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Stingers get a thumping by the Citadins

UQAM overpowered Concordia early on and muscled their way to a 60-44 victory

The Stingers hosted the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins on Thursday night. The Stingers came into the game with some momentum after sweeping a home-and-home series with the Bishop’s Gaiters last weekend. On Thursday night, the Citadins prevailed with a 60-44 victory over the Stingers. Concordia had a horrible shooting game: they only shot 24 per cent from the free throw line and missed 47 shots in total. The Citadins, in recent past, have been the Stingers’ Achilles heel due to their physical play. This was the Stingers fifth straight loss to them.

The Citadins started the game scoring the first three points on a basket and free throw by center Jessica Lubin and forward Lorna Desrameaux-Simon. The Stingers ended the quarter going on a 4-0 run on baskets by guard Kaylah Barrett and forward Marilyse Roy-Viau. Yet Concordia still trailed UQAM by the end of the first, down 11-7.

Stingers guard Tamara Pinard-Devos hit a jumper to score the first basket of the quarter. The Citadins responded with a basket of their own by guard Janice Quintos. The Stingers went on a 6-0 run however, at the same time, Citadins’ Quintos went beyond the arc and hit back-to-back three-point-shots to erase any progress the Stingers made. Concordia was down 11 points at halftime, 33-22. Quintos was clearly UQAM’s most deadly weapon on the court, scoring 12 points in the second.

The Citadins scored the first points of the third quarter on a basket by forward Sarah Cabana. Stingers responded and scored their first points of the quarter on free throws by Roy-Viau. UQAM ended the third quarter on a 6-0 run orchestrated by Desrameaux-Simon who scored all six points. The Citadins led the Stingers by 20 points, 52-32 after three quarters, putting the game out of reach for the home squad.

The Stingers tried to make things closer in the final quarter. Stingers Barrett and guard Daphne Thouin both hit free throws to start the fourth. The Citadins only got their first points of the fourth quarter two minutes later on a three-pointer by Célestin. Concordia went on a 6-0 run led by Barrett who scored four points on the run. The Citadins got another three-pointer scored by forward Juliette Delaune which brought the score to 58-40 and secured the victory for the visitors.

Stingers head coach Keith Pruden blames the competitiveness of the league for the lack of scoring.

“When we played out of conference, we were scoring in the 70’s. And in Quebec, we score in the 40’s and 50’s. The RSEQ is the roughest conference in the country,” Pruden said.

Concordia’s best player of the night, Barrett, believed with more players on the bench, it would have been a closer game.

“If we had more bodies, we would be able to get some more rest and collect our thoughts instead of making changes on the fly,” Barett said.

 

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Men’s basketball team crushes UQAM

The Stingers jumped out early and never looked back as they crushed the Citadins 72-57

When the men’s basketball team played host to the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins on Thursday night, it was a different story. The Stingers dominated the Citadins in Thursday’s affair and won by 15 points, 72-57. Five different Stingers had double-digit points including guards Aamir Gyles and Mukiya Post, who both had 13 points in the win. The big difference in the game was the way Concordia capitalized off of the Citadins 17 giveaways, scoring 27 points off turnovers alone.

Concordia got off to a fast start and scored the opening points in the game with baskets by forward Mike Fosu and Aamir Gyles. However, the Citadins went on their own 4-0 run to tie the game on baskets by forward Alexandre Bernard and guard Davidson Joseph.

The teams exchanged points throughout the first quarter until Concordia was able to take control late in the opening act. Concordia ended the frame winning 14-7.

The second quarter began as a stalemate. At one point it seemed as if neither team would get any points in the second. The first points of the quarter came only with 5:34 left when Gyles hit a two-pointer. Then a few seconds later, Stingers forward Ken Beaulieu went airborne for a slam dunk to wake up the crowd.

The Citadins would get their first points of the second quarter with 4:17 left on a basket by guard Jean-Yves Kazadi. As they did in the first quarter, Concordia pressed the tempo of the game late in the quarter to take control. The Stingers responded with a 4-0 run which included a one-handed slam dunk by Ken Beaulieu. Concordia was up 12 points at halftime, 24-12.

