Tag: stingers

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Concordia fails to secure home court advantage in playoffs

Stingers win and lose in final two games of the season

Concordia’s men’s basketball team had two important games to finish the season. On Thursday the Stingers hosted the Bishop’s Gaiters at Concordia Gym before travelling to square off against Laval on Saturday.

Coming into the Thursday game against the Gaiters, Concordia desperately needed a win if they were to have any chance of playing at

On Thursday the Stingers hosted the Bishop’s Gaiters at Concordia Gym before travelling to square off against Laval on Saturday.

home during the playoffs. The Stingers needed consecutive wins against Bishop’s and Laval to ensure a second place finish and more importantly home court advantage in the semi-finals.

Against Bishop’s, the maroon and gold were hungry right from the opening tipoff. A 7-0 run inside the first three and a half minutes gave Concordia a 9-2. Guards Kyle Desmarais and Morgan Tajfel each had a good opening quarter. The duo combined for more points than the entire Bishop’s team after the first 10 minutes. Desmarais had nine points, while Tajfel had six. The Stingers led 20-13.

“I don’t think we played great for the entire 40 minutes, maybe 30,” said Desmarais, who led the team with 22 points and five assists. “We knew we had to win it and we know we play well at home. We came out with nothing to lose.”

The Gaiters turned up the tempo in the second quarter. The visitors opened the frame with eight unanswered points and eventually took a slim one point lead. Both teams traded baskets during the remainder of the quarter. There were a total of six lead changes in the second alone.

The game was tied at halftime, 33-33.

The action continued to go both ways in the third quarter. A string of early baskets gave the Gaiters a two possession lead early in the frame. Concordia would always find a way to reply and never let their opponents run the score. The Stingers fought back and had their own five point lead just after the midway point of the frame. By the end of the third, Bishop’s was leading 49-48.

ConU went all out in the final 10 minutes. Their success defensively translated directly to their success on offence. For the first six minutes, the Stingers’ strong defence only gave up five points to the Gaiters. In the same time, but at the other end of the court, Concordia scored 17 points to go up a game high 11 points.

The Gaiters clawed their way back to within six points, but the Stingers held on to a 72-63 win.

“We did a great job rebounding, we killed them on the board,” said Stingers assistant head coach Ernie Rosa. “But, we had 27 turnovers. That’s unacceptable at this stage of the year. We should be down to 12. Foul shooting wasn’t very good, and we were at home. No, we’re not happy with what happened today. It was a win, but it was not a good win.”

“We’re in a position where we need to prove ourselves and prove to other teams that we are the number one team in Quebec,” said Tajfel, who ended the game with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds.

On Saturday, Concordia and Laval couldn’t be separated in the first half. The Rouge et Or took a sizeable lead in the third quarter and went on to win 84-62.

The Stingers finish the season in third place and will travel to Bishop’s on Wednesday in the opening round of the RSEQ playoffs. The rematch from Thursday night is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game is available online.

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Concordia’s athletic department director to retire

Concordia’s Athletic Department Director Katie Sheahan will retire this May after 10 years on the job. The department made the announcement last Thursday.

During her tenure, there have been some major upgrades and advancements in Concordia’s athletic services. According to the Athletic Department’s website, both the outdoor artificial turfs on Loyola campus, the Stinger Dome and the gyms have all been installed during her time at Concordia. Sheahan was also involved in the creation of The PERFORM center, an advanced sports research facility, located in Le Centre at Loyola campus. It was inaugurated in October 2011.

Sheahan has always had tremendous passion for all Stingers team. She regularly attends Concordia home games. More recently, she was spotted cheering passionately, sitting in the first row of the men’s and women’s basketball games this past Thursday.

In her 10 years as the Department’s director, Stingers sports teams have, combined, won over 10 championships.

In 2008, her achievements led her to the Humberto Santos Award issued by the Concordia University Alumni Association.

The university will look to continue building on Sheahan’s work and will continue providing a quality experience for the school’s athletes and varsity teams while continuing to improve the facilities.

