coach, Caroline Ouellette, is inspiring young hockey players

Through hockey, Les Canadiennes de Montréal forward Caroline Ouellette hopes to empower young women by teaching them the lessons she has learned throughout her time playing the game.

Ouellette has been an integral part of the Canadian women’s national hockey team since 1999. The four-time Olympian has never lost in a final, winning gold in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014. According to CBC Olympics, she is third all-time in games played for the national team.

As someone with deep ties to the hockey community, Ouellette said “it’s a responsibility for Olympians to give back.”

When Ouellette is not playing for Les Canadiennes de Montréal, she coaches the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team as a skills and development coach. She is also the owner of the Caroline Ouellette High Performance hockey camps, located in Quebec, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

Her love for the game is what led her to start coaching and mentoring young women. She said she finds motivation through teaching girls to become confident and assertive—characteristics she feels will help them later in life.

“[When they] face the world, they will have the confidence to become anything they desire,” Ouellette said. “When I see young girls playing, it makes me so happy, because I’ve experienced the best moments through my sport.”

Ouellette said the lessons hockey has taught her prepared her for everything she has faced in life.

At age nine, Ouellette joined a boy’s hockey league because, at the time, it was not considered a sport for girls. “You played with the boys or you didn’t play at all,” she said.

After years of perseverance and competing against boys, she joined the women’s national team at 17.

Wanda Bedard, president of the 60 Million Girls Foundation—an organization Ouellette spoke at—said she found Ouellette’s story of gender discrimination to be an inspiring story of determination and strength.

Ouellette is currently working to close the gender gap in the sport she is so passionate about. Young boys are encouraged to play hockey, while young girls don’t get that same encouragement. According to Ouellette, one problem that arises with few all-girl teams is that teams have to travel farther in order to find opponents.

Ouellette loves to see young girls play hockey.

“If we offer more programs to try hockey, girls will know if they like it, and, if they do, then [the parents are] going to be convinced,” Ouellette said.

One of the ways Ouellette encourages young girls to try hockey is during events like the third annual Girls Hockey Celebration tournament, which is taking place between Dec. 15 and 18. The tournament is expected to host 50 to 60 all-girls teams. One of the workshops offered at the tournament allows girls to borrow full sets of of equipment for free and participate in a practice led by Ouellette and various female Olympians.

Ouellette said in collaboration with Hockey Canada and Hockey Quebec, more programs should be offered where girls can borrow equipment to test the sport out.

While Ouellette hopes to encourage more young girls to play hockey, she has another dream: a professional league where female athletes are paid to play.

A professional league “would give young girls a clear path of what they can aspire to, just like how young boys who play dream of the Stanley Cup,” Ouellette said.

While young boys can pursue their dreams of playing in the NHL, it isn’t the same case for girls. Although women’s hockey becomes prominent during the Olympic games, little attention is paid to it during the four-year gap in between, she said.

According to Ouellette, in order for women to get paid to play, there must be sponsors and media coverage to bring attention to the league and a partnership with the NHL.

Her contributions to women’s hockey have not gone unnoticed. In 2013, she was the recipient of the Isobel Gathorne-Hardy Award. According to Hockey Canada, this award is given to an active player “whose values, leadership and personal traits are representative of all female athletes.”

When asked about what she would do if given the opportunity to play with the national team at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, she said that she would play.

“It is the greatest honour and privilege to wear that jersey and play in front of the best hockey fans in the world,” said Ouellette.

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Stingers lose to Golden Gaels at home

The Stingers played tired all game but got great goaltending from Philippe Cadorette. Photos by Alexander Cole

Concordia’s men’s hockey team played a tight game against Queen’s

After beating the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks 4-3 the night before, the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey lost to the Queen’s Golden Gaels 2-1 on Nov. 19. The team looked tired and was unable to keep up with the Golden Gaels’ pace.

With a chance to match their win total from last season, the Stingers quickly got their offence rolling in the first period. Stingers defenceman Matthieu Desautels drew a high-sticking penalty less than four minutes into the period, giving the Stingers a power play.

The Stingers power play was ranked seventh in U Sports going into the game. During their first power play, Stingers forward Raphaël Lafontaine tipped a wrist shot past Queen’s goaltender Jacob Brennan to put the Stingers up by one.

