uqtr – The Concordian

Women’s hockey:

The Concordia Stingers women’s hockey team went into this weekend having to face two of the top five teams in the country. I don’t care what the U Sports rankings say, Concordia, UDEM and McGill are all giants in Canadian university sports.

“It’s a long season and we’re in a tremendous league,” said head coach Julie Chu. “We know that we’re going to be in tight, hard-fought games and we gotta make sure that we continue doing the little things right and staying positive is the number one thing. We have an opportunity tomorrow to go and have a great game too.”

The Stingers first game came against McGill. The Martlets came out flying and worked well to pressure the Stingers into making costly mistakes. After two periods of play, the Martlets were up 3-1. The Stingers then managed to come back to tie the game thanks to the efforts of captain Claudia Dubois, Audrey Belzile and Rosalie Bégin-Cyr who combined to force Concordia’s next two goals. Despite the comeback, the Stingers couldn’t get any momentum through the first overtime, and in the second overtime period, the Martlets capitalized and took the dub. This was the first time all season that the Stingers dropped back-to-back games.

The next day against the UDEM Carabins, the Stingers made sure to not make that mistake again. In what would be a tight, hard-fought and physical battle against Montreal, Concordia managed to outlast their opponent to take the shootout win. Back-up goalie Madison Oakes got the start against the Carabins to play in her third ever U Sports match, and she did not disappoint. Oakes was calm in the crease, only allowing one goal, including blanking all three Carabins shootout attempts.

“It’s kind of like your first shift back after not playing for a while,” said Chu. “But I think she settled in really well as the game went on. She’s a gamer. I think anytime our goaltenders are able to make big saves, that gives us a boost of energy.”

Bégin-Cyr continued her torrid scoring pace with a three-goal weekend, moving into a tie for sixth place in U Sports scoring.

– Matthew Coyte, Managing Editor

Men’s hockey:

The Stingers men’s hockey team put on a show for their fans on Saturday night. Going into their game with Nipissing, Stingers were on a four-game losing streak with their most recent loss coming on Jan. 15 against UQTR, losing by a score of 3-1. The Stingers had their chances in that game but again, it was their lack of ability to put the puck in the back of the net that got the best of them. Special teams were also an issue against the Patriotes as they were 0/5 with the man advantage.

Then came Saturday.

Only two points separated the Stingers and the Nipissing Lakers heading into the game. Having lost four in a row and facing a team trailing them in the standings, this game was critical for the Stingers. Head coach Marc-André Élement said the message going into the game was “leaders lead the way,” and boy, did they ever.

Fourth year player and team captain Philippe Sanche netted a hat-trick while assistant captain Carl Neill added three assists to his point total on the season. The team has shown flashes of brilliance in the past this season but haven’t been able to string together consecutive wins since Nov. 1. Things only get harder for the Stingers as they only have one more home game left on their schedule between now and the end of the regular season.

On top of all that, the special teams units really stepped up in a big way. The Stingers went 2/8 on the powerplay—which included goals from Jeff de Wit and Alexander Katerinakis. Meanwhile their penalty killing unit did a great job for the most part of neutralizing the Lakers’ powerplay, only holding them to a singular goal on eight attempts. On top of that, one of Philippe Sanche’s goals was a short handed marker.

A game like the one against Nipissing can turn into a critical one for the Stingers down the final stretch of the season. Beating a team that is jockeying for playoff position with the Stingers is no small feat. It can boost the confidence of the team which at this point is much needed. It is one thing to say that they can compete with any team in the country, as many of the players have said before. It’s another thing to do it.

That theory will be put to the test this weekend when the team heads to Ottawa to face off against the Ravens and the Gee Gees.

– Matthew Ohayon, Sports Editor

Photos by Britanny Clarke and Cecilia Piga

It’s pretty uncommon for coaches to throw their lines in the blender after a win, but that’s exactly what Marc-André Élement did Friday night.

Hey, whatever works.

The Stingers came out looking great in the first period, moving their feet and battling hard. They were ready for this one.

The Université de Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) looked good as well – like the 7th ranked team in Canada. However, that didn’t last very long. Just over two minutes into the game, Colin Grannary was sprung on a breakaway by who else than Tyler Hylland, and it was quickly 1-0 for the Stingers.

Near the end of the period, with the Stingers not spending much time in the Patriotes’ zone, Jean-Philippe Beaulieu sent a behind the back pass to Chase Harwell and it was 2-0 for the Stingers.

Defensively, they did not give UQTR any room to work with. It was all a part of the game plan, says Élement.

“We kept everything on the outside,” said Élement, “I’ll be honest with you, we played a boring game, but that’s what you need to do when you have key injuries in your line up.”

Five minutes into the second period, Loik Léveillé of the Patriotes wired a wrister past Marc-Antoine Turcotte.

2-1. Here we go, we have a game on our hands… or so we thought.

That’s all the Patriotes would get as the rest of the game was the Tyler Hylland show. The Stingers responded with two goals off the stick of Hylland. Hylland, with his three-point performance, poll vaulted himself into a five-way tie for the OUA scoring lead.

But the game didn’t end there, as William Leclerc would also get into the action and net his first goal of the season.

Leclerc was slotted on a line with Harwell and Beaulieu, who have struggled offensively this season, but that trio was one of the Stingers’ best of the night.

We haven’t been [scoring] but we’ve been playing really well,” said Harwell. “It felt really good. This game was a big statement to the league. We could play, and [everyone knows it now].”

With the Stingers’ victory, they are now only one point back of the Patriotes for second place in the OUA East division.

Tonight they face a tough test as they are on the road against the third nationally ranked Carleton Ravens

Photos by Laurence B.D.