Tag: stingers

Categories
Sports

Montreal 4, Concordia 3: Penalties halt Stingers momentum in loss

Photo by Cecilia Piga

If you watched the Stingers play this season, you’ve seen a team that’s managed to consistently beat two of the top teams in the country. Playing in the RSEQ is gruelling. Concordia, McGill and the Universite de Montreal are all top-5 programs in Canada.

And this game against the UDEM Carabins was yet another heavyweight bout. Unfortunately for the top-ranked Stingers, they come out of this one with some bruises as they drop a 4-3 result to the number three ranked Carabins 24 hours after beating the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 6-2.

“We start off tough, we’re trying to come out of a hole and we take two penalties,” said head coach Julie Chu post-game. “We have to have an intensity and a grit and I think we just didn’t quite have it today. Part of it is the back-to-back and Montreal got the day off, yeah sure. But we’re going to see that at nationals, so there’s no excuse for this.”

Over the past 16 meetings between these two teams since 2017-18, 13 have been decided by one goal. This is only the second time out of those 16 games that UDEM has beaten Concordia in regulation.

The game started as a whirlwind as both teams traded blows. The Stingers were the first ones on the board courtesy of captain Claudia Dubois finding the puck in front of the net and powering a shot past Carabins goalie Aube Racine. Racine finished the game with 25 saves on 27 shots. Stingers goalie Alice Philbert is certainly not to blame in this loss, the Carabins made her life extremely difficult with tight screens, cross-ice passing and heavy shots. Philbert finished the game with 25 saves on 29 shots.

Graphic by Matthew Coyte

“We went through spurts where we were good,” said Chu. “But the penalties really killed us. Our power play wasn’t strong as well.”

Montreal’s Alexandra Labelle evened it up thanks to a cross-ice tap-in. Stingers’ Rosalie Begin-Cyr responded a minute later, capitalizing from the chaos caused in the slot by Dubois who took a hard hit to make the play. Begin-Cyr wired a wrister to retake the lead for the Stingers. The Carabins would tie it at two before the end of the period.

But the biggest problem for the Stingers was the special teams. In the team’s first 10 games of the season, the Stingers had only taken a league-best 25 penalties. In their first two games of 2020, they’ve taken 11, including six in this game.

“We have to play the full 60 minutes,” said Dubois post-game. “We have to avoid the penalties, that’s what really killed us. We had the momentum, then bang, we’re down by two.”

The power play wasn’t much better, and we’re at the point of the season where the benefit of the doubt for the Stingers is over. They hold a league-worst power play that’s converted just 8.8% of their powerplay chances, and went 0/4 this game.

“We have to improve the power play,” said Dubois. “It’s tough. We’re supposed to score. We’re supposed to capitalize on those chances and we’re not able to. There’s going to be changes and we’re going to try things for sure.”

The Carabins played what could have easily been their best game of the season thanks to their physical style of play and ability to take advantage of the Stingers mistakes. It often felt like Montreal had an odd-player rush while also having like six players back defending. It made no sense, but at the end of the day, the Stingers became frustrated and were baited into some unnecessary penalties.

The Stingers third goal was a weird one. Dubois was breaking into the Carabins zone and was beating the defender wide. The defender had no choice but to haul her down. The referee’s arm shot up, and everyone stopped. But no whistle. Racine moved out of the way to avoid Dubois, but by the powers of the hockey gods, the puck actually slid into the net with Dubois, cutting the Stingers deficit to one.

“We’ll take those goals, but those are definitely not normal goals,” said Dubois.

The Stingers were unable to convert a tying goal, but sometimes it’s just nice to watch some heavyweights go at it.

Notes:

  • I watched the replay on Dubois’ second goal about 10 times and I still have no idea how or why every single player on the ice stopped playing before the whistle. Even the crowd thought it was dead. The hockey gods giveth (a fun goal), and the hockey gods taketh away (a loss).
Categories
Sports

Concordia 6 Ottawa 2: Explosive second period helps Stingers earn decisive win

Photo by Laurence BD

Three goals in 41 seconds backed the Stingers to league-best 10-0-1.

The Stingers women’s hockey head coach Julie Chu expects a lot from her players. It’s why they had to be back at the rink in late December to compete in the Theresa Humes Tournament — a tournament they went 3-0 at.

“Coming out of December, it was about getting a good jump for the second half,” said Chu. “We ask our players to be back on [December] 27, which isn’t always easy. They got a good two weeks off and came back with focus and ready to go.”

Thanks to those expectations, the Stingers remain the top-ranked team in the country, and they didn’t worry about having to play any rust off in the first game of 2020. An explosive one minute stretch in the second period helped the Stingers defeat the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 6-2 on Jan. 11.

“We were excited to have this first game back,” said captain Claudia Dubois, who finished the game with a goal and an assist. “It’s been a while since we played a regular season game. It was an exciting moment for us and we were all ready for it, so it was a good game.”

The Gee-Gees battled the entire game, but found each mistake they made ending up in the back of the net. Gee-Gees goalie Jennifer Walker made 30 saves on 36 shots. Gee-Gees rookie phenom Alice Fillion was a workhorse for them, forechecking hard at 5-v-5 and on the penalty kill, and just being a general problem for the Stingers. The Gee-Gees’ two goals came with heavy traffic in front of Stingers goalie Alice Philbert. Philbert was busy herself, making 29 saves on 31 shots.

Graphic by Matthew Coyte

The first period may have been one of the best the Stingers have played in a while, and the team jumped to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Maria Manarolis and Daniela Gendron, their first goals of the season. For Gendron, it was the first U Sports goal of her career.