The Stingers kept the pressure on the Citadins to start the second half and began the third quarter on a basket by Beaulieu which sparked an 8-0 run to increase their lead. The Citadins’ Joseph provided a little push-back for his team by scoring six points in a minute and 19 seconds for his team.

The Stingers continued to score baskets but a key moment in the game occurred with 3:45 seconds left in the quarter as the Stingers had back-to-back slam dunks by center Jean-Louis Wanya and Beaulieu. Any hope and momentum that the Citadins thought they had vanished once and for all. Concordia took a commanding 20-point lead to end the third quarter, 53-33.

Concordia would start the final frame with a bang when Post went beyond the arc for a three-pointer. The Citadins did close the gap to 11 points with 50 seconds left in the fourth quarter on free throws by Alexandre Bernard, but the game had already been decided at that point.

Despite the convincing win, Stingers head coach John Dore believed that there are still aspects of the game that his team needs to improve on.

“We played solid defence in the first half but we committed too many fouls and turnovers,” Dore said.

 

 

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Concordia crowned as champions

Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

The Stingers defeated the Redmen during overtime 28-21 in the RSEQ final

It was a fist-clenching, heart-stopping, back-and-forth final match that pitted cross-town rivals against each other, and was ultimately decided in overtime. It seemed scripted, almost too good to be true.

But as the final whistle blew on Sunday’s Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) rugby championship game between the McGill Redmen and the Concordia Stingers, the home side erupted and emerged victorious.

Before Concordia’s 28-21 victory on Sunday, the Stingers and the Redmen had met in the RSEQ final game the last four seasons, and each time, the Stingers had to endure the sour taste of defeat.

“I’m obviously ecstatic, it’s been five years waiting. It’s terrific, it was down to the bitter end,” said Concordia’s head coach Clive Gibson. “Fans couldn’t have asked for a better [and] more exciting finish than that. Two great teams playing rugby right to the bitter end.”

The game didn’t start as planned for Gibson and his team. The Redmen came out ready to add another championship to their dynasty and pressured the Stingers right out of the gate. Pinned in their own end for the first ten minutes, Concordia was finally able to gain control of the ball and shift the momentum.

The first points of the game came off the foot of Concordia’s Joey Fulginiti when he hit a 25-yard field goal to give the Stingers a 3-0 lead.

As halftime neared, the tempo of the game was competitive yet conservative. Neither team managed to sustain long drives that could penetrate their opponent’s defence.

The majority of the scoring in the first half came during the final two minutes of play. After a field goal by McGill fullback Thomas Stokes tied the game at three, Concordia answered with a late drive of their own. Fulginiti chipped another kick through the uprights and gave the Stingers a 6-3 lead heading into half.

The second half began just like the first half had ended. Concordia marched down the field and Fulginiti knocked down another field goal to increase the Stingers lead to 9-3. However, from then until the end of the game, it was all McGill.

The Redmen dominated the rest of the second half and would score 13 unanswered points. Even though Concordia was the quicker team, McGill outmuscled Concordia and won nearly every battle. As the clock started to reach full-time, it seemed as if the deflated Stingers team would be heading home with silver once again.

As the clock expired, Concordia had the ball for the game’s final possession. It was now or never for the home team as the crowd collectively held their breath. The offence made the most of their time and the Stingers willed their way down the field and deep into McGill’s territory. Stingers center Graeme McClintock finished off the drive with a try to tie the game at 16-16.

In a game where it looked like defence would decide the outcome, there was no shortage of scoring in the two 10-minute overtime periods. After exchanging tries, the game was knotted at 21-21 late in the second overtime.

As the crowd could hardly handle any more excitement, Phillipe Bibeau-Remedi blocked a punt and returned the ball for Concordia’s final try. After another successful conversion by Fulginiti to make it 28-21, all there was left to do was celebrate.

