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WESTERN MEN, YORK WOMEN WIN OUA TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS LONDON, Ont. – After three days of competition the Western Mustangs men and York Lions women emerged as the OUA Men’s and Women’s Tennis Champions on Sunday October 5th, at the Western University Tennis Centre.
Szilvassy 6-4, 6-3 in the second flight finals. York cruised to the title on Sunday October 5th, winning three of the six singles flights and one doubles flight to finish the championship with 17 points.
It was the third straight year, and 18th time overall, that the Mustangs hoisted the men’s trophy, while it was the sixth time in school history that the Lions were crowned women’s champions. “It’s our third year in a row this year, and it’s definitely more special to win at home,” said Mustangs co-coach Cameron Cross. “It’s a great feeling,” said Lions coach Chris Field. “The girls worked very hard for this championship. It was a great pleasure.” The Mustangs clinched the title midway through the final day championship matches, finishing the tournament with 15.5 points. Western won three singles flights on Sunday while also claiming two of the three doubles flights.
“The first time we had a chance when I’ve been coaching we came up half a point short so at home. It certainly feels great to win at home.”
Valerie Ushanova took first place in the top singles flight, defeating Toronto’s Steffi Wong 6-5, 6-4 to earn the gold medal. Eugenie Lim Ah Tock won the third flight with a 6-2, 6-1 win over the Varsity Blues Antonina Gorshenina. Sonia Glushkovsky recorded the Lions’ third singles win of the day, defeating Montreal’s Lauriane Roussel 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the sixth flight. Along with their wins in singles competition, Tock and Glushkovsky combined to win the third doubles flight, topping the Carabins’ Roussel and Anaïs Boa 8-1. Montreal claimed silver with 13 points, winning the fourth and fifth singles flight, along with the second doubles flight. Clémentine Michallon won the fourth flight with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 win over York’s Kelsi Smith, while Boa defeated Smith’s Lions teammate Shivanie Skandarajah 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 to win the fifth flight.
– Cameron Cross The Waterloo Warriors and Montreal Carabins tied for second place with 12 points, however the Warriors earned the silver medals due to winning more head-to-head matches between the two teams. Waterloo’s Vincent Chan won the top flight singles title, defeating Montreal’s Colomban Bounine 6-2, 6-3 to win the gold. The Warriors also won the third singles flight as John Chan defeated Montreal’s Andrew Beljaars 6-4, 6-2. Vincent and John Chan also claimed Waterloo’s third win of the day, taking the top men’s doubles flight 8-6 over Toronto’s Ivan Markovic and Cameron Chiang. Markovic was the lone men’s player not representing Western or Waterloo to take the top spot in his flight, defeating the Mustangs Andre
Rounding out the Carabins victors for the day was the duo of Cholé Lafaix and Clementine Michallon, who defeated Western’s Melissa Lee and Michelle Stanescu 8-5 to win the second flight. The Varsity Blues took third place overall with 11.5 points, and also won the top doubles flight as Steffi Wong and Jennifer Cape won a hard-fought 8-7 contest over York’s Ushanova and Julia Kedrzycki. Rounding out the winners from Sunday was Western’s Susan Huang, who won the second singles flight 6-4, 6-3 over Toronto’s Jennifer Cape to help the Mustangs finish in fourth place with 10 points.
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BADGERS DEFEAT WARRIORS 8-0 2014 OUA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSH HAMILTON, Ont. - The Brock Badgers baseball team put the cap on a dominant season with an 8-0 shutout over the Waterloo Warriors to win the 2014 OUA Championship played at Bernie Arbour Stadium in Hamilton. Brock captured the league pennant with a stellar 17 and 1 season record, and then swept through the league championship with three more wins to capture the fourth OUA title in team history.
bases with nobody out. But the Badgers turned a pretty double play, one of four on the day, and Hutton was able to retire the side. Hutton said getting some early run support made his job
“There are a bunch of guys on this team graduating this year so we went into every game with the attitude we had to win.”