“I’ve had goals in the pre-season, but this was pretty exciting,” said Gendron. “It was just to keep the momentum going and it was a pretty big goal. I’m surprised it went in honestly, I didn’t think it would. I was also on the [ice] when it went in.”

Despite the lead, the Gee-Gees came roaring back in the second period, and had it not been for Philbert, that 2-0 lead could have quickly turned into a deficit for the Stingers. Instead, the Stingers weathered the storm after allowing a goal. With two minutes left in the second period, they turned the dial up a notch.

Or three notches.

Audrey-Ann Rodrigue buried a cross-ice pass to Marie-Pascale Bernier to widen the Stingers’ lead to two with 1:46 left in the frame. Before the cheering could die down, Dubois and RSEQ leading scorer Rosalie Begin-Cyr capitalized on a Gee-Gee mistake and added another goal 10 seconds later. Just 31 seconds after that, Olivia Atkinson buried yet another goal to turn the score into a 5-1 lead. That’s right, three goals in 41 seconds. Six different Stingers picked up goals in this game.

“We were off a bit to start the second period,” said Dubois. “We got a penalty and they slowed us down a little bit. We were having trouble executing passes and those simple plays, but we have a team that never gives up and gives 100 per cent effort, so we came back with a ton of momentum.It was an exciting moment. We were just going all over [Ottawa] and forced a lot of mistakes from their defence and just got the puck in the net.”

The third period was a more even frame between the Stingers and the Gee-Gees, with both teams adding a goal to their scores, but in the end, the Stingers now improve to 10-0-1 on the season, and remain atop the RSEQ standings.

Notes:

  • Three goals in 41 seconds is absolutely insane and I can’t find any record of another U Sports team doing this.
  • If this is your first time reading me in 2020, I keep track of shots at these games, and my results may differ than what is registered by the RSEQ.

Feature photo by Laurence BD

Categories
Sports

McGill 3, Stingers 2 OT: McGill comes out on top on carnival night

There are very few times where teams are happy after a loss. For the Concordia Stingers, this was one of them.

It was a hostile environment at McConnell Arena as many McGill students were in attendance as part of their carnival week. Kyle Jessiman made his debut as a Stinger and despite the loss, the 20-year-old made quite the impression on his new team.

“For his first game, in front of all those people it could be a little intimidating,” said defenceman Carl Neill. “But he did a heck of a job, we’re very happy for him.”

Head coach Marc-André Élément showed great confidence in the rookie, starting him in front of the crowd. They jeered him the entire night but that did not faze the youngster making his first start.

“He played really well. I’m very proud of him,” said Élément. “It’s not easy coming in playing in full [arena], against McGill — it’s not easy. It just showed how mentally [tough] he is.”

The full crowd was given quite the show, as right from the opening faceoff, the game was fast-paced and physical. The game was reminiscent of the OUA conference final playoff series between the two teams back in the 2017-18 season.

The physicality of the game played to the strength of many Stingers players, including Chase Harwell who scored the team’s second goal of the game just under a minute after McGill took a 2-1 lead in the third period.

I love that type of game, the atmosphere was crazy and emotions are high,” said Harwell. “I think we played really well. We deserved those two points but that’s the way overtime goes — one bounce and it’s all over.”

This was without a doubt the Stingers’ best losing performance of the season, which on the surface isn’t saying much as they did not get the full two points. However the team felt that they deserved a better fate.

“I think we dominated the third period with a lot of scoring chances,” said Élément. “I’m really proud of the guys. It’s not easy to play in front of a full crowd like that.”

The Stingers hit a bunch of posts in the third period and overtime, and ultimately didn’t get the last bounce they needed to get the victory.

McGill’s goaltender Louis-Philippe Guindon had another stellar performance as well, making 56 saves on 58 shots. This was by far the Stingers’ highest output of shots on goal in a game this season.

This was one of the most entertaining games of the U-Sports season and Élément couldn’t help but take in all in and salute both teams, and the crowd.

“I think university should always [have a full crowd],” said Élément. “It was a great game. For 10 bucks they had a great show — it’s great for hockey.”

Élément wouldn’t confirm who would start in goal for the Stingers tonight against the #6 ranked Carleton Ravens. Puck drop for the game is set for 7:30.

Categories
Sports

Healthy and happy new year for the Stingers

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team can have some fun in 2020, as a treat.

If their game on Jan. 4 was any indication of what the second half of the season is going to look like for the Stingers, then the players, coaches, and fans are in for a wild ride.

We’ve been over this before: the first part of the season for the Stingers was tough. There were 16 games plagued with injuries, bad bounces and a complete lack of goal scoring.

Things are seemingly turning a corner, though. On Jan. 4, they played with a healthy lineup for the first time, minus a banged up Marc-Antoine Turcotte, since shit hit the fan and the injuries started to pile up back on Oct. 18, 2019 when they played the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks.

Philippe Sanche, one of the three players who sustained injuries that game, reflected on the first part of his team’s season after Saturday night’s 8-7 overtime victory against the Ottawa Gee Gees.

“When things don’t go your way, maybe you grip your stick a bit too tight,” said Sanche. “We were trying too much, not scoring goals and forcing plays. I think [tonight] the boys were just happy to be playing hockey. It’s a fun game so we want to have fun out there.”

Tyler Hylland, who was doing the heavy lifting in terms of scoring for the Stingers, was giddy after Saturday’s game. I mean, how could you not when you go coast-to-coast and finish off the play with a between-the-legs goal?

“We were definitely at our best offensively,” Hylland laughed. “We can’t be playing every game like that; we gave them a lot that we probably shouldn’t have. But like I said on [the last time we played] Ottawa, with this lineup, we match up with any team in the league.”