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Kevin Figsby’s coaching journey

Brianna Thicke

 

Photo Brianna Thicke

“When you do get that kid in, you’re with him almost everyday for four or five years. You watch them grow, you watch them develop through all kinds of life’s different up and downs. Most people don’t get to see that, and it’s phenomenal to see that. To see a first-year mature and graduating, it’s a phenomenal experience.”

That was Kevin Figsby’s reply when asked what his favourite part of coaching was. It’s being a mentor for these kids every single day, an “extended parent,” as he said. That’s what draws him to the job of coaching, ever since he first came out of university.

Figsby changed the face of Concordia University’s hockey program since first taking over in 2000. He’s instilled an exemplary set of values in the players that are based on two extremely important values.

“Two things that have been instilled in our program is pride and tradition,” said Figsby. “And it’s something we really believe in. You respect the traditions of the people that have been here before you and you take pride in doing it.”

The guiding values and strong core of the team can be attributed to Figsby’s staggering reputation as a coach. Growing up in Pointe-Saint-Charles, Figsby was introduced to community involvement and volunteering from a very young age. It has shaped him not only in his coaching career, but also in his life as well. It’s through these experiences that he’s managed to implant community values in every Stingers player passing through the program for 13 years.

“I think it’s an important mission of the university to make sure the players are involved in an academic, social and community perspective as well,” Figsby said. “It’s one of my big beliefs that you have to be involved with community.”

Throughout the years, Figsby has been involved with countless organizations, raising funds as president of James-Lynn High School where he used to be a student and starting his own organization in his hometown called the Pointe-Saint-Charles Hall of Recognition. Over the years, the organization has raised more than $350,000 for scholarships.

“The scholarships provide almost $25,000 a year for kids to pursue post-secondary education,” explained Figsby. “These are kids from Pointe-Saint-Charles that no one really gave a chance to.”

Although his community involvement is enough to jam pack a schedule, Figsby has made it far as a coach as well, earning himself the title of master through Hockey Canada and has received the highest coaching certification in the world. He’s only one of 31 coaches to have received this honour. He’s coached team Canada at the World U-17 Championships and won a bronze medal in 1995, with current NHL goaltender Roberto Luongo on his roster. He won another bronze medal in 2011 coaching Canada at the World University Championship in Turkey and was invited as a guest coach to the Montreal Canadiens’ training camp in 2005.

If there’s one thing Figsby’s sure about, it’s that staying in coaching was the best decision of his life. Before he became a full-time coach at Concordia University, Figsby had a major position in the banking world. When he was promoted to a director of sales and marketing in North America, he was told he would have to drop his coaching job as head coach of the AAA Lac St-Louis Lions. And he did. This, he says, was his only regret.

“I chose the bank over hockey and over coaching,” he said. “I was probably the most miserable individual you could meet for that period of time, because the passion that I had, the thing that drove me from a creativity perspective had been coaching.”

It isn’t much of a surprise that when he was offered the head coaching position at Concordia in 2000, he accepted it without a backwards glance. It goes to show that no matter the situation, your passion will prevail. He’s been here ever since, has seen the program grow and improve and has been an enormous part of the organization as soon as he stepped onto the scene.

“I still have that passion for coaching right now. I love coming here everyday,” said Figsby. “The university is moving forward and those are things that inspire you everyday.”

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Stingers’ playoff contention takes a bit hit

Sitting dead last in the RSEQ conference has been a lowly feeling for the Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team. They travelled to the University of Ottawa on Sunday afternoon with two important points up for grabs. Unfortunately for Concordia, the Gee-Gees also knew it was a crucial game and dominated the Stingers winning 8-3.

The game started out with the Stingers seeming to be on the wrong skate when defender Mary-Jane Roper was assessed a hit to the head minor 2:43 in. The Gee-Gees capitalized 15 seconds later when 17-year-old Cindy Laurin potted her first of three on the afternoon.

A couple of minutes later, Stingers’ Veronique Laramee-Paquette was assessed her second penalty of the game only 6:45 into the game. The Gee-Gees managed to take advantage again when Asha Kauffeldt scored on a rebound after Concordia netminder Chelsey Hodges made the initial save on Alicia Blomberg’s point shot. Kauffeldt also added her second before the first was over.