The Gaels didn’t give up after allowing the first goal. For most of the first period, Queen’s forwards kept the puck in Concordia’s defensive zone, unafraid to outmuscle their opponents in the corners.

“We need to be able to play against teams that are physical—it’s a physical league,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement after the game. The Gaels never shied away from dumping the puck into the Stingers zone, engaging in puck battle after puck battle.

The Concordia Stingers now have a record of 9-4.

With just under six minutes left in the first period, Gaels forward Peter Angelopolous rewarded his team’s efforts, slipping a rebound past Stingers goaltender Philippe Cadorette, tying the game at 1-1.

While Concordia was able to keep pace with their opponents in the first period, fatigue began to set in in the second, as the team was playing their second game in 24 hours.

“Mentally, we were not ready to compete in the second [period],” Élement said. “They were not willing to pay the price. [They’re] young. [They’re] going to learn.” The Stingers were outshot 16-5 over the course of the second frame.

Queen’s forward Slater Doggett broke the tie between the two teams halfway through the second period, firing a slap shot through the legs of Cadorette.

Momentum stayed with the Golden Gaels, as Stingers forward Antoine Masson went to the penalty box minutes later for hooking. Queen’s assaulted the Stingers with numerous shots over the two-minute penalty, but Cadorette was able to keep his team in the game.

Despite the loss, Cadorette performed well, turning aside 33 of the 35 shots he faced. “He’s played well since the beginning of the season,” Élement said. “He’s one of the guys that’s always there.”

Late in the third period, the Stingers were able to push back offensively, nearly tying the game on a scramble play in front of the net. The Stingers thought they might have scored on the play, but the referees ruled no goal.

“The guys on the bench said it went in, but the ref didn’t see it,” Élement said.

While Concordia was able to pick up more shots on goal towards the end of the game, it’s clear to Élement that his team didn’t come prepared.

“We played maybe half the game,” Élement said. “The guys have to understand that if they want to win here, you have to play for 60 minutes.”

The Stingers will have a few days off before they visit the Carleton Ravens on Nov. 25.

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Stingers fall to Martlets in a tight game

The Stingers received great goaltending from Katherine Purchase. Photos by Ana Hernandez.

Concordia lose to their cross-town rivals, McGill, on Saturday, 2-1

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team suffered a 2-1 loss at home against the McGill Martlets on Nov. 19. This is the second 2-1 loss the Martlets have handed the Stingers this season.

“It’s just another game,” said Stingers captain Tracy-Ann Lavigne. “We know that we have plenty more games against them, and we know we can get them.”

The game started off with bad discipline on behalf of the Stingers, as they were awarded three penalties in the opening period. However, the Martlets were unable to capitalize on those opportunities. Stingers goaltender Katherine Purchase was a major part of the team’s penalty kill and had to make big saves. The Martlets outshot the Stingers 10-2 in the first period.

Stingers head coach Julie Chu was happy with both her team’s penalty kill and her goalie’s play.

“We had a tough start with a few penalties early on, which gave [McGill] a bit of momentum. But we did a good job of killing those off,” Chu said. “Purchase played amazing in goal. She made some really big saves early on.”

The Stingers were able to gain momentum early in the second period with some power plays. They moved the puck well, but ultimately couldn’t beat Martlets goalie Tricia Deguire.

Concordia got into more penalty trouble early in the second period. They killed off a five-on-three and held McGill off the scoresheet after five power play attempts.

“McGill has a great power play,” Chu said. “They challenged us to really read the play and make some big stops.”

Midway through the second period, the Martlets opened the scoring after a weird play centre ice, where a Stinger player lost her stick and had it kicked away by a Martlet forward. Players are not allowed to interfere with equipment like that, however, no penalty was called. On the ensuing play, Martlets forward Nicole Howlett took a pass from forward Jade Downie and sent a wrist shot past Purchase to make the score 1-0.

The rest of the second period was a dogfight, with both teams demonstrating tons of speed. The Martlets had multiple rushes turned away by Purchase. The Stingers created chances by using speed to get to the net and created opportunities from rebounds.

For Lavigne, their play was a reflection of the team’s character.

The Stingers will now face the Gee-Gees on Sunday, Nov. 27.