This game could be a defining moment in the Stingers’ season. They were just able to keep their heads above water in the OUA East playoff race, amassing 15 points in 16 games. The most important thing to note about the first part of the season was that they never shied away from being held accountable.

Through many conversations with Hylland, Chase Harwell, and Carl Neill, they never felt sorry for themselves or blamed their situation on the injuries. They felt they were just not playing well enough to consistently win games. Now, it is evident that with the fully healthy lineup, they are a much more energized and confident team.

“It was definitely a huge boost of confidence. Everyone gave it all they had before Christmas but it just didn’t go our way,” said Neill. “Playing with all the guys does something to your confidence and the whole mental side of it.”

On top of Sanche, Alexander Katerinakis, and Zachary Zorn being back in the lineup from injuries on Saturday, the team had two newcomers: Félix Lauzon and Jéremy Diotte.

Lauzon spent his last season of junior hockey playing with the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Lauzon not only played with the likes of NHL prospects Joe Veleno, Maxim Comtois and Pierre-Olivier Joseph, but he was also a stand out performer for the team. In that same season, Lauzon put up 80 points and was given the Guy Carbonneau Trophy, which is awarded to the QMJHL’s best defensive forward.

Félix Lauzon lines up for a faceoff against Jacob Hanlon of the Gee Gees

Best defensive forward. In a season where he put up 80 points. 80. Eight zero.

Yeah, I think the Stingers found themselves a gem.

Lauzon was not fully healthy on his Stingers’ debut on Saturday but he still received high praise from his coach and teammates for his effort.

“He was really good on faceoffs for us and really good defensively,” said head coach Marc-André Élement. “He’s going to be really good for us. He’s a complete centreman and will be a very important part of our team.”

Speaking of important parts of the team, Turcotte is still ailing with an undisclosed injury. But Élement did give an update on his starting goaltender’s status, saying he is “day-to-day.”

The Stingers have a tough stretch of games ahead of them, with just four home games left on the schedule. It’s no secret that the Stingers still have a ton of work left to do. But they can rejoice in the fact that they are once more a full, healthy line up.

“We have a lot of work to do, a lot of video to review especially after a game that [we gave up 7 goals],” said Element. “Right now, I’m just happy and it was really fun to see the guys back and [healthy].”

 

Photos by Cecilia Piga

Categories
Sports

Mid-year Stingers grades

It’s report card time for the 11 Stingers teams

 

Football: C+

A lot of the positives from this season came from the individual performances of key players.  Adam Vance threw for over 2,000 yards and was a Hec Crighton finalist. James Tyrrell emerged as one of the top receivers in U Sports, and has now signed a deal with the CFL’s Ottawa RedBlacks. Jeremy Murphy was named the U Sports rookie of the year. Besides that, not too much worked for the Stingers on the field. The team’s defense struggled immensely, the offense faced consistency issues, and the team dropped winnable games against McGill, and ultimately posted the same record as last season. With many of his key players graduating this year, head coach Brad Collinson will have to push for another strong recruiting class.

-Matthew Coyte

 

Men’s Hockey: C-

Where to begin with this team? The season looked really promising after the first two weeks of the season. Then everything went south at the end of the fifth game (in which they actually won 6-5 in OT over Wilfrid Laurier). In the final moments of that game, Philippe Sanche, Alexander Katerinakis and Anthony Dumont-Bouchard all went down with injuries that have kept them out of the lineup ever since. Hockey is an unforgiving game and the Stingers’ 6-7-3 record is a reflection of that. Other teams don’t care about your injuries and you just have to deal with it. One of the bright spots however is rookie forward Tyler Hylland. Hylland has had a seamless transition from junior hockey to U-Sports, putting up 18 points in 16 games. The second half will be a better one for the team as they will be much healthier after the break but they’ll certainly have their work cut out for them if they want to have home-ice advantage in the playoffs – should they qualify.

-Matthew Ohayon

 

Women’s Hockey: A

I’m not sure what more you could ask for from this team. After 10 games, the team is 9-0-1 and has been the top ranked-team in U Sports for seven straight weeks. Head coach Julie Chu continues to elevate her veterans like Audrey Belzile and Claudia Dubois while recruiting rookies who have had an immediate impact like Emmy Fecteau and Léonie Philbert. This team generates an incredible amount of chances, and have managed to shut down the best teams in the RSEQ. Even their one loss was in a shootout in a game where they managed nearly 50 shots on net. Mix in superb goaltending from Alice Philbert and division-leading scorer Rosalie Bégin-Cyr and you have a team that just overwhelms opponents. The only reason I’m not giving them an A+ is because we’re only halfway through the season. The true test for this team begins in January.

-Matthew Coyte

 

Men’s Basketball: A-

There were some question marks around the Stingers after last season’s RSEQ Championship-winning season with Ricardo Monge and Garry Merrisier both leaving the team after graduating. Well, if the first six games of the season were any indication of how the Stingers are as a team, I’d say they are doing just fine with a 5-1 record. It is impossible to pinpoint one game breaker on the team but that is certainly no knock on them. In every one of their wins, it’s been a complete team win. Rookie Ali White and second year players Nathaniel Boisvert, Aleks Simeunovich and Tariq Barki Hamad have been pitching in off the bench as well. This is an incredibly deep and talented team that looks poised to repeat as RSEQ champions. It also helps when you have a very strong coaching staff that has their players buying into the team culture. U Sports needs to start giving this team, and conference, some more respect.