The middle period seemed to start with some jump for the Stingers as they pressured the Gee-Gees. A nice play orchestrated by Jaymee Shell and Emilie Bocchia, resulted in Shell getting credit for a goal, reducing Ottawa’s lead to two. Gabrielle Meilleur also got an assist on the goal.

The wheels came off less than two minutes later when, in a span of one minute and 19 seconds, Blomberg and Laurin each scored to increase Ottawa’s lead to 5-1. The line of Blomberg-Kauffeldt and Dominique Lefebvre combined for three goals and six assists.

The last goal was the end of the afternoon for Hodges, who gave up five goals on 14 shots, and replaced by Carolanne Lavoie-Pilon.

A couple of minutes later, the Stingers had an opportunity to get back on the scoreboard. They had an extended five-on-three power-play for one minute 14 seconds, but they were unable to get one past Gee-Gees goaltender Stephanie Mercier, who finished the game stopping 18 shots.

The Gee-Gees added another couple of goals courtesy of Elarie Leclair to put the game far out of reach for the Stingers. It was 7-1 at 18:06 of the second.

“It seemed like we had difficulties stepping out of the gate,” explained Concordia head coach Les Lawton. “We caught a bad break – making it hard to bounce back.”

A bright spot heading to the dressing room was in the final minute when a puck landed on a streaking Tracy-Ann Lavigne’s stick, coming off the bench and unloading a slapshot past Mercier to make it 7-2.

The third was a lot of back and forth action, with the Stingers trying to salvage something before the game was out.

Midway through the final stanza, Erin Lally potted the puck out of a scramble in front to make it 7-3 with just over ten minutes left in the period.

Lally, who was celebrating her twenty-second birthday on the same day, had mixed emotions on the game.

“You know, it’s bittersweet, we score many goals, but it still isn’t a full team effort,” said Lally. “We seem to score, and then sit back, when we should be going out there wanting to get the next one.”

Ottawa’s Laurin completed her hat-trick at the 11:13 mark, and that was the end of a tough loss, one that puts a huge damper in the playoff picture for Concordia.

“It’s obviously truly disappointing,” explained a distraught Stinger captain Mallory Lawton. “We know that we have a couple of games left, and we can show our true character. If we steal a point or two, even better.”

 

Concordia hopes to seek revenge Friday, Feb. 1 when they host the Gee-Gees at Ed Meagher Arena. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.

 

 

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Big dreams for Stingers MVP

(Brianna Thicke)
Taylor, a fifth-year safety with the Concordia Stingers’ football team, was named the team’s most outstanding player and most dedicated player at the team’s banquet on Jan. 20. (Brianna Thicke)

Nathan Taylor may not be the biggest player on the field, but he sets his standards extremely high.

“My goal is to play in the CFL. Anything less than that is pretty much a failure,” he said.

Taylor, a fifth-year safety with the Concordia Stingers’ football team, was named the team’s most outstanding player and most dedicated player at the team’s banquet on Jan. 20. In nine games this season, Taylor racked up a total of 44 tackles, three interceptions and three batted passes.

Taylor called this year a bounce-back year for him after being benched during parts of last season. He had spent most of his career with the Stingers at cornerback and sometimes linebacker, but he excelled this season when put at safety.

“I think I played pretty well and I guess the coaches thought so too,” said Taylor, “I hadn’t played safety since midget, but I felt pretty good about it. I feel I was a more complete player at safety.”

Looking back on his time at Concordia, Taylor credits his work ethic for his success and the current attention he is getting from Canadian Football League teams. He also cited his coaches over the years, notably head coach Gerry McGrath, for helping him grow in maturity during his time with the Stingers.

“Hard work pays off,” he said. “For four, five years now, I’ve just been working hard every offseason trying to get better. Personally I feel like I’ve matured a lot as an athlete and as a player and Concordia is a big part of that.”