“Our mentality is to never stop,” Lavigne said. “We just keep going.”

Late in the second period, the Martlets doubled their lead to 2-0. Purchase stopped a shot by McGill forward Mélodie Daoust, however, McGill forward Marie-Philip Lavoie was in front of the net to put in the rebound.

Before the period was over, the Martlets earned two penalties almost consecutively. The Stingers did not score in those final 30 seconds of the period during the power play, but were optimistic at intermission.

“It’s easy after 2-0 to get down,” Chu said. “They were excited about getting out into the third and to get a chance to continue chipping away.”

The Stingers started the third period on a five-on-three power play and made it count. Stingers defenceman Caroll-Anne Gagné one-timed a pass from forward Claudia Dubois, but her shot sailed just wide of the net. The puck then bounced to the front of the net after hitting the boards and Stingers forward Keriann Schofield was in the perfect spot to score, making it 2-1.

The Stingers continued to dominate, outshooting the Martlets 11-2 in the third, but fell just short of tying up the game.

Despite the loss, Chu liked what she saw from her team’s effort in the final period.

“I thought our girls got better as the game went on,” Chu said. “That third period, we were pounding them pretty hard and had a lot of good opportunities to score.”

The Stingers will now play the Ottawa Gee-Gees away from home on Nov. 27 at 2 p.m.

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Stingers split against the Citadins

The women’s team now has a record of 1-2. Photos by Ana Hernandez.

Concordia’s men’s basketball team won against UQAM following a loss by the women’s team

The Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team lost to the Université de Québec à Montréal Citadins on Nov. 19 by a score of 74-63. Just a few minutes later, the men’s team took to the court and defeated the Citadins, 79-72.

Women’s Game:

Even though the Stingers made it a close game at the end, the Citadins dominated in their win.

With the win, the Citadins improved their record to 3-0, thanks to contributions from their veterans Quételine Célestin and Jessica Lubin.

“Célestin is a fifth year player. She knows how to use her speed and her strength when there is a mismatch,” said Stingers head coach Tenicha Gittens. “We didn’t make it tough on her.”

Célestin finished with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists, while also going 10-12 from the free throw line. On defense, Célestin was matched up with Stingers guard Richelle Grégoire. Célestin held Grégoire’s shooting to 3-13 from the field. Grégoire also committed six turnovers.

“[Grégoire] had a tough matchup. She was guarding Célestin for the majority of the game,” Gittens said. “You exert a lot of energy guarding Célestin, so sometimes it takes away from what you’re able to do offensively.”

Both teams struggled in the first quarter, with the score ending at 15-12 in favor of the Citadins. At the half, the Citadins were up by six, with a score of 42-36. The Stingers kept the game close but got into penalty trouble which allowed the Citadins to score.

Eventually, the lack of discipline hurt the Stingers and their opponents jumped to a double-digit lead early in the third quarter. The Citadins were able to capitalize on the Stingers’ turnover to increase their lead even further.

“When we can’t score, we tend to panic a little,” said Stingers veteran Marilyse Roy-Viau. “They scored six quick buckets and we kind of let down.”

Roy-Viau led the Stingers, scoring a game-high 23 points.

Men’s Game:

The Stingers were in a close battle with the Citadins throughout the game. They were up by one point with two minutes left when Stingers forward Ken Beaulieu took matters into his own hands and scored a three-pointer that sealed the team’s win.

“That’s a shot I have a lot of confidence in, that’s why I took it,” Beaulieu said.

The men’s team now has a record of 2-1.

The game was intense from the beginning, as both teams went back and forth exchanging leads. The Citadins would be the ones to come out on top in the first quarter a 19-18 lead.

In the second quarter, the Stingers came out firing and were able to take the lead back. They went into half-time with a 40-36 lead.

In the second half, Citadins head coach Nate Philippe changed his team’s system, which led to a slower pace in the game. Both teams scored 16 points in the third quarter, making the score 56-52, in favour of the Stingers heading into the final frame.

“We practice against [their system] every day because we know it’s going to happen,” said Stingers head coach Rastko Popovic. “Down the stretch, we figured it out and got a bunch of open [shots].”