The Badgers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but blew the game open in the third by scoring seven runs to open an 8-0 advantage. The key blow in the third was a flare into the short outfield by shortstop Phil Steer (Toronto, Ont.) with the bases loaded. Two Warrior errors in the 3rd helped the Badgers build their big lead. Brock got a terrific performance from their starting pitcher Johnny Hutton (Ancaster,Ont.), who threw six scoreless innings at the Warriors. The only trouble Hutton got into was in the 6th, when Waterloo loaded the
– Johnny Hutton
much easier. “It was absolutely massive, and I couldn’t believe the way those guys (Badgers) battled for at-bats,” added the southpaw. “I mean, scoring eight runs by the third inning... what more could you ask for?” The Badger bullpen trotted out Ryan Beckett (Tiny, Ont.), Jeff Baggaley (Whitby, Ont.), and Daniel Veres (Burlington, Ont.), who kept the Warriors at bay, before ace closer Phil Owen (Richmond Hill, Ont.) came on
in the 9th to get the final three outs. Waterloo starter Brandon Semus (Windsor, Ont.) took the loss, getting the hook in the critical third inning. Waterloo flirted with disaster for most of the game, as Brock stranded 13 base-runners over eight innings. The OUA Championship Most Valuable Player Award was presented to winning pitcher Johnny Hutton, who said the Badgers were on a mission in 2014. “There are a bunch of guys on this team graduating this year so we went into every game with the attitude we had to win. A lot of us have been together for three years and that chemistry is so important in a short season. It was a huge factor for us this year.” Waterloo made it to the final with a hard fought 3-0 upset win over the second-seeded Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday October 18th.
TO WIN HIP
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ATERLOO MEN, TORONTO WOMEN LDEN AT OUA GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
OSHAWA, Ont. – The Waterloo Warriors men’s golf team and the Toronto Varsity Blues women’s golf team won the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Championship on Tuesday October 21st, at the conclusion of final round play at the Oshawa Golf and Curling Club. It was fitting that the Varsity Blues women’s team claimed their third straight OUA title, as the cup was named this year after former University of Toronto Athletic Director Liz Hoffman. Toronto cruised to victory on Tuesday as they shot a two-day total of 461, beating out the second place Waterloo Warriors by 23 strokes. Western would place third, one stroke back of the Warriors at 485. This was the second straight year that the three teams would reach the podium in that order. In the individual competition, three Varsity Blues golfers finished in the top ten. Sarah Dunning led the way winning the gold medal in the individual competition, as she carded a two-day total of five-over par. Dunning would have the low round on both days with scores of 76 and 73. At the championship banquet on Monday night, the individual trophy was named in honour of former Waterloo athletic director Judy McCrae. Toronto’s Ana Peric would finish in second place, tied with Jessie Mercer of Western, three strokes back of the leader. Laura Upenieks ended up placing sixth for Toronto at 160. Defending individual champion Devon Rizzo of Waterloo came into the clubhouse at nine-over par, good enough for fourth place overall.
In the men’s event, the Waterloo Warriors managed to dethrone the two-time defending champion Western Mustangs, as they held on to their opening round lead to win by four strokes. Waterloo was the only team to break 300 in both rounds of the championship with scores of 293 and 298. In a touching moment during the closing ceremony, the Warriors dedicated the win in honour of legendary head coach Jack Pearse, who passed away a year ago after suffering a heart attack. The Ottawa Gee-Gees managed to jump up two spots after round one as they finished in second place with a two-day total of 595, four strokes in front of the third place Brock Badgers (599). Western would end up in fourth place at 603. Gajan Sivabalasingham of Waterloo was also able to hold on to his opening round lead, as he won the individual title to claim double-gold. Sivabalasingham was the only golfer in the field not to be above par, as he shot an even-par two-day total of 144. A trio of golfers finished tied for second place as Harris Bundy of Western, Brett Mitchell of Brock and Ryan Tsang of Toronto had matching totals of two-over par 146. James Krantz of UOIT entered the day one stroke out of the lead, but struggled in round two as he carded a six-over par 78. Krantz’s two-day total of 149 landed him a spot in the top ten, marking the best performance by a Ridgeback at the championship in the four-year history of the program. The Ridgebacks team ended up in ninth place overall.