Taylor is now fully focused on the upcoming CFL combine, where he will showcase his talents to scouts and general managers with the hopes of being selected in the upcoming draft. His routine currently consists a vigorous workout schedule, which includes running and lifting weights, separately, each done four times a week.

When he was younger, Taylor never envisioned a career as a professional football player; today, it is a part of his everyday life. He even had doubts about his football future during his time at Vanier College, but was able to motivate himself in the gym to improve himself as a player.

“I was going to transfer. I was going to go to John Abbott College or go play junior football,” he said. “I didn’t think I was good enough to play at the CEGEP level. I’ve been working hard since my last year of midget, just to prepare myself to play football at the next level and now I’m preparing myself for the CFL.”

“I always took training seriously because I enjoy it. And I always wanted to be one of the strongest guys on the team. When I realized that the more work I put in the gym, the better I was on the field, that’s when it was ‘the harder you work, the easier it’s going to get’.”

Taylor is anxious to get the pre-draft process going and is looking forward to showcasing his skills to the people who will pave the way to a career in professional football.

“I just want to get the ball rolling. I want to show them that I’m physical and that I can run,” he said. “I get overlooked because I’m a little shorter, I’m not the prototypical 6-foot, 200-pound defensive back. You’ve got to prove it to them that you’re deserving of a roster spot.”

With a work ethic like his, Taylor has a good chance of overcoming this latest obstacle on his path to primetime. The CFL Combine takes place Mar. 22, 23 and 24 in Toronto.

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Time management is key for student athletes

Jennifer Kwan
Graphic by Jennifer Kwan

When it comes to student athletes, some wonder what the secret behind their success is. Whether it is the amount of time spent on the field, in the gym or a combination of both, this student has it all under control.

So how do they manage all their time between classes, training, and playing? For Concordia Stingers men’s soccer player Sammy Tork, it’s all about managing the schedule.

“The key word is time management here, because one has to able to be organized and composed when assorting the different events within their week,” said Tork.

Tork, a first year sociology student, is also in his rookie year with the team. He believes that in order to be a great student athlete, schoolwork has to be done beforehand.

“When it comes to school, the thing which has been working for me is that I never do anything last minute, and make sure I do my homework before training to avoid fatigue when doing homework,” explained Tork. “Once it’s done, I have a great sense of relief and I can go train at ease knowing I can rest or do some easy readings for the week calmly.”

Shauna Zilversmit, a first-year journalism student playing for the women’s soccer team, has a different approach to getting all her assignments done.

“When I have homework that needs to be done and I have a traveling game, I bring the work with me and work on it on the bus,” said Zilversmit. She does, however, agree with Tork that time management is key to success as a student athlete.

“It’s all about time management, self-discipline, and determination,” she said.

Tork trains four to five times a week at Concordia’s downtown gym. He also has team practice twice a week. In order to do all these things, the Stingers forward makes sure to create his schedule as early as possible in order to get classes that he can shape his training schedule around.

Zilversmit currently has two team practices a week as well, and goes to the gym twice a week. Sometimes she has to miss practice due to classes being at the same time.

“We try our best not to have school during practice times, but sometimes it’s unavoidable and our coaching staff understands that,” said Zilversmit.

All in all, dealing with busy schedules is part of being a student athlete.

 

 

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Stingers defeat rivals McGill and end five-game slump

With their backs up against the wall amidst a five-game losing streak, the Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team pulled off an unlikely comeback win versus cross-town rivals, the McGill Redmen, 3-2 in the shootout.

Down 2-1 with 30 seconds left in the game, Stingers forward George Lovatsis banged home a loose puck in front of the net to tie the game. Lovatsis eventually scored the shootout winner.

“I’m really pleased with how well the guys executed the game plan tonight,” said Concordia head coach Kevin Figsby. “We worked really hard in practice this week and it paid off.”

The Stingers took the lead early in the first period when Alex Monahan scored his eighth goal of the season with a blast from the blue line that soared past Redmen goaltender Andrew Flemming.

Down early, McGill got to work, establishing a dominating offensive zone presence and had their best chance of the opening period when Redmen forward David Rose walked by three sleeping Stingers and fired one at Antonio Mastropietro. The Stingers netminder flashed the glove for the save.