-Matthew Ohayon

 

Women’s Basketball: C+

The case of the women’s team is an interesting one. They are coming off a very strong season that saw them make an appearance in the nationals off the backs of their big three of Coralie Dumont, Caroline Task and U Sports rookie of the year, Myriam Leclerc. This year we’re seeing just how important Dumont was for this team as they hold a 2-3 record. Perhaps the most interesting of all their games was their 70-65 loss at Laval. The Stingers held the Rouge et Or to only five points in the opening quarter and got 20 points out of Sabrina Lineus who only totalled 24 minutes of playing time. The Stingers seem to be a little bit out of sync at the moment but they are a well coached squad who will certainly put it all together for the second half of the season.

–Matthew Ohayon

 

Men’s Rugby: A+

It’s pretty hard to find negatives in the season that team just offered. The Stingers successfully defended their RSEQ title, winning the championship a third straight year. They played solid rugby all season, and everyone contributed to the team’s success. The Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship (CUMRC) was played at Concordia this year, ensuring the team’s participation in the tournament regardless of their results in the RSEQ season. Yet, they proved they deserved their spot among the best of the country. They also played well at the CUMRC, winning their first game, and offering probably their best game of 2019 against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, despite the loss. The semi-final loss was a hard one to swallow, but I think the team can still be proud of their accomplishments this season.

-Alec Brideau

 

Women’s Rugby: A

It’s always great to see both men and women perform at such a high level at the same sport. After only two wins in seven games in 2018-19, as well as not making the RSEQ playoffs, the team bounced back with a perfect 6-0 season this year. The Stingers finished first in Section B and played through the RSEQ semi-final, where they lost 50-5 against the Université Laval Rouge et Or. It’s hard to give less than an A after that season.

-Alec Brideau

 

Men’s Wrestling: B

The men’s wrestling team has started their season well, clocking in at number 10 on the U Sports rankings three weeks running. While they’ve managed to stick around the national rankings, this is largely due to the team’s ability to grab points and not relying on individuals to carry the team. Only Aly Barghout (120 kg) and Julien Choquette (90 kg) are ranked members of the men’s wrestling team. Despite being slightly lower on the rankings than we’ve come to expect from this squad, don’t count them out yet. Wrestlers like fourth-year Francis Carter and Jordan Steen are a constant threat and are more than capable of lifting this team up the rankings.

-Matthew Coyte

 

Women’s Wrestling: B+

The woman’s wrestling team’s early success has come from its ability to get results from a number of different contributors. The team is led by fourth-year —and last year’s Stingers Female Athlete of the Year, Jade Dufour, but she’s not the only one winning matches. Kaleigh Prieur is fourth in the 48kg division, Laurence Beauregard is second in the 59kg division, plus Kaya Dube-Snow (55kg) and Amanda Savard (63kg) are first in their respective divisions. They’ve moved their way into the top three teams in U Sports, and their consistency will be key for success going forward.

-Matthew Coyte

 

Men’s Soccer: B

It was great to see the team participate in the RSEQ playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season. The Stingers faced adversity all season, and had trouble winning consecutive games. However, they still finished the season in fourth place with a 3-4-5 record, and played in the semi-final of the playoffs. I give the team a B because of their respectable season. Also, I think their playoff participation was quite huge for the men’s soccer team. The team knew it was the first time in a while, which represented a step in the right direction for the program.

-Alec Brideau

 

Women’s Soccer: B-

It’s been a bit harder for the women’s team in soccer. Finishing the season 2-7-5, the Stingers only won against the Université de Sherbrooke Vert et Or this year. They managed to get an impressive 1-1 tie against the first-ranked UQAM Carabins, but such results weren’t enough to make the RSEQ playoffs. The team has talented players and great potential. Sometimes, it’s just about luck or little details. At some point, it should click for that team.

-Alec Brideau

 

Categories
Sports

A look into the first half of the Stingers men’s hockey team’s season

Ah yes, December – a month seen by many as the best month of the year.

Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa. It’s a beautiful time of the year when families get together, people reflect on the year that was, and make new year’s resolutions that they will inevitably break. It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

For the Concordia Stingers’ men’s hockey team, December really could not have come fast enough. The 2019-20 season hasn’t been kind to them so far, to say the least. The Stingers currently hold a 6-7-3 record, sitting in sixth place in the OUA East division.

Looking at how they performed in the month of November, it would be easy to say, winning just two of their eight games, that it’s been a cruel month for the Stingers. But the reality is that the season as a whole, so far, has been one to forget.

The story of the season for Concordia has been the team’s lack of goal scoring, a direct causation of the multiple injuries that the team saw in the opening half of the season. Two of their best offensive players, Philippe Sanche and Alexander Katerinakis, have been out for the majority of the season with injuries, playing just five games each. Other regulars such as Jeff de Wit, Zachary Zorn, Colin Grannary, Ryan Vandervlis,have missed some time due to injuries as well.Sprinkle in a couple of suspensions to Carl Neill and Liam Murphy to that equation as well, and we have a Stingers team that haven’t iced a full, healthy, lineup all season.

You get the point. It’s been rough.

After Saturday’s game against Ottawa, you could sense the frustration in the room. Head coach Marc-André Élement reflected on the first half of the season and everything that’s gone wrong for the Stingers.

“I’m not a guy who makes excuses, but it’s been a hard first half,” said Élement. “It’s not just little injuries. It’s [big ones] to our top guys.”

Regardless of the injuries, Élement says that there are a lot of areas that his team will need to improve on in the new year if they want to make a long playoff run and qualify for nationals.

“We’re going to have to better defensively. We’re gonna need to play better as a [cohesive] unit,” Élement said. “Special teams needs to improve as well, [all around] we just need to be better.”

Let’s unpack that statement.

Forward Chase Harwell battles for the puck against two Ottawa Gee Gees players.