“There [are] guys out there who know they were retiring and who [have] tried. Some of them, this is their fifth time,” said Gibson. “To actually get the win on the fifth time before they finally finish their CIS eligibility, and be able to graduate, I think it’s going to be a good night.”

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Stingers hold off Gryphons for 3-2 victory

Photo by Briana Thicke.

Backed by Concordia’s great goaltending, the Stingers snapped their losing streak

The Concordia Stingers were looking to bounce back from their loss on Friday with a strong performance on Saturday when they faced the Guelph Gryphons in front of a packed house at Ed Meagher arena.

The first period was a tight contest between both clubs as they tried to open the scoring. Four minutes into the period, Concordia got into some penalty trouble when Marc-Olivier Brouillard got into a scrum with Guelph forward Michael Stevens. Both were sent off for roughing, but Brouillard got a double-minor for instigating the fight.

Photo by Briana Thicke.

Guelph pressed during the man advantage but Concordia’s goalie Robin Billingham was up to the task, stopping every shot he faced. Three minutes later, Concordia got a break and capitalized when Olivier Hinse went in on a breakaway and snuck one past Guelph’s goaltender Andrew D’agostini for a 1-0 lead. After that goal, Guelph pushed hard for the equalizer but once again Billingham was unbeatable.

Several minutes later Stingers forward Domenic Beauchemin was sprung for another breakaway and made it 2-0 for Concordia to end the first period.

The second period was the complete opposite of the first with the Gryphons coming out firing on all cylinders. Guelph cut the lead to 2-1 at the eight-minute mark of the second period when Robert De Fulviis fired a shot past Billingham.

After that, Guelph continued to push for the equalizer and Concordia couldn’t match their energy. Concordia got into more penalty trouble late in the second period. The Stingers had back-to-back minor penalties and with a minute left in the period, as Guelph got the equalizer when Andres Kopstals got a pass from Daniel Broussard and snuck one past Billingham.

The third period was an all-out battle as both teams looked for the go-ahead goal. Both teams had multiple chances to score, but both goaltenders refused to break. Six minutes into the period, Scott Oke received a pass from Youssef Kabbaj and sent a shot past D’agostini for the 3-2 lead. The game plan for Concordia was simple for the rest of the game: hold the Gryphons off and maintain the lead. The Stingers managed to do just that and take the win thanks to the stellar play of Billingham. The game finished 3-2 as Concordia avoided another disappointment.

After the game, head coach Kevin Figsby was proud of his troops and the way his team kept their focus.

“I really like the response of our group, a win is a win and we will take it. We simply followed the game plan,” said Figsby.

Stingers captain Hinse reiterated what his coach said and admitted that it was a relief to finally stop the losing skid.

“It’s nice to win. We really needed that, we had a good start, we stayed focused and we used our speed.”

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Men’s hockey lose lead and fall to Mustangs

Concordia gave up an early lead to Western, who went on to win 8-4

The Western Mustangs erased a three-goal, first-period deficit, scoring seven unanswered goals, en-route to a dominating 8-4 win over the Concordia Stingers. The loss was Concordia’s fourth-straight.

Head Coach Kevin Figsby said that the loss came as a result of not playing a full 60 minutes of hockey.

“We were ready for them tonight, we had a pretty good game plan because we came out in the first period and got 19 shots and scored four goals, and that was the game plan, to play that way for 60 minutes,” said Figsby.

Photo by Briana Thicke.

Forward Marc-Olivier Brouillard started the game off by picking up a loose puck out of a mid-ice cluster, streaking in and besting the Western goaltender with a nifty backhand, forehand move.

Nearly 30 seconds later, winger Kyle Armstrong tipped in a pass from Brouillard, putting the Stingers up 2-0. The two goals came within the first three minutes of play and on the teams first three shots of the game.

Soon after, Western responded with their only goal in the frame, coming off a long shot from center Adam McKee, which was buried in by defenceman Alex Micallef.

Forward Scott Oke restored Concordia’s two-goal lead just a few minutes later, by finishing off a centering pass from winger Domenic Beauchemin.