In the second period, Concordia’s best chance to score came when Monahan set up Lovatsis from the half-wall for a one-time shot, only to be denied by Flemming’s shoulder save.

With momentum tilted in their favour, Stingers pugilist Corey Garland took an ill-timed, unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when he showered Flemming with ice. The Redmen scored on the ensuing power-play.

The rivals treated the crowd to an entertaining third period. Both teams exchanged a number of good chances, but it wasn’t until a late Concordia penalty that McGill capitalized.

With less than 10 minutes to go in the game, Redmen forward Patrick Delisle-Houde handled a cross-crease backhand feed from Rose and ripped it top corner from the side of the net.

With time running out on the game, Concordia called a timeout.

“I just told them no shot’s a bad shot,” said coach Figsby. “Let’s put a puck on net and create an opportunity.”

And an opportunity they did create. With 35 seconds remaining, Olivier Hinse immediately put the puck on net. With several players jamming in Flemming’s crease, Lovatsis banged a loose puck to the back of the net to tie the game.

Following an uneventful overtime, the game went to a shootout. After Mastropietro shut the door on two Redmen players, Lovatsis deked Flemming and softly netted the shootout winner.

Less than 48 hours later, Concordia travelled to Ottawa to face the Gee-Gees. Although they were able to claw back from an early third period 5-3 deficit, the Stingers eventually lost 6-5 in the shootout.

The Stingers took three of four possible points this weekend and are now two points behind Ryerson for the eighth and final spot in the OUA playoffs. Concordia is already eliminated from CIS playoff contention.

 

Concordia will put an end to a five-game road trip when they travel to Nipissing and Ryerson this coming weekend.

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Stingers men’s basketball team gets 2013 rolling with a win and a loss

Photo by Madelayne Hajek
Photo by Madelayne Hajek

The Concordia men’s basketball team returned from the winter break with a dominant performance against the McGill Redmen on Thursday night. The Stingers lost to the Redmen once this season and were looking to get even by winning on the road.

The game started off with both sides exchanging baskets early. Concordia started to turn up the pace and slowly took over the game with their high-tempo performance. McGill managed to stay within a couple of points. Stingers guard Kyle Desmarais’ buzzer-beating three-pointer from half court was the difference at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Concordia kept up the pace and found success on both sides of the court. Concordia’s man-to-man defence was effective against McGill’s offence. The Stingers were dominant on the boards as well. They finished the game with 46 rebounds, almost twice as many as McGill.

The visiting Stingers team started to pull ahead halfway through the quarter. Seven straight points in one minute and a half put the maroon and gold ahead. McGill narrowed the score line, but Concordia’s high-powering offence allowed them to take a 38-31 lead into the halftime break.

The Stingers exploded in the third quarter, managing to score 27 points. When the score was 41-35 in their favour, Concordia went on a 10-0 run giving them a 16 point lead. They led by as much as 19 points in the quarter. By the end of the frame Con U had a comfortable 18 point lead.

It was all but over in the final quarter. The Redmen were unable to string a few baskets together and mount a comeback. McGill and Concordia traded baskets and each added 18 more points to their total. The Stingers won the game with a final score of 83-65.

Concordia’s play on defence was a big factor in the victory. The team finished with numerous blocks and steals, but the difference was on the boards. The Stingers outrebounded McGill 46-28.

“It started with our defence,” said head coach John Dore. “That’s what helped us on offence. We got a few steals, a few blocks and really outrebounded them.”

“For once, we were talking on defence every time,” said Stingers forward Kafil Eyitayo, who had 17 points and eight rebounds. “We were doing the little things right. Of course there were some lapses, but overall I think we came up big.”

In his first game back from injury, Desmarais finished with a game-high 19 points and picked up eight rebounds and three steals in the 29 minutes he played.

“It was the toughest five months of my life,” he said. “The knee feels good. I still got to work on my cardio and rhythm a little bit, but other than that, it feels amazing.”