Regardless of the injuries they’ve dealt with, the Stingers still need to improve on a couple of areas, like Element said. One of the biggest issues the Stingers have been faced with this season is their lack of finishing. The Stingers are averaging just over 3 goals a game, which on the surface is a nice number to be at, but U Sports is a completely different ball (puck?) game than the NHL. To find sustained success, teams need to be hovering around 3.5 goals per game.

Special teams is a massive part of the U Sports game and right now the Stingers’ power play is running at 18.5 per cent efficiency. It’s not the worst number, but with the lack of talent there has been on the ice in recent games, it’s understandable how it dropped off from the 31.4 per cent it was working at, at one point in the season.

The penalty kill is the one there is no excuse for. It’s no secret that the Stingers take a lot of penalties. They rank fifth in the entire OUA conference in times short-handed. Their penalty kill is not far behind at 76.3 per cent, good for 17th in the conference. That is simply just not good enough, injuries or not. The Stingers get too flustered in their own end shorthanded and need to be more aggressive when it comes to their kill – and they have the speed to do so. The main issue with their penalty kill is that teams cycle for too long on them, tiring out the penalty kill unit which often results in a goal or another penalty.

Alright, enough negativity. Let’s end the year on some positives.

One of the things the Stingers could take a lot of pride in, despite their record, is that they’ve battled and had a chance in every game this season. Forward Chase Harwell says that when staring right in the face of adversity, the Stingers never back down.

“I’m pretty happy, the boys work,” said Harwell after losing against Ottawa. “It sucks that we didn’t get the win before the break, but the boys battled. I really like the attitude in the room.”

Another one of the bright spots of the Stingers’ season has been Tyler Hylland’s rookie season. The rookie forward’s arrival at Concordia was overshadowed by the news of the recruitment of Katerinakis and of Sanche being named captain. But Hylland has quickly made a name for himself among Stingers fans, collecting nine goals and nine assists in 16 games this season, all while having a revolving door of linemates.

Despite the first half of the season not going according to plan, Hylland is still very confident in his team’s ability to bounce back in the second half and make a strong push towards the playoffs.

“We need to work on the little details like finishing our checks and getting sticks on the pucks quicker,” said Hylland. “If we can work on those little details I think it’ll make a big difference for us because when our guys get back [from injury] and we have our full lineup, talent-wise, we’re right up there with anyone in the league.”

 

Photos by Alex Hutchins

Categories
Sports

How shot location and volume has been key to the Stingers success

What’s that famous saying?

“You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretzky”

–  Michael Scott

Despite the obvious cliché, the best way to win hockey games is to get pucks on net. The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team is currently the top-ranked team in U Sports, and one of the biggest reasons has been the team’s ability to generate high-quality shots, without sacrificing any defensive intensity.

In nine games so far this season, the team is averaging 34 shots per game, and have scored 30 goals. On the defensive side of the ice, they’ve only allowed 26.56 shots per game. While some teams play above expectations due to ballooned shooting percentages, the Stingers have a team shooting percentage of 9.8 per cent, an extremely sustainable rate. Their 3.33 goals per game is tied for first in all of U Sports. It’s not surprising that they’ve only been outshot twice all season, against the University of Ottawa on Nov. 17 and on Nov. 24 against McGill. The Stingers won both of those games.

This season, I’ve been tracking shots (for and against) for seven out of the team’s first nine games of the season (only games I’ve missed have been the ones where the team travels to Ottawa to play Carleton and U of O). As this team keeps playing games, patterns start emerging.

The big one being that the Stingers love to shoot in close. From the team’s 309 shots, 26.5 per cent have come from within five feet of the net. The team succeeds when it’s able to control the puck around the net, crash the crease and generate rebounds. In the team’s first game against McGill, the shots were scattered with no real concentration. On Nov. 10, the Stingers played Montreal, one of the top teams in the country. They managed to control play around the net, and that led to 15 shots from the crease, and the Stingers shutout the Carabins 4-0. Their only loss of the season, a 3-2 shootout loss to Carleton, was largely due to defensive lapses and a hot opposing goalie that made 45 saves.

“For us, the best areas to be able to score goals is net-front, within the dots, up to the top of the circles,” said head coach Julie Chu after her team’s weekly Wednesday skills practice. “I think that’s a really big emphasis for ourselves. To not only be an exterior team moving the puck, but we have to get to the net. And with the goalies we play against, they’re talented, so if we only stay on the exterior and only take shots from there, they’re easy saves. We’re focusing a lot on getting to the net and trying to create traffic and winning net-front battles as much as we can.”

With all of the talent that Chu has managed to recruit to the Stingers since becoming the team’s head coach in the summer of 2016, it shouldn’t be a surprise that they’ve emerged as the top team in the country, and were named the number one ranked team in U Sports for five weeks in a row at the time of publication. Players like Audrey Belzile, Rosalie Bégin-Cyr, Emmy Fecteau and Claudia Dubois have shown that they’re not only capable of generating high quality chances basically at will, but also spreading the offence to other players. Add high-end players like Olivia Atkinson, Marie-Pascale Bernier and Brigitte Lagnagniere, and you see why teams have struggled to slow down the Stingers.

Photo by Cecilia Piga

“What’s fun is that we have a lot of talented players with a lot of skill,” said Chu. “That increases our opportunities to be threats on the ice. When you only have one player that really has a tremendous shot, and the other [players] aren’t really threats, and you’re only trying to feed one person, it’s easy to eventually shut down attacks.”

With the most goals in the RSEQ so far this season, and peppering opposing goalies with endless high quality shots per game, they’re bound to tire any goalie out. It’s been their key to outlasting talented teams like McGill and Montreal. The Stingers are not only taking a lot of shots, but they’re managing to get the majority of those shots off in dangerous areas. Olympic pistol shooters and archers would be jealous of this kind of consistent placement.