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VARSITY BLUES RECLAIM OUA TIT WITH 3-0 WIN OVER GRYPHONS BRAMPTON Ont, - The University of Toronto Varsity Blues field hockey team defeated the Guelph Gryphons 3-0 to win the 2014 OUA championship title on Sunday October 26th in Brampton, Ont.
the 2014 CIS championship next week, October 30thNovember 2nd at Back Campus Fields. U of T welcomes the UBC Thunderbirds, Victoria Vikes and Guelph Gryphons for the four-team national tournament.
The Blues earned their OUAleading 30th provincial banner since 1971, and a third title in the past four years.
Toronto opened the scoring in the final minutes of the first half when Nikki Woodcroft drove the ball done the field and Emma Stairs was there to finish it off. The Blues led 1-0 at the half.
With the win, Toronto remains a perfect 14-0-0 as they host
The Blues held off the Gryphons attack, including four consecutive corner opportunities, with some great defensive efforts from Rachel Fackoury and strong goaltending from Madeleine Cho. OUA leading scorer Alison Lee then added to Toronto’s lead off a penalty corner and minutes later Stairs added her second of the game to round out the scoring.
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ONS SWEEP MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY BANNERS
KINGSTON, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphons took home both team and individual first place finishes at the OUA Cross Country Championships, Saturday October 25th at Fort Henry in Kingston. The Guelph women won their OUA record 11th consecutive championship title and the men their 10th. It was a three woman race for the podium as Julie-Anne Staehli from Queen’s, Heather Petrick of Guelph and Gabriela Stafford of Toronto broke away from the pack to set the top pace. In the end it was the 2013 top rookie Petrick who narrowly edged out Stafford at the finish line despite trailing in the final paces. Petrick finished the 6km race in a time of 20:02.44 with Stafford following at 20:03.22 and last year’s silver medalist Staehli rounding out the podium finishers in third at a time of 20:13.88. The top female runner in the race was Katie Phillips of the Ottawa Gee-Gees who finished in a time of 22:23.30. With placings of 1st, 5th, 7th 8th and 9th the Gryphons took the overall team placing with a 30 point score followed up by the Western Mustangs who had top finishes of 4th and 14th with the Queen’s Gaels taking the team bronze and
having top results of 3rd, 6th and 12th. On the men’s side it was all Gryphons as they swept the podium and finsihed with the top four finishes. Leading the way was Ross Proudfoot, last year’s runner up, who finished the 10km race in a time of 30:15.00 beating out teammate Tristan Woodfine who clocked in 11 seconds later at 30:26.00. Rounding out the podium finishers was Yves Sikubwabo coming in at 30:46.75 followed in fourth by Gryphon Aaron Hendrikx and by fifth place finisher from Queen’s Alex Wilkie. It was another Gael earning top rookie spot as well as Eric Wynards came in at 32:54.56 as the top first-year. The Gryphons nearly swept the top team finishers for the OUA banner with scorers finishing in spots one through four and 12th. The Windsor Lancers took second place thanks to top performances that included an 8th and 11th place finish while the Marauders claimed bronze with 7th and 14th place finishers leading the way. The silver medal team result was forced to a tie-breaker with Windsor taking silver thanks to the top displacer finish by Alex Ullman ahead of the Marauder top displacer Luke Charbonneau.