With three minutes left in the first period, and momentum swinging in the Stingers direction, forward Jessyko Bernard found captain Olivier Hinse in tight, who managed to out-wait Western goalie Gregg Dodds and roof his backhand. The Stingers finished the period with a 4-1 lead, outshooting the Mustangs 19-13.

The second period presented a completely different Concordia Stingers hockey team.

Centerman Julian Cimadamore opened the floodgates for Western, banging home the puck off a rebound and putting the Mustangs within two.

The Stingers’ second period collapse came off of two consecutive turnovers that allowed for two Mustang defencemen, Jed Rusk and Matt Herskovitz, to capitalize on and tie the game at four.

Less than a minute later, a loose puck within a scramble in front of Stingers goalie Robin Billingham was picked up and sent home by Adam Mckee, which put the Mustangs ahead 5-4.

Mckee would then tally his second goal of the game off a rush through several Concordia players and ensure a two-goal Mustang lead to end the second period. The Mustangs continued to roll and scored two more in the period.

The Stingers have now fallen to a 4-11-0 record on the season, losing eight of their last 10 games. When asked how the Stingers are preparing to turn their drive around, Figsby put special emphasis on the simplicity of the game.

“I met with each line before the game, I met with all four lines, I met with the six defenceman as a group and I met with the goalies as a group, and we talked tonight about just coming out and keeping things simple, and keeping things positive,” he said.

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Stingers advance to the finals

Photo by Andrej Ivanov

Men’s rugby team defeated the Carabins 16-14 in the RSEQ semi-final

They didn’t make it easy for themselves. It came down to a last-minute defensive stand, but Concordia’s men’s rugby team held onto the victory over the Carabins of the Université de Montréal in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) semi-final on Sunday, Nov.16.

“It was a lot closer than it should’ve been, than it needed to be,” said Stingers head coach Clive Gibson. “We once again took too many penalties, put ourselves under a lot more pressure than we needed to be under.”

Despite escaping with a 16-14 win, it did not seem like the Stingers came out ready to play. From their initial possession, the Carabins took it to the Stingers and kept them hemmed in their own end for the majority of the first half. Concordia’s defensive play was what kept the score even at zero for the first 20 minutes of the match.

“Hats off to UdeM for bringing it strong. They gave us a real run for our money. It was the closest game we’ve had against them all season,” said Gibson.

By the time the first half had reached its midway point, the Stingers offense began to show signs of life, gaining more and more possession as the game progressed. Concordia capitalized on their little time on attack and scored the first points of the game on a try by veteran winger Frederic Kacou. Up 5-0 with 26 minutes gone in the first half, the Stingers fed off of the change in momentum and set the pace for the rest of the half.

Shortly after their first try, Stingers captain Yannick Fortin broke the Carabins’ defence for Concordia’s second try of the game. Even with a couple of crucial missed kicks by Stingers fullback Joey Fulginiti, the Stingers headed into halftime up 10-0.

Awaken from their somber start, the Stingers came out in the second half with the same energy that they finished the first with. Fulginiti made up for his early misses and made two kicks in the second to give Concordia a 16-0 lead. With such strong defensive lines and timely scoring, it seemed as if the Stingers had punched their ticket to the finals.

With 20 minutes left in the game, the Carabins finally wore down Concordia’s defence and made it 16-7 with their first try of the game. After the score, the momentum quickly changed in favour of the Carabins and the Stingers were forced to rely on their defence for the remainder of the game.

With five minutes left in the match, the Carabins scored their second try of the game to make it 16-14, setting up an exciting finish. The final moments of the game seemed to drag on for the nervous Concordia crowd as the Carabins got closer and closer to scoring. The game came down to a final goal line push by the Carabins, but as it did all game, Concordia’s last line of defence refused to break.

Concordia will host the McGill Redmen next Sunday, Nov. 23 in the RSEQ finals. Both the games against the Redmen this year came down to the wire. Although the Redmen beat the Stingers in the season opener, the last game between the two teams ended in a 17-17 draw.