On special teams, while the power-play struggled to start this season 一 only scoring four times on 37 power play chances 一 it’s improved as the season has gone on. Chu talked about how the team has been working on reading the play better and establishing that net-front presence that’s frustrated other RSEQ teams all year.

Graphic by Matthew Coyte

Looking at the scores, it would be easy to fixate on the Stingers offensive prowess, but they’ve been just as good on the defensive side of things. They’re the only team with a positive goal differential at +14. To see how good they are, just look at how they managed to shut out McGill and Montreal in back-to-back games. Goalie Alice Philbert has been a massive part of this success, but suppressing high-quality shots has become the Stinger M.O. lately. For Chu, all of that starts at the offensive end of the ice.

“When we have a good forecheck, the ability for the transition of the opposing team becomes less,” said Chu. “Or we might have extra numbers back, so they don’t have the ability to attack and get more 3-on-2’s. I think our forecheck has been really good, which is our first line of slowing down the offence of the opposing team. Secondly, in [our] zone, we work a lot on our defensive zone coverage, and we were just trying to find ways to smartly pressure.Being good with our sticks, being great with contact, those are going to help us hopefully keep our opponents to the exterior.”

Despite the team’s hot start to the season, Chu still says that there are “lots of different aspects” that she wants the team to focus on. Most of all, the team’s breakouts.

“The consistency of our breakout is always something that’s huge,” said Chu. “In the same way that we say our forecheck 200-feet away from our net is really important in the defensive side of our game, our breakout is huge in our ability to create offense. Our ability to shut down the opponent, be able to turn the puck, make the right reads and get momentum and energy up the ice with numbers is really important.”

 

Photos by Cecilia Piga, graphics by Matthew Coyte

Categories
Sports

Wide receiver Jeremy Murphy exceeds expectations in first season

When the Concordia Stingers football team recruited wide receiver Jeremy Murphy, they were confident they were getting something good. But, they couldn’t have guessed at the time how much of an impact Murphy would have in his first season.

“I thought Murphy was a very good receiver in college, and that he could bring that talent to the university level,” said head coach Brad Collinson. “He exceeded our expectations. To do what he did in his first year is rare. I knew he had it in him. I just didn’t know he would show it this year.”

Murphy comes from the Collège Champlain-St-Lambert Cavaliers where he played in the Réseau du Sport Étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) division 3. Murphy was named the rookie of the year in his first season there in 2016, as well as being named to the offensive all-star team. Last year, he was named the best offensive player and was once again on the offensive all-star team.

In his first season with the Stingers, the Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville native caught 34 passes for 491 yards. He also scored four touchdowns in eight games, which ranked him first of all RSEQ receivers. Murphy said his first season with the Stingers was a blast.

“It was a great experience, especially for a first-year player like myself,” Murphy said. “I learned many things, on and off the field, about being on time, my occupations, school and others. On the field, you learn just by the way you listen to your coach, and then apply the instructions.”

It was clear after their first game of the season against the Carabins de Montréal that Murphy would become a staple in the Stingers offence. People around the team knew that veteran James Tyrell would be the number one receiver, so it was up to the rest of the receiving corps to prove their worth – Murphy had an instant impact.

Collinson thought Murphy developed well in his first year with the Stingers, and showed he was one of the best freshmen in the league. He said Murphy is a competitor who trusts his abilities, which explains why he had success.

“I think he became a better route runner,” Collinson said. “He always had great chances as a receiver, which is key. Those are really things we enjoyed [from] him this year. Football’s very important to him. He enjoys the sport, and that passion transferred to how he played on the field.”

Murphy’s statistics allowed him to be named the RSEQ rookie of the year earlier this month. The wide receiver said he’s happy to receive such a reward.

“Obviously I wanted to win the RSEQ rookie of the year, but it wasn’t part of my expectations [entering the season],” Murphy said. “I was just trying to make my name known, and create a spot on the team for myself, nothing more than that.”

In addition to the RSEQ rookie of the year, Murphy was named the most outstanding rookie in Canadian university football last week, a first for a Stingers player since Liam Mahoney in 2007.

Collinson said the team won’t change its coaching because of how Murphy performed in his first year. He explained that everyone will start over again next season and progress at their rhythm.

“It’s not going to put pressure on [Murphy],” Collinson said. “We just want him to have a good season, and continue to develop and trust the process we coach here at Concordia. If he does that, good things will happen.”

Pressure or not, Murphy will be a player to watch in 2020-21. Teams now know what he’s capable of, and will try to limit his production when they play against him and the Stingers.

With a new quarterback next season, as veteran Adam Vance completes his fifth and final season with the team in 2019-20, players might have an adjustment period entering the new season.

However, some of the team’s wide receivers were also playing their last season, which could put Murphy into a bigger role in 2020-21, and allow him to continue on where he left last year.

Murphy said the goal for him is just to continue developing his game and what he’s been working on since joining the team last season.

“For me, it’s just to improve on what I’ve already created,” Murphy said. “As a team, we just have to win more than we did this year, and push it to the second round of the playoffs.”

Feature photo by Kyran Thicke / Concordia Stingers

Categories
Sports

Stingers men’s rugby team loses to the Gaels in CUMRC bronze medal game

The Concordia Stingers men’s rugby team lost its Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship (CUMRC) bronze medal game 31-22 against the Queen’s University Gaels on Sunday morning, which concluded the team’s 2019-20 season.

The Stingers never managed to be in control of the game, as the Gaels took an early lead in the first half and never looked back.

Stingers head coach Craig Beemer said he wishes his players left the field with a better result after the effort they put and the season they had.