Two days later the Stingers lost to the UQAM Citadins at home 71-69. A UQAM jump shot with eight seconds left in the game gave the Citadins the win. Stingers guard Jean-Andre Moussignac led the team with 18 points.

Concordia will hit the court again on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 4:00 p.m. against the first-place Bishop’s Gaiters. This is a home game at Concordia Gymnasium.

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An up-and-down week for Stingers women’s basketball

Photo by Madelayne Hajek
Photo by Madelayne Hajek

The Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team took to the court twice this past week with games against McGill and UQÀM. The team had an away game to the Martlets on Thursday night and returned home to face the Citadins on Saturday afternoon.

The Stingers went to McGill full of confidence after a highly successful Concordia-Reebok tournament over the winter break. In the tournament, they defeated the CIS number one and number five ranked teams. These results earned Concordia the number eight spot in the country.

Against the Martlets, it was a far different Concordia team. McGill was hot shooting from the behind-the-ark, sinking eight of their 15 three-point attempts compared to the Stingers’ one successful three pointer. A strong second half secured a 75-44 win for the Martlets.

“McGill came out exactly as I expected,” said Stingers head coach Keith Pruden. “They played hard, they played well, they were very aggressive and we just appeared to be surprised.”

The first quarter was closely contested for seven of the quarter’s 10 minutes. With the Stingers up by a basket, McGill went on an 8-0 scoring run in the final three minutes to secure a six point advantage after one.

In the second quarter, Concordia tried to regain momentum, but to no avail. With 2:30 to play in the quarter, the game was a one possession game as McGill’s lead was slashed down to three points. The Martlets once again got hot in the final minutes and ended up taking a 12 point lead with them into the halftime break. McGill was up 37-25.

The third quarter squashed any hopes of a Stingers comeback victory. For the first four minutes of the frame, both teams added two baskets each to their totals. Concordia would not add any more for the remainder of the quarter. The Martlets scored 18 unanswered points and grabbed a 30 point lead going into the final quarter.

“It didn’t really matter who we put on the floor,” said Pruden. “We were getting very flat performances.”

Both teams traded baskets in the fourth quarter. McGill ended Concordia’s miserable outing, winning by a final score of 75-44.

“We shot the ball extremely poorly,” Pruden said following the game. “McGill was playing a very aggressive defence. If you’re flat on one end of the court, you can’t expect to be intense at the other end of it. We were not taking care of the ball and we weren’t making sure we were getting good shots.”

Two days later, the Stingers played host to RSEQ’s first place team, the UQÀM Citadins. Concordia won the game after a great fourth quarter performance. With six and a half minutes left in the game, UQÀM had a five point lead. The maroon and gold’s strong defence denied the Citadins any more baskets. The Stingers went on a 15-0 run to end the game and win 67-57.

With the victory on Saturday, Concordia regained first place in the RSEQ conference. The team now has five wins and two losses in their seven games played this season.

Concordia will continue its three-game home stretch next Saturday, Jan. 19 when they host the last place and winless Bishop’s Gaiters. The game will start at 2 p.m. at Concordia Gymnasium.

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Stingers win the annual Concordia-Reebok tournament

The Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team edged out the McGill Martlets, 72-63. File photo.

The Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team went undefeated playing as the hosts of the annual Concordia-Reebok tournament at the Concordia Gymnasium from Dec. 28-30.

The tournament consisted of four teams; two schools from Quebec and two schools from Ontario. The Stingers welcomed RSEQ rivals McGill Martlets, Canada’s number one ranked Windsor Lancers and number five ranked Carleton Ravens.

Concordia won the tournament after beating Carleton 60-57 on Dec. 28 and Windsor 75-74 on Dec. 29. The Stingers’ victory over the Lancers was the first time Concordia has beat the country’s number one ranked team.

In the first game of the tournament, Concordia and Carleton squared off. The Ravens, currently first place in the OUA East conference, have already defeated the Stingers this year in the pre-season.

In the first quarter, both teams exchanged points until the final seconds. The visitors pulled ahead in the second quarter. Just a bit past the midway point of the quarter, Carleton had their biggest lead of the game, 13 points. The Stingers rallied back and brought the game to a four point difference at halftime. The Ravens led 35-31.