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GUELPH SWEEPS TEAM TITLES AT CIS XC CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR 9TH STRAIGHT ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. (CIS) – The University of Guelph claimed both the women’s and men’s titles at the 2014 CIS cross-country running championships, marking the ninth consecutive year the Gryphons have captured both banners. The races were held at St. John’s Pippy Park golf course for the first time in the event’s history on Saturday November 8th. The weather provided a serious challenge for both races with winds peaking near 110 km per hour, accompanied by rain and sometimes hail-like conditions. It was the 10th consecutive banner performance for the Guelph women and the ninth straight for the men’s squad, extending their own CIS records. The Gryphons have now racked up 25 team titles in their prestigious history, also a CIS mark, 12 more than Victoria. “The weather was an interesting variable today which tends to compress the field,” said head coach Dave Scott Thomas. “Last night at our team meeting we re-jigged our strategies, and today they executed them perfectly. From a technical and emotional standpoint the team was ten out of ten.” In individual competition, Guelph’s Carise Thompson, coming off second-place finishes each of the past two years, captured the women’s gold medal in the six-kilometre event thanks to a time of 22 minutes and 42.2 seconds. The fifth-year senior had also placed fourth in her sophomore season, in 2011. Teammate Ross Proudfoot (33:47.2) took top spot in the men’s 10-kilometre race. The
former CIS rookie of the year, also a fifthyear veteran competing in his last university event, had claimed CIS silver in 2012. It marked the third individual gold in four years by a Guelph woman and the sixth in seven seasons – and second straight – by a
“I’ve had my heart set on winning CIS gold the past three years, I came second the last two, and this year everything came into place.” – Carise Thompson
Gryphon male runner. The Gryphons had not swept all four CIS titles – individual and team – since 2011. In the women’s race, the Gryphons placed six runners in the top 18, including gold and bronze medal performances, their five scorers giving them 34 points for a comfortable lead over Trinity Western (105)
and Queen’s (132) in the team standings. Queen’s best individual effort came from last year’s national champion, Julie-Anne Staehli (22:50.3), who was the second competitor to cross the line. The Gryphons Katelyn Ayers (22:55.4) joined Staehli and Thompson on the podium. “I think that everything came together for me today,” said Thompson. “I have been working really hard and the weather conditions were absolutely brutal but mental and physical toughness were key. “I’ve had my heart set on winning CIS gold the past three years, I came second the last two, and this year everything came into place.” On the men’s side, Guelph claimed gold and placed five runners in the top 13 to finish with 27 points. Tristan Woodfine (33:54.8) chased his teammate Proudfoot down the home stretch and took second place in front of Laval’s Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (34:04.2). Woodfine and Philibert-Thiboutot had also placed second and third a year ago. Philibert-Thiboutot’s effort helped his Rouge et Or to third place in the team standings with 131 points, just behind the University of Victoria (103), whose top finisher was Ryan Cassidy (34:10.0), in seventh. The men’s and women’s coach of the year award went to Dave Scott Thomas, who led the Gryphons to a first place finish on both sides. This was his ninth consecutive award in men’s competition and his ninth in 10 years for the women.
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AUDERS DEFEAT RIVAL GRYPHONS IRST TITLE IN PROGRAM HISTORY HAMILTON Ont, - While their captain looked on from the sidelines, the Marauders clinched the first OUA title in their program’s history. Russell Division All-Star Cindy Nelles was ruled out after sustaining an injury in last week’s semifinal, but her team rallied in her absence and ground out a 19-10 victory over the Guelph Gryphons at Ron Joyce Stadium, Saturday October 25th. Maddy Seatle’s last-ditch try with just three minutes to play sealed the result for McMaster, as Colleen Irowa sprung free of the pack and launched the Marauders downfield before Seatle received the final pass and touched down. Fullback Rina Charalampis and Sara Svoboda -- who was wearing the number eight in Nelles’ place on Saturday -- also had tries for the Marauders in the win. Cara Humeniuk and Brittany Priddle had tries for the Gryphons in a losing effort. It was a defensive contest, and one in which McMaster absorbed intense pressure from their visitors. That trend began early, as the Gryphons probed deep into Marauder territory in search of a try in the first 10 minutes. But McMaster’s defence was organized and resolute -- as it would prove to be throughout the contest -- and the danger passed. Instead, it was the Marauders who opened the scoring fifteen minutes from the opening whistle, as Charalampis found the final opening to slip over the end line and cap an extended drive with a try. Stephanie Black’s convert was good and pushed McMaster’s lead to 7-0 in the early stages. The response was quick and decisive from Guelph, who