“I’m definitely not a participation guy,” Beemer said. “Our goal was the medal, so we didn’t meet our goal. I think you saw on Friday night, as well as in today’s second half, we have earned the right to have a medal, but it just didn’t happen for us today.”

Despite being a unique and great experience for the teams, the CUMRC still has challenges. Beemer said it was tough to go from one game a week, like the team is used to during its regular Réseau du Sport Étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) season, to three games in five days.

That’s where you see the blood, sweat and tears,” Beemer said. “These guys put in so many hours as student-athletes. When the coaching staff and I ask them to do things, I think that’s the toughest part [since they already put in so much time and always give their best effort].”

The Stingers gained some momentum late in the second half, scoring two consecutive tries for the first time of the game. Unfortunately for them, time ran out shortly thereafter. Beemer said having good starts is essential in a tournament like this one, and gave credit to the Gaels for their performance.

“Hats off to the Gaels,” said Beemer. “They played really well, and scored tries when they needed to. Our defence put theirs under a lot of pressure, but they responded really well. They were the better team today.”

Hooker Michael Laplaine-Pereira, who scored the Stingers’s consecutive tries in the second half and was named the Stingers most valuable player of the game, said despite the loss, the team is still happy with their season.

“We developed strong connections between the boys,” Laplaine-Pereira said. “It’s a life experience. We knew it would end at some point this week, and had to give everything we had today. We put everything we did this whole season on the line.”

Laplaine-Pereira said in events like that, where teams face injuries and challenges, the most important thing is to remain in good spirits.

“We’re not just leaving with a loss today,” Laplaine-Pereira said. “We’re leaving with a family, and connections that will stay for a long time.”

The Stingers officially conclude the CUMRC in fourth place, the same position they finished last year when they lost to the University of Victoria Vikes in the bronze medal game.

 

Feature photo by Laurence B.D.

Categories
Sports

Concordia 2 McGill 1: Stingers hang on to beat Martlets

After losing on Friday night to the last-placed Carleton Ravens, you might think the Stingers women’s hockey team’s morale would be down. 

Apparently not.

The Stingers rebounded from Friday’s loss to beat the fifth-ranked McGill Martlets 2-1 at McGill’s McConnell Arena thanks to goals from rookies Emmy Fecteau and Léonie Philbert.

Fecteau opened the scoring on the first shot of the game when she walked into the Martlets zone and ripped a wrister from the slot past McGill goalie Tricia Deguire. Léonie doubled the Stingers lead after burying a rebound short side on a first period power play. Deguire would finish the game with 24 saves.

“We were bummed after [Friday’s] game,” said head coach Julie Chu after the win. “No one likes to lose. In the locker room, they were taking it hard, but we said ‘it’s okay, taste the bitterness and bottle it up, and don’t let it discourage you, let it fuel [you].’It was awesome to see how our team came out in the first period.”

From there, things got a little tougher.

McGill came flying out of the gate in the second period, outshooting the Stingers 18-10. Stingers goalie Alice Philbert, after being given a rest on Friday, was forced to make some key saves, including a stretching toe save on a McGill 2-on-1. Alice would finish the game with 31 stops, and improve to 8-0 on the season. Alice currently leads the RSEQ with a 1.55 GAA and is second in save percentage with a .940 (Deguire leads the division with a .941).

The Stingers had to rely on their goaltending, shot blocking, and a quick stick check here and there to keep McGill from tying the game during their second period onslaught.

“We survived the second period,” said Chu. “We’re not delusional. The first ten minutes of the second, McGill really did a good job buzzing in our defensive job and we didn’t do a good job tracking and winning our one-on-one battles. They were on our heels.”

Lea Dumais would cut into the Stingers lead with a deflection that snuck by Philbert halfway through the second period, but that would be McGill’s only goal as the Stingers would throw everything at the Martlets in the defensive end.

The Stingers wouldn’t be as dangerous as they were in the first period, but when it mattered, they managed to frustrate the Martlets. With only a few minutes left in the third period, the Stingers were able to control the puck down low in the Martlet zone, killing precious time.

“This team is awesome,” said Chu. “They find a way. We’re still figuring out what our character is as we go into new situations. I like what I saw today.”

The Stingers will play the Carleton Ravens in Ottawa on Dec. 1

Notes:

  • I complained on Nov. 1 that not enough arenas have distinct features after the Stingers played the Carabins at CEPSUM. Turns out I forgot about McGill’s McConnell Arena and the visiting team’s upstairs dressing room. Teams have to climb up and down stairs to get from the ice to the room. Incredible design.

Feature photo by Cecilia Piga. Graphic by Matthew Coyte.

 

Categories
Sports

Concordia 2 Carleton 3 (SO): Ravens halt Stingers’ perfect start

Well, nothing lasts forever.

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team’s seven-game win streak wasn’t ended by either of their nationally-ranked cross-town rivals at McGill or Montreal. Rather, it came to an end against the now 2-5 Carleton Ravens in a 3-2 shootout loss.

Despite putting 47 shots on net, the Stingers were unable to beat Ravens rookie Marie-Eve Cote, who put on one of the best goaltender performances in the RSEQ so far this year. In net for the Stingers, second-year Madison Oakes made her first ever start for the team.

“We have a good goaltender group, and Alice has played a lot of minutes,” said Chu. “It’s time to get some other goaltenders experience too. I think that’s just a smart thing for us to do. Madi’s done a good job, this month especially at practice, and deserved the start.”

“We just needed to poke in a couple more there.”

If you just happened to stumble into the Ed Meagher Arena on this Friday night to watch this game, with no knowledge of either goaltender, you probably would have noticed that Cote was lights out as a rookie and that Oakes made more than a couple nice puck plays under pressure. Unfortunately for Oakes, her debut was spoiled by the Ravens.