“Hopefully we’ve got that bad game out of the way and we come out strong against McGill next week because that certainly wasn’t one of our better games, [but] we won. Can’t complain,” said Gibson.

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Concordia bested by Bishop’s and lose 76-69

The men’s basketball team could not complete the comeback on Thursday night’s game

The men’s basketball team hosted the Bishop’s Gaiters on Thursday, Nov.13. For the second straight week, the Stingers rallied in the second half and scored 44 points. However, their comeback fell short on Thursday as the Gaiters prevailed with a 76-69 victory.

Stingers guard Aamir Gyles drives to the hoop against the Gaiters on Thursday night. Photo by Brianna Thicke.

The Gaiters came out firing; Bishop’s had a 7-0 run to start the game and their first basket came on a three-pointer by guard Karim Sy-Morrisette. The Stingers would score their first basket of the game with only 6:44 left in the first quarter on field goal by guard, Mukiya Post.

Concordia later went on a roll of their own scoring six unanswered points to bring the game to within one, but the Gaiters would answer and score 11 unanswered points to regain a commanding lead.

Trailing 20-12 heading into the second quarter, things would not get better for the Stingers.

The Gaiters scored first in the quarter on a basket by Desmarais and later increased their lead thanks to a three-pointer by Majid Naji. It was all Bishop’s the first half. The Stingers would get a string of free throws by Frank Mpeck, Aamir Gyles and Jean-Louis Wanya late in the quarter but by the time the buzzer sounded for half, the Stingers were down by 18 points and losing 43-25.

The crowd saw a different Stingers team in the third quarter. A quick three-pointer by Ken Beaulieu gave the home side some signs of life. Although the Gaiters would score nine points in response to maintain their big lead, this game was far from over.

Stingers forward, Mike Fosu would hit a three-pointer which would start a Stingers run. Beaulieu then had a steal and would go end-to-end for a slam dunk, firing up the crowd. The Gaiters did not score a basket for four minutes which allowed the Stingers to get back into it.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair and the Gaiters would strike first on a basket by center, Mike Andrews. Stingers responded on two baskets by Fosu and Beaulieu, but Desmarais would add to Bishop’s lead with a three-pointer. Not to be outdone however, Post would answer with a three of his own to keep it a ten point game.

The Stingers would score 10 unanswered points late in the game and were down four points after a basket by Beaulieu. The four points is the closest they would get, due to mistakes late in the game. The Gaiters were perfect on free throws during the game.

After the final whistle, Stingers head coach John Dore praised his team for not giving up until the end, but realized that they put themselves in a bad spot.

“This team has a lot of heart and character but we cannot fall behind like that again,” said Dore.

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Stingers trample Gaiters from start to finish

Women’s basketball team earns season’s first victory by defeating Bishop’s 87-24

It was a double-header between the Stingers and the Gaiters on Thursday, Nov. 13, with Concordia’s women’s basketball team hosting Bishop’s. After losing to Laval last week, the  Stingers got their first win of the season and dominated the Gaiters. The home teamed cruised to an easy 87-24 victory.

After winning the opening tipoff, things went south for the visiting Gaiters for the rest of the game. Forward Richelle Gregoire got the game’s two first baskets for the home side. The Stingers scored 12 points including a three-pointer by guard Daphne Thouin before Bishop’s got their first points of the game on a couple of free throws by forward, Marie-Pascale Duhamel.

Thouin would hit her second three-pointer late in the first quarter and the Stingers would be leading 27-7 going into the second quarter.

Third-year player Tamara Pinard-Devos controls the ball against a Gaiters’ opponent. Photo by Brianna Thicke.

The Stingers would strike first in the second quarter with another basket by Gregoire and  Concordia would continue their scoring streak on baskets by Kaylah Barrett and forward Marilyse Roy-Viau.

The Gaiters would only get back on the board in the second quarter on a basket by forward, Mara Marchizotti.

Both Barrett and Gregoire would hit three-pointers late in the quarter to extend the huge lead.

The Stingers led 45-9 going into the locker room at halftime. As good as the offence was, Concordia’s defence was the backbone of their strong play as the Gaiters could only muster two points in the second quarter.