Despite the Stingers only making 41.7 per cent of their shots, the team was able to score 16 points off of turnovers. They also scored 21 points off of second chance opportunities. Those little details proved to be the difference in a game that saw 17 lead changes.

“I thought we did some very good things. We competed hard,” Popovic said. “It’s a great win. We showed a lot of toughness out there tonight.”

Both Stingers basketball teams will now take on the McGill Redmen and Martlets on Nov. 24 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

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Sports

Bouldering with Concordia University

Bouldering can be a dangerous and technical sport that requires both skill and precision. Photos by Gordon Pham-Nguyen.

Going on an adventure to Val-David with some brave students

On a cool November morning, 15 Concordia students met at the McDonald’s next to Côte-Vertu metro. It’s a good place to meet, eat a heavy breakfast and drink plenty of coffee before heading out for a day of bouldering.

What is bouldering?

It may sound silly, but bouldering is the sport of climbing boulders. Unlike rock or mountain climbing, the goal is not just to get to the top, but to get there by solving a “problem,” by working through a series of moves on small, often overhanging holds. In this sport, the emphasis is on difficulty. Boulderers fall often and when they do, they fall on to crash pads—small mattress-type cushions that soften the impact.

For these Concordia students, bouldering is a fun way to spend a day in the woods with your friends, working on “problems.”

Five cars left the metro station and headed north that morning towards Val-David, Que., a picturesque, alpine-style village in the Laurentians.

Best known as a pit stop along the Petit-Train-du-Nord bike path, Val-David is a quaint tourist spot. The town is divided by two rivers. It has a church, dozens of small restaurants, cafés and bakeries, and is situated in a valley, surrounded by rolling hills that turn bright orange and red this time of year.

What many people do not know about Val-David is that it is the heartland of climbing in Quebec. According to the Val-David guidebook, climbing legends like Paul Laperriere and Bernard Poisson cut their teeth on the cliffs near the town in the 50s and 60s. Before long, those pioneers had revolutionized the sport in Quebec, pushing physical limits while exploring what seemed like a never-ending collection of walls, caverns and pinnacles.

The Val-David regional park has more than 500 climbing routes.

Concordia students gear up to climb the big boulder.

By the late 70s, it is fair to say that Val-David climbing was well-established and well-known, at least within the Quebec climbing community, according to the Val-David climbing guidebook. What was only beginning to become known was a new sport: bouldering.

Today, bouldering is taking the world by storm. According to the International Federation of Sport Climbing, seven thousand people attended the Bouldering World Cup finals in Paris, France earlier this year. Thousands more watched the event online.

Why is it becoming so popular? The simplicity of the sport is to blame, according to Nick McCullagh, one of the executives of the Concordia Rock Climbing Association.

“It’s so simple and aesthetic: whether you succeed or not depends on if you can do the moves to get to the top. There’s no complicated rules,” he said.

Of course, it’s much more complex than that, as the students who went to Val-David discovered. The problems on the Val-David boulders are hard and physical, requiring impressive finger strength. Some students rose to the occasion, attempting difficult problems and sometimes “topping out”—finishing the problem by getting to the top of the boulder. Others stayed on the easier rocks and were introduced to the sport, learning the definitions of discipline-specific jargon like “gaston” and “figure-four,” both of which are just fancy names for moves that boulderers use to get up the walls.

The students also learned the definition of “sending-season.” It’s that time of year when it is so cold outside that skin-on-rock friction is improved. It happens when temperatures drop to around 0 C and it’s when most professional boulderers finally “send their projects,” meaning they get to the top of boulders they’ve been trying to climb for a long time.

It was so cold on that November day that it snowed, but according to some, there’s nothing better than bouldering in the snow. “If you fall and your friends don’t catch you on the crash pad, then you’ll land in the snow and that’s just as good,” said Matthew Packer, an experienced boulderer who was with Concordia at Val-David that day.

How do you finish off a day of wrestling with boulders, a day of defying gravity? The Concordia climbers ended up at Le Mouton Noir, one of Val-David’s popular local restaurants, sharing stories, laughing, drinking and nursing injured fingers. Time well spent in good company, each and every one of them ready to do it again.

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Sports

Recapping the Concordia soccer season

The women’s team had a disappointing season, ending the year with two wins.