struck just two minutes later when a McMaster miscue led Humeniuk to open space and a Gryphon try. Their convert attempt was no good, however, and the Marauders continued to lead 7-5. Four minutes from halftime, the home side swung momentum again when the ball came loose of a ruck yards from the Guelph end line and Svoboda pounced to touch down. Black’s convert buzzed low of the uprights, and McMaster took a 12-5 lead into the break. Guelph emerged with purpose in the second half, and pinned the Marauders deep in their end for much of the 40-minute period. But, much as they had in the first, McMaster’s defenders held the Gryphons at bay time and time again. The pressure eventually paid dividends for Guelph when Priddle took a short pass out wide across the end line to cut the Gryphons deficit to two points. But the angle was challenging for the convert attempt, and it sailed wide to maintain McMaster’s lead. With the Gryphons threatening to steal the game in the dying moments, the Marauders produced a breathtaking counter attack to put the match beyond reach. McMaster received possession deep in their end, and swung a series of passes to the left that eventually sprung Irowa, who beat a would-be tackler and slashed well upfield. She was stopped as she crossed into Guelph territory, but the Marauders controlled the ruck well and kept the forward thrust moving. It was Seatle who received the last ball in reach of the end line, and out-ran the trailing Gryphons for the dramatic late score. That seemingly took the steam out of the Gryphons, and the Marauders saw out the victory simply in the final minutes.
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BROCK MEN, WESTERN WOMEN CROWNED OUA ROWING CHAMPIO ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Western University women and Brock University men were crowned the 2014 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Rowing Champions at the St. Catharines Henley Island Saturday October 25th. The Western women dominated the races Saturday, as they finished with 532 points, hoisting the Mrs. W. Lathrop Challenge Trophy for the 23rd time in the program’s history. Queens (326 pts) captured silver and Brock (167 pts) took home bronze. The Mustangs women won a total of six of the eight events; including
the Lightweight 1x, Lightweight 2x, Lightweight 4, Lightweight 8, Heavyweight 4 and Heavyweight 8. They also captured silver in the Heavyweight 1x and Heavyweight 2x. Queen’s captured gold in the women’s Heavyweight 2x and Laurentian was victorious in the Women’s Heavyweight 1x. The Brock men (410) finished 38 points ahead of second place Western (372) and third place Queens (201), raising the P.C. FitzJames Trophy for their 10th OUA title in school history. The Badgers captured three gold
in total, winning the Lightweight 4, Lightweight 8 and Heavyweight 4. Brock also captured silver medals in the Lightweight 1x, Heavyweight 2x and Heavyweight 8. Western men finished with two gold winning the Heavyweight 8 and Heavyweight 2x. The Mustangs also finished with silver medals in the Lightweight 4, Lightweight 8 and Heavyweight 4. Carleton took home gold in both the Men’s Lightweight 2x and Lightweight 1x, while Queen’s won the Men’s Heavyweight 1x.
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ERN DEFEATS BROCK FOR FOURTH NSECUTIVE OUA LACROSSE TITLE OSHAWA, Ont. – The steak continues. The Western Mustangs won their fourth straight OUA women’s field lacrosse title Sunday November 2nd, at Terry Kelly Field at the Oshawa Civic Recreation Complex. Western defeated the Brock Badgers 7-5 to also continue their winning streak, having not lost since Laurier defeated them in the 2010 OUA final. “They just – they get along so well,” said an emotional Dave Hastings [Western Mustangs head coach] after the game. “We have such great chemistry and they work hard, they support each other and there’s no pettiness on the team. It’s the chemistry and with the chemistry comes the hard work. They’re wonderful to coach and they ran the game plan that we wanted today, so like I said, it’s the chemistry of these girls [that has made them so successful].”
in the half, but the Mustangs pushed back with goals from Tasha MacDonald and Alexa McAllister to knot the game 4-4 with 11:06 to play in the half. Neither team scored again until Kathryn Simpson’s tally with 11 seconds left in the opening half. Brock led 5-4 at the break.