Stingers would get on the board first to start the third quarter as guard, Tamara Pinard-Devos hit an opening three-pointer. Barrett would then hit back-to-back three-pointers to increase the Stingers lead. The Stingers called upon Aurelie d’Anjou Drouin from the bench to give some of the Stingers’ key players a break. D’Anjou Drouin ended up scoring seven points in the quarter.

The Gaiters would score four straight points including a three-pointer by guard Joy-Celine Bermillo, but the Stingers would end the quarter with a three-pointer of their own by Thouin. Down 73-14 entering the final quarter, the Gaiters would score the first points of the fourth quarter on basket by guard, Marie-Laurence Dulud and then get free threw by forward, Danielle Lumley.

From the moment the game began, it was clear that Concordia was the better squad. The Gaiters have a relatively young and inexperienced team, which showed in the way they could not keep up with the Stingers. Veteran players like Barrett, who scored 20 points in the victory, set the tempo of the game for the Stingers and looked in control throughout the contest.

Stingers head coach Keith Pruden attributed such composure to his team’s win.

“We played organized basketball which is a reason why we were able to score many points,” said Pruden. “I was pleased [with] how aggressive we were. Which is what you want from a team contending for a title.”

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Concordia lets game get away

The Stingers squandered a two-goal lead and lost to the Gaels 4-2 

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team was looking to end their losing streak when they hosted the Gaels from Queen’s University on Saturday, Nov.1.

The first period started fast as both teams went on the attack, looking for the opening goal. As the period carried on, the game looked like it was going to be a physical battle, both teams dishing out big hits.

Six minutes into the period, the Gaels got a power play opportunity when Concordia’s Victor Provencher got called for roughing. Although the Gaels pushed hard and took lots of shots, they couldn’t beat Concordia’s starting goalie Robin Billingham. Billingham played extremely well in the first period and stopped every shot he faced. The Stingers killed the penalty and got their own chance on the power play several minutes later. As hard as the Stingers pushed, throwing everything on net, Gaels goalie Chris Clarke stopped every shot he faced on the man advantage. The Gaels managed to kill the penalty and the first period finished 0-0.

Going into the second period, Concordia had the slight edge and opened the scoring right away. Stingers forward Marc-Olivier Brouillard got a great pass from defenceman Alex Macdonald and fired a shot past Clarke for the 1-0 lead.

The Stingers added to their lead shortly after when captain Olivier Hinse went in alone and got the puck past Clarke for the 2-0 lead. It looked like Concordia was on their way to snapping their two-game losing streak, but the Gaels didn’t give up.

Queen’s forward Darcy Greenway to cut the lead to 2-1 halfway through the second and put the Stingers back on their heels. The goal seemed to stun the Stingers and they started to play a rougher, more undisciplined, game. Stingers forward Antoine Houde-Caron got called for roughing and the Gaels quickly capitalized on the man advantage, tying the game 2-2.

For the rest of the period, it was all Queen’s as the Stingers kept getting into penalty trouble. On another power play, Gaels forward Brett Foy tipped a shot past Billingham and gave his team the 3-2 lead.

In the third period, as hard as they tried, the Stingers couldn’t get another puck past Clarke. The Gaels added one more goal early in the period and then their goalie did the rest.

Concordia’s head coach Kevin Figsby was frustrated with his team after the unfortunate outcome.

“Our power play wasn’t working. We got discouraged which is really rare [and] after that third goal, it just seemed like we lost the will to play. It’s disappointing because we were going hard and they’re a really good hockey team,” said Figsby.

Much like his coach, Hinse was dispirited when describing the loss.

“I think we played hard. We got a bad bounce and after we had a bad attitude, which never happens. We are not a team that gives up and it’s not the attitude we want. We will work hard because we want to win again.”

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Convincing first win of the season

Women’s hockey team set the pace against the Carleton Ravens

There’s nothing like the comforts of home to help a team get back on track. In their home opener on Sunday, Nov. 2 at the Ed Meagher Arena, Concordia’s women’s hockey team beat the visiting Carleton Ravens 4-2 to capture their first win of the season.