“I think [Cote] made some tremendous saves,” said head coach Julie Chu after the loss. “They’re a good, hardworking team. They’ve had close games against pretty much everyone all season long, gone into overtime, shootouts. It’s understandable, we knew it was going to be a battle of a game.”

Is it weird to say that a team that got 47 shots on net wasn’t able to generate consistent chances throughout the game? The Stingers shot totals were ballooned by the double-overtime, but for the first two periods of this game, they didn’t test Cote nearly enough. Add in an extremely lucky break where a Ravens shot from the corner seemed to beat Oakes and bounce out of the net, that wasn’t called a goal, and you could feel that the Stingers didn’t play their best game. Chu echoed this sentiment post-game.

“Me personally, I didn’t think we had a good enough net-front presence,” said Chu. “I thought that we had some chances on the rushes that we got to bury, but in zone, we got opportunities, our net-front wasn’t great. We got to be better, especially if a goaltender is playing well.”

The Stingers managed to break the scoreless game with six minutes left in the third period when captain Claudia Dubois tipped a wrister from the point from Brigitte Laganière. While Dubois’ stick looked like it may have been above the crossbar, the goal stood, sending Ravens head coach Pierre Alain into a rage. The Carleton coach would only get more exasperated when the Stingers widened the lead 18 seconds later thanks to a rocket from the slot from Emmy Fecteau. Dubois and Laganière would both finish the game with two points.

A Ravens’ body checking penalty shortly after that second goal, and a bench minor thanks to Alain slamming the bench’s door over and over again would give the Stingers a 5-on-3 power play.

Normally, this would be where the Stingers add another goal and seal the game.

Not this time.

The Stingers power play woes ー which seemed to have dissipated in the previous couple of games ー returned all at once during the 5-on-3. After not being able to generate any chances for the full two minutes, both Ravens players popped out of the box, promptly received the breakaway pass, and Megan Wilson slid the puck through the 5-hole of Oakes.

Two minutes later, the Ravens pulled Cote for the extra attacker and really started to bear down on the Stingers. On the first face-off after a time-out by the Ravens, it was Wilson again who tied the game, walking into the Stingers crease without being touched. Suddenly, we’re back in familiar territory for the Stingers – overtime.

It was in the subsequent two overtime periods that Cote truly earned her win, making stop after stop on high-quality chances. It was only fitting that this would be decided in a shootout.

“Even though they had the time and space, they couldn’t quite get [the puck in] there,” said Chu of the shootout attempts. “Sometimes it’s like that.”

Both Emmy Fecteau and Claudia Dubois couldn’t raise the puck over the right foot of Cote, and Oakes was beaten twice. Suddenly and abruptly the Stingers perfect start to the season came to a screeching halt.

For Chu, the solution is simple: score.

“Now for us, it’s just finding a way to put pucks away.”

The Stingers face the McGill Martlets Nov. 24 at McGill.

Notes:
  • Madison Oakes didn’t deserve this loss, it was just that Marie-Eve Cote earned it more. 45 saves against the top team in the country. Wow.
  • Eight games into the season, we’ve seen glimpses at what an elite power play this Stingers team might have, but so far, they’ve been objectively worse with the extra attacker so far this season. I imagine some scheme changes will be coming after the holiday break.

 

Photo by Cecilia Piga

Categories
Sports

Stingers men’s rugby team starts CUMRC with a win

All teams were in action Wednesday for the first day of the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship (CUMRC). The Concordia Stingers concluded the day with a 10-7 victory over the University of Guelph Gryphons.

With eight teams in the tournament, the first-ranked team played the eighth-ranked team, the second-ranked team played the seventh, and so on.

The Stingers and Gryphons, fourth and fifth respectively, knew each other well, as they met last year for the previous edition of the CUMRC. The Stingers won that game 19-5.

Both teams had good scoring opportunities, however the Stingers’s defence played an almost perfect game, and helped the team win regardless of scoring just a single try and penalty kick. The try was scored by veteran Stephen Martinez in the first half.

Head coach Craig Beemer thought the Stingers were dominant in many aspects, but said the defence was really good.

“When [the offence] doesn’t score the points you need, and the game gets tight, you can get a crazy finish like that,” Beemer said. “Hats off to Guelph, they battled for the full 60 minutes, and really put us under pressure at the end.”

The decision to opt for a three-point penalty kick with 15 minutes left in the second half came from the game being a one score contest. Beemer said the opportunity was there, as the Stingers were aligned right between the posts in Gryphons’s territory.

“You want to automatically make it [a difference] of two scores,” Beemer said. “That came back right. In the second half, if you can advance it by another score or even more, then you take it.”

Stingers centre Aidan McMullan, who scored that penalty kick, said the experience of playing the CUMRC at home is awesome.

“We had the game at 6 p.m., so everyone could come after work,” said McMullan. “It’s awesome to have family and friends coming out, cheering you on, and supporting you through this whole season. Now, it’s finally this tournament, and we’re just going to keep on going.”

Stephen Martinez poses with Concordia’s athletics director, D’Arcy Ryan, after being named player of the game for the Stingers.

The Stingers will now play the two-time CUMRC defending champions University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the semi-final on Friday. It’s the third time in as many years the two teams meet at the championship. Beemer said he likes his team’s chances.

“I like our players’ attitude right now,” Beemer said. “I think they believe in themselves. I like our attack. If you want to win gold, you have to beat the best team.”

The game starts at 2:30 p.m. at Concordia Stadium. The winner will play for gold at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

 

Photos by Cecilia Piga

Exit mobile version