The Stingers were unable to make up any ground on Carleton in the third quarter. The Ravens jumped up to a 50-41 lead going into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter was a different story for the maroon and gold. Two minutes into the quarter, ConU went on a nine-point scoring streak, tying the ball game up at 52-52 with 4:25 left to play. After a tense few final minutes, Concordia secured the victory with two free-throws in the last seconds to win 60-57.

The following day, the Stingers were back at it, this time against the country’s top team, the Windsor Lancers. In the first quarter, the Lancers found themselves with an eight point lead halfway through. Concordia was able to bounce back and regain control of the game.

In the second frame, the Stingers dictated the pace and had a 31-30 lead at the break.

The Lancers would continue to push for the lead, but the Stingers stayed strong in the third quarter.

In the final quarter of the game, the Lancers led as much as five points. ConU was resilient and quickly caught up. After four quarters, the score was tied at 67-67. Overtime was required to find a winner.

In the nail-biting five minutes of overtime, Windsor had a two-point lead with 35 seconds remaining. After a Stingers timeout, Ashley Clarke missed her jumper with 13 seconds to play. ConU’s Tamara Pinard-Devos came up with a massive offensive rebound giving Clarke one last chance to win the game. With one second left, Clarke nailed a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give Concordia the 75-74 win.

“The Carleton game had no bearing on the Windsor one,” said Stingers head coach Keith Pruden. “We were disappointed, and frankly angry, with the result of our game against Carleton in October. We knew we could beat them, so I don’t believe it really affected our confidence the next day. The team were excited about the opportunity to play Windsor.”

The Stingers are looking to use this strong tournament performance in their regular season games, which start up again this week with a game against McGill on Thursday and UQÀM on Saturday.

“It may not translate into success in the rest of our league season,” said Stingers head coach Keith Pruden. “It will depend entirely on how the team decides to approach things. We’ve been stressing the importance of using the result as motivation to work harder and do more – not to sit back and rest on the laurels of the tournament.”

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Meet Greg Sutton: Concordia’s men’s soccer assistant coach

Assistant coach Greg Sutton. Photo from Flickr.
Assistant coach Greg Sutton. Photo from Flickr.

It is not surprising to see the names of former professional athletes sprinkled around many Concordia Stingers teams as coaches. One of those names is Greg Sutton, a professional soccer player, who just recently retired from the Montreal Impact in late October.

Sutton’s 14-year career as a professional footballer saw him represent teams such as the Chicago Fire, Toronto FC, the New York Red Bulls and, finally, the Impact, on two separate occasions.

The Hamilton, Ont. native was drafted by Chicago in the second round of the 1999 MLS College Draft. In his rookie season, Sutton made his debut, coming on as a substitute against the San Jose Clash on June 19. Sutton kept a clean sheet and earned his first professional victory.

Following Chicago, Sutton played for the Montreal Impact when they were still in North America’s second division. Sutton was a fan favourite and collected many awards guarding the Impact’s goal.

He won the USL championship in 2004 and was named league MVP in the same year. Sutton was also named Goalkeeper of the Year for four years in a row, beginning in 2003.

“When you get to a place in your game where you are confident, you feel that you can be unbeatable at times,” he said. “I was lucky enough to be rewarded with those accolades. It’s always a nice accomplishment to remember. I’m grateful for those years for sure.”

In 2007, he joined Toronto FC in their first season in the MLS. Toronto FC was the first Canadian professional team to make it to North America’s top league. Sutton was happy to be in Toronto as he is now part of Canadian soccer history.

A few years later, he found himself back in Montreal, where he would ultimately end his career. Sutton spent the end of the 2011 season on loan with the Impact and later became a permanent member after signing a contract in 2012.

During his career, he also had a chance to represent the Canadian National Team 16 times between 2004 and 2009. Sutton made his debut for Canada on Jan. 18, 2004 in a one-nil win against Barbados. He was also included in three of Canada’s Gold Cup squads, a tournament that only involves North American countries.