Having lost their first two games of the season, the Stingers came out ready to prove that their squad was better than their record indicated. Concordia jumped on the board within the first two minutes and would not give up the lead for the rest of the game. Stingers center Alexandria D’Onofrio notched her first goal of the season and beat Ravens goaltender Tamber Tisdale to give the home team the early 1-0 lead. Thanks to Concordia’s relentless attack, Tisdale’s workload was about to get a whole lot heavier.

Just under seven minutes into the game, the maroon and gold scored their second goal of the game off the stick of Danielle Scarlett on a Stingers power play. By the end of the first period, the Stingers had fired 11 shots at their opponent’s goal.

The second period was defined by the constant parade of players heading to the penalty box. In the second, there were a total of nine two-minute minors between the two teams. Just over four minutes in, the Ravens capitalized on one of their four power play opportunities in the period. Carleton forward Sidney Weiss put the visiting team on the scoreboard and cut Concordia’s lead to just one. To the home crowd’s delight, that’s as close as the Ravens came to ruining the Stinger’s home opener.

Midway through the period, Concordia regained their two-goal advantage off a shot by Devon Thompson, giving her team a 3-1 lead. By the end of the second period, the Stingers had momentum and were outshooting the Ravens 19-11 in the contest.

Concordia’s final goal came from center Alyssa Sherrard with 12 minutes left in the game. The fifth-year veteran scored her second goal of the season and gave the Stingers a commanding 4-1 lead. Although the Ravens would respond shortly after with their second goal of the day, the game was already decided.

While she wasn’t tested very much in the first two periods of the game, Concordia’s goalie Briar Bache had to be sharp for her team in the final period of play. The Ravens refused to quit and put up a fight until the very end in Sunday’s matinee. The Ravens took it to the Stingers and outshot them 15-7 in the third. But Bache stood tall until the final whistle and ended the day with an impressive 24-save performance.

With the win, the women’s team improved to 1-1-1 on the season and moved into third place in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) division.

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Concordia captures Shrine Bowl

Photo by Andrej Ivanov.

Stingers rally and win on a last-minute field goal to beat McGill 30-28 in their final home game

The Stingers hosted their downtown rivals, the McGill Redmen, in the 27th annual Shrine Bowl on Saturday. It was the second meeting for these two teams this season as the Stingers won the last meeting decisively, 41-12. Saturday’s game was a lot different as Stingers trailed for most of the game and would need a last-second field goal by kicker Keegan Treloar to get the win.

On their opening drive, the Stingers went down the field and ended the drive with a 13-yard field goal by Treloar. The Redmen, on their opening drive, would take the lead with a one-yard touchdown by their running back Raphael Casey.

The second quarter was a scoring explosion. The Redmen increased their lead on a one-yard touchdown run by another Redmen running back, Pelle Jorgen. The Stingers, on their next drive, went down the field and quarterback François Dessureault connected with wide receiver Shayne Stinson four times on the drive. Stingers running back, Oliver Dupont would get a three-yard touchdown run to cut the Redmen lead to four points.

Concordia’s special teams would come up big on the kickoff as McGill’s kick returner, Kenny Baye fumbled the ball in the end zone and Stinger Jordan McLaren recovered it for a touchdown. The Stingers scored 15 points in 11 seconds and took a 22-18 lead into halftime.

The Redmen started with the football to start the third quarter and on their opening drive they would get a single point due to a 50-yard touchback by punter Remi Bertellin. The Redmen, on their next drive, cruised down the field thanks to the play of their quarterback and true freshman, Joel Houle, who capped off the drive with a quarterback sneak for a touchdown.

Concordia would get their first points of the final quarter on a 15-yard field goal by Treloar. The Redmen coaches made an interesting move and gave up a safety to make it just a one-point lead late in the fourth quarter. The Stingers took advantage of McGill’s coaching decision as they moved the ball down the field. With 45 seconds left, Treloar kicked a 45-yarder to clinch the victory.