“We have such great chemistry and they work hard, they support each other... It’s the chemistry and with the chemistry comes the hard work.”
Brock’s Kathryn Simpson opened the scoring just 52 seconds into the contest against the favoured Western Mustangs. Lauren Stewart tied things up 1:16 later before Tawnie Johnson gave the Mustangs a 2-1 lead at the 5:52 mark. Sarah Simpson scored the first of her two goals in the game with 20:41 left to play in the half, tying the game 2-2 before Kassidy Doherty made it 3-2 Badgers 29 seconds later. Sarah Simpson pushed the lead to 4-2 with 16:25 to play
– Dave Hastings
“We just said not to panic and play our game,” said Hastings about his team’s halftime discussion. “We knew we’ve been in this situation before so we just asked them to tighten up defensively and keep playing hard, especially on loose balls.” That’s exactly what they did as they shutout the Badgers in the second half. Maddison Crowther tied the game for Western 1:20 into the final 30, while Johnson’s second of the game at the eight-minute mark would eventually be the game-winning goal. Tenyka Snider’s goal with 8:29 to play gave them the insurance they needed to run down the clock.
“We hit three posts in the second half, so we knew if we kept coming at them we’d get into a position to hold the ball down the stretch,” said Hastings. “That’s how we like to play. We like to get a lead and then hold the ball. Credit to the girls, the played great.” Jesse Porter of the Mustangs was named the OUA top defensive player while Kendra Byers from Brock was named the OUA top graduating senior.
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YORK REPEATS AS OUA CHAMPION WITH 2-0 VICTORY OVER MARAU HAMILTON Ont, - For the second consecutive year, the OUA men’s soccer championship banner will hang on the campus of York University. The CIS no.1-ranked Lions successfully defended their championship by coming into Hamilton and knocking off the hometown darlings 2-0 in the gold medal game at Ron Joyce Stadium on Sunday, November 2nd. A fortuitous bounce got York on the scoreboard first in the 20th minute. Midfielder Eric Amato struck a ball from the top of the 18-yard box, and in an effort to deflect the shot away from the Marauders goal, McMaster defender Nicholas Vecchi threw up his leg and redirected the ball into his own net. Handed an early lead, York controlled the play much of the first half but was unable to add another tally to the scoreboard. The team’s inability to land the coveted ‘insurance goal’ nearly cost them later in the game. Playing in front of a very pro-McMaster home crowd, the Marauders controlled the ball for much of the second half, and after dodging a bullet when West Division MVP Jarek Whiteman of the Lions rang a shot off the crossbar, the Marauders had a prime scoring chance of their own. Midfielder Marco Gennaccaro swung a cross pass that landed on the foot of Sasha Ricciuti who snuck behind two York defenders and was alone at the top of the six-yard box. Unfortunately for McMaster, Riccitui sent the ball high over top of the York goal. With the clock ticking down on McMaster’s
OUA championship hopes, the team again narrowly missed tying the game on a much unexpected scoring opportunity.
he started a brilliant run into the 18-yard box and sent a rocket of a kick into the McMaster goal.
From 35 yards out, Marauders defender Aleksandar Vincic launched a ball towards Lions goalkeeper Andrew D’Souza. With
He was, however, handed a yellow card for bringing the team’s celebration 50 yards back down the field in front of a vocal group of Marauders fans.