In September 2012, while still a member of the Impact, Sutton joined the Stingers as an assistant coach on the men’s soccer team. The team is currently coached by Lloyd Barker, a former Impact player as well, who is a good friend of Sutton’s.

“Lloyd [Barker] asked me if I would offer some time to the guys,” said Sutton. “I enjoy coaching. Offering your services to coach at the college level is an experience not many people can do as well. I enjoy that aspect of the game.”

After a few months with the team, Sutton believes Concordia has a bright future ahead when it comes to soccer.

“We’re starting to see more and more players go through the system, but it’s a cycle obviously,” he said. “Hopefully we can continue to grow the team and the game itself at Concordia.

When asked about his future behind the Stingers’ bench, Sutton is still unsure about his plans for 2013.

“We’ll see, I don’t know. I haven’t made my decision yet,” he said. “If I do comeback, I’d like to continue to improve the game and the team itself. I think we need to start focusing a little bit more on the individual improvement of players and try to get the technical and tactical aspects improved on. It will take dedication from the guys as well.”

Categories
Sports

Athletes of the month for November

Men’s basketball – Evens Laroche

Concordia men’s basketball team finished the month of November wins three wins and two losses, leaving them in second place in the RSEQ conference behind McGill. Accustomed to being at the top of the league, the team already equalled its loss total from last year in league play. Fifth-year forward Evens Laroche, however, continued his stellar play from last season. In five games this season, Laroche is averaging 14.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 30.2 minutes per game. He leads the team in steals with 14.

 

Women’s basketball – Kaylah Barrett

The women’s basketball team is off to a great start this season. After finishing last year with eight wins and eight losses, the Stingers have already equalled half of their wins from last year. Concordia leads the RSEQ conference with four wins and one loss. Kaylah Barrett leads her team with an average of 15.2 points per game, scoring 21 points on two occasions. She’s second on the team with an average of 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. The Brampton, Ont. native has been named PJ’s Pub Athletes of the Week by the athletics department twice in the month.

 

Men’s hockey – Etienne Archambault

The men’s hockey team continued to struggle during the month of November. In nine games, the team won twice, lost five and lost in overtime twice. It’s been a busy month for the squad as they’ve had to play back-to-back games every weekend and had to travel to Kingston, Toronto, Waterloo and Ottawa.

After three goals in October, Etienne Archambault remained consistent, notching three more goals in November. With two assists during the month, he has five points in seven games this month. The second-year forward leads the team with six goals, 12 points and 43 penalty minutes.

 

Women’s hockey – Emilie Bocchia

Despite another month where the Stingers women’s hockey team only managed to secure one victory, the team is definitely headed in the right direction come 2013. One of the players who stood out this past month has been fourth-year winger Emilie Bocchia, who amassed two goals along with three helpers in her team’s seven games. She also added the deciding goal in the 2-1 shootout victory over Carleton on Nov. 16.

– David S. Landsman, Concordian staff writer

 

Men’s rugby – Kim Haze Vuong

The men’s rugby team played three games during the month. They reached the finals in the RSEQ conference. After securing first-place in the league with a 39-7 victory against Bishop’s on the final day of the season, Concordia were matched up against Sherbrooke in the semi-finals. The Stingers cruised to the finals and had a chance to defeat rivals McGill at home for the RSEQ championship.

Kim Haze Vuong featured prominently in the Bishop’s and Sherbrooke games. Against the Gaiters, the first-year Montreal native scored a try and followed it up with two more against the Vert et Or.

 

Women’s rugby – Bianca Farella

After an RSEQ championship victory at the end of October, the women’s rugby team represented Quebec in the CIS nationals held in Antigonish, N.S. from Nov. 1 to 4. The maroon and gold played three games, two in the group stage and one for the bronze medal. Concordia won one and lost two, claiming fourth place overall.

Bianca Farella was named ‘Player of the Game’ in two of the three games. She had two tries in the first game against Queen’s and two tries against the Alberta Pandas in the bronze medal game. Following the tournament, Farella was named Canadian Interuniversity Sport ‘Rookie of the Year’ and an all-Canadian.

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