“I knew it was good once it left my foot,” said Treloar after his game-winning kick.

Head Coach Mickey Donovan completed his first year with the team and was happy with the results, but says there’s still a lot of work to do.

“It was a character win as we did not play our best,” said Donovan. “It was a good first year but we want to improve, and with a 5-3 record we are just middle of the pack.”

The Stingers ended the regular season in fourth place and will face Laval next week in the playoffs.

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Sports

On the road with the Stingers

Our reporter hops on the bus with the women’s hockey team to Ottawa

It was 3 p.m on Friday, Oct. 25. The bags were packed, the bus was loaded and we were headed to face the Gee-Gees from the University of Ottawa. Last weekend I had the privilege to join the women’s hockey team on a road trip and got to experience what it was like to ride the bus with Concordia’s athletes.

They spent most of the trip talking, surfing the web with the bus’ built-in wifi and watching movies. After a 20-minute documentary on the Montreal Stars, a local women’s professional team, the team voted on the next movie. They chose to watch 13 Going on 30, an old chick flick starring Jennifer Garner.

By the end of the movie we had arrived in Ottawa, and then team was all business. The Stingers quickly got changed into their warm up clothes and dived into their routine, mostly standard warm up drills of running, jumping and stretching. Following their standard on-ice warm up, last minute tape-jobs and pep talks, the Stingers were ready.

The first period got off to a great start for the Stingers as they pushed the pace of the game. With six minutes left in the period, the Stingers capitalized on a power play when Alyssa Sherrard tucked the puck past the Gee-Gees goalie to give the Stingers the 1-0 lead.

In the second period, after a bunch of penalties by both teams, neither team could take advantage of their power play opportunities. Solid goaltending on both ends of the ice kept the period scoreless until late in the second. Following a cross checking penalty against Ottawa, Concordia padded their lead. Stingers center Cassiel Lalonde-Lajeunesse took a great shot and gave Concordia the 2-0 lead.

The game plan for the third period was simple: preserve the lead. However, it didn’t start out that way. Within 18 seconds, Ottawa had cut Concordia’s lead to 2-1, thanks to a goal by Violaine Houle. After that, the Stingers went back to attacking the Gee-Gees net looking for a third goal to regain their two-goal lead. The Stingers got another power play advantage, but couldn’t beat Ottawa goalie Caitlin Fowler. She stood tall in net and stopped every shot she faced on the power play. The game went back-and-forth as both teams pushed hard to get goals on the board, but this match became the battle of the goaltenders.

Fast-forward to the end of the period with just two minutes left in the game. Stingers player Marie-Joelle Allard got called for a questionable hit to the head. Concordia’s captain Danielle Scarlett contested the call with the referee but the official did not change his mind.

Unfortunately, with just 23 seconds on the clock, the Gee-Gees finally capitalized on a power play. Ottawa forward Carol-Ann Upshall fired a shot that went top-shelf and into the back of the net, tying the game at 2-2.

As the game went into overtime, both teams were looking for that goal that would end the game. Both teams pushed hard and got plenty of shots on net. Near the end of the period Concordia seemed to dominate but, once again, couldn’t beat Fowler.

The game continued into a shootout with best-of-five shooters. No player on either team scored until the third round when Upshall scored again for the Gee-Gees. Sadly, that’s all it took. The shootout finished 1-0 for the Gee-Gees and the final score was 3-2 for Ottawa.

After the game assistant coach Mike Mcgrath was proud of his team for the great effort.

“We played great and we totally deserved better. It was a physical game and I still don’t understand that mystery call, but we kept strong and showed how strong we can be,” said Mcgrath.

Stingers goalie Katherine Purchase was happy with her performance, her first in a Stingers jersey.

“I played pretty good the first two periods and I feel I got cold in the third period. I was a little nervous but it was good to get some experience,” said Purchase.

Despite the loss, the trip back was a positive one. Waiting for us on the bus was some pasta with garlic bread. The mood was upbeat and relaxing. Food makes everything better, even a tough loss.

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