A look back at how the Stingers men’s and women’s team did out on the pitch

The Concordia Stingers soccer teams suffered through disappointing and heartbreaking seasons. Both the men’s and women’s teams missed the playoffs for a fourth straight year. In case you missed all of the action, here is a recap of their seasons.

Men’s Soccer

The men’s team missed an opportunity to qualify for their first playoffs since 2012 by only three points. The team finished with a record of 4-6-2, just one win shy of the fourth and final playoff spot, which went to the Université de Montréal Carabins.

Head coach Greg Sutton said in an interview at the beginning of the season he would be disappointed if they did not make the playoffs. Even though they just missed their goal, the Stingers should have a lot of hope moving forward.

The men’s team just barely missed the playoffs this season. Photos by Ana Hernandez.

Their 14-point season total is a vast improvement from the past two seasons in which they only earned a combined total of 14 points. In 2014, they went 0-7-5, followed by a record of 3-9-0 last year.

The team also featured three Réseau du sports étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) all-stars. Defender Olivier Georges was named to the first all-star team, while defender Amadou Lam and goalie Karl Gouabé were named to the second all-star team. The last time RSEQ named three Stingers to its all-star teams was in 2002.

All three players were instrumental in the team’s solid defence, although Lam was playing out of position in the left back role instead of in his natural midfield position. Lam tied with three others—strikers Sebastien Boucley and Gabriel Quinn, and midfielder Abdallah Medouni—as the team’s leading scorers, with four goals this season.

The Stingers have the pieces in place to do damage next season. The majority of the team is in their first or second year, with only five third-year players. With a fantastic goalkeeper, a solid midfield, speedy wingers and prolific strikers, the Stingers could have the playoffs in their sight for next season.

Women’s Soccer

The women’s team’s season was a disappointing one. The Stingers finished with a record 2-10-2, 17 points out of the playoffs. The games in which they got a result—a win or a tie—were all against non-playoff teams.

Head coach Jorge Sanchez said late in the season he was expecting the program to grow this season, but was upset his team is regressing from past seasons. Their past seasons include records of 5-9-0 in 2013, and 3-6-5 in 2014. Last year, they went 4-9-1 and missed the playoffs by only two points.

There isn’t much they are doing different statistically. They scored 14 goals and conceded 35 this year. In the 2015 season, they put up similar numbers, scoring 18 and allowing 31. Yet, they finished last season with five more points.

The Stingers were unlucky that two of the top teams in the country play in the RSEQ. The Université de Laval Rouge et Or finished the regular season ranked as the number one team in U Sports, and the Carabins finished fifth.

Stingers captain and defender Alyssa Ruscio was named to the RSEQ all-star team. Forward Laura Lamontagne, who led the team with five goals and three assists, did not make the cut, however.

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Sports

Stingers baseball by the numbers

A statistical guide of how Concordia did in the diamond this season

With Concordia’s 2016 baseball season in the books, it’s time for one last look at a year that saw the Stingers come within one win of making the national finals. Given baseball’s reputation as the “moneyball” sport, what would be more appropriate than a statistical retrospective?

The Stingers played 24 games this season in the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Association (CCBA), finishing second out of five teams in the Northern Division.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Stingers were not an amazing power hitting team this year—they had only one home run in 2016. Their rivals from McGill, who finished first in the Northern division, had them beat in power at the plate.

Where the Stingers made up ground was by playing “small ball”: getting on base a lot and stealing bases. Second baseman Roberto Zapata led the team in this regard, stealing almost one base per game.

To the right are the team’s on-base plus slugging (OPS) leaders. OPS is a general purpose statistic to measure how successful batters are at the plate—such as how often they reach the base.

Concordia’s pitchers Sam Belisle-Springer and Dan Connerty had a slow start to the season, hampered by offseason rust and the pressures of becoming team leaders, as they said in last week’s article in The Concordian, titled “Saying farewell to Concordia’s pitching duo.” They bounced back by mid-October, but were unable to carry that success into the postseason.

The graph below shows the team’s earned run average (ERA) as the season progressed. ERA is the average number of runs a pitcher himself allows over seven innings.

While Belisle-Springer and Connerty are leaving the team after this season, pitchers Jarryd Taylor, Sam Brochu and Shane Mullen will likely start a lot more games next year.

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