““It feels great to win (the OUA title)... We are still not satisfied though; we need to go nationals and do what set out to do.” – Jarek Whiteman
D’Souza playing high out in front of the net, he was forced to backtrack to his own goal line to catch the ball arcing towards the goal. He was able to catch the ball, however his momentum nearly carried him far enough into his own net that the ball would have crossed the goal line. Replays showed that it did in fact not cross the line, but stayed out only by mere inches. It was literally a game-saving stop for D’Souza, as less than a minute later Whiteman sealed the game for good when
In the 82nd minute, York midfielder Henry Moody received a yellow card for booting the ball about nine rows into the crowd well after the play had been blown dead, arousing some jeers from the McMaster faithful. Abraham James of McMaster was ejected on a straight red in injury time after a hard sliding tackle sent a Lions player down in pain. The tackle sparked both teams to come together, however officials did an excellent job of diffusing the situation and blowing the final whistle shortly after. The Marauders were without two key players in the match. All-star striker Mark Reilly and midfielder Brandon Gutierrez both missed the game with injuries and their status for the upcoming CIS National Championship in Charlottetown, PEI remains unclear. With OUA receiving two bids for nationals, both teams will be headed to Canada’s smallest province for the tournament running Nov. 6-9. “It feels great to win (the OUA title),” said Whiteman. “We tried to be better with every roll of the ball like our coach said, and we just stayed as a unit and all of our hard work has paid off. We are still not satisfied though; we need to go nationals and do what set out to do.”
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NS BLANK RIVAL MARAUDERS TO CLAIM FOUTH DAVIDSON TROPHY CHARLOTTETOWN (CIS) – Joey Cicchillo, a third-year striker from North York, Ont., scored the game’s only goal in the 32nd minute as the York Lions captured the fourth Sam Davidson Memorial Trophy in program history thanks to a 1-0 victory over the McMaster Marauders in the final of the CIS men’s soccer championship at UPEI Turf, Sunday November 9th. It marked the first all-OUA national final since 2002, when Brock edged tournament host Carleton 1-0 in overtime. York defeated McMaster 2-0 in Sunday November 2nd’s OUA title match. The Lions, who had previously been crowned in 1977, 2008 and 2010, won their three duels by identical 1-0 scores at this week’s CIS tournament, including a thrilling extra time victory against Montreal in Thursday’s opening round and a shutout of host UPEI in Friday’s second semifinal. The new champions complete an undefeated campaign after going 14-0-2 in conference play and 6-0 in post-season action and on a remarkable streak of seven straight whitewashes, their last goal allowed dating back to their penultimate league contest against Windsor on October 18th. For their part, the Marauders, still looking for their first Davidson Trophy triumph, settled for silver for the third time, matching their second-place finishes from 1991 and 1992. York head coach Carmine Isacco, whose team outscored its opponents by a 68-7 overall margin this fall, paid tribute to his players and their achievement. “It was a tough game but we showed great character,” said the CIS coach of the year. “We were possibly unlucky not to win by more. Our goal at the start of the year was just to play every ball properly, and I think our record, with 20 wins, shows we achieved that. It was a relief to win today, and credit McMaster for pushing us hard once again.” On the losing side, Marauders coach Dino Perri recognized that his team had fallen short, but praised the Lions. “No complaints at all. We didn’t really play well today but we were up against an excellent team. I am very proud of our team and a silver medal today is an accomplishment that we should be very proud of. It
has been a very good season.” Although they won all their games by a 1-0, the Lions domination was clear for all to see. Their touch, poise and ability to move the ball was a class above any other team, while defensively they were outstanding. In all three games they restricted opponents mostly to half chances, and in the final, goalkeeper Colm Vance did not have a notable save to make. Cicchillo’s strike came in the 32nd minute of what was a tight first half. Jarek Whiteman was able to knock the ball down with his head, and Cicchillo was able to pivot and place his shot just inside the left-hand post of the despairing Angelo Cavalluzzo. “I thought Angelo had got there,” admitted Cicchillo, who was named to the tournament all-star team. “I didn’t quite catch it cleanly but it was well placed and it was an unbelievable feeling to see it go in. It is the best feeling in the world to win this medal and prove we are the best team in the country.” The Lions’ control of the game was a master class to watch, with the excellent Matt Stinson and Jonathan Lao running the midfield, fullbacks D’Mello and Walker closing down anything played out wide, and centre backs Moody and Fabrizi making sure that all Marauders attacks didn’t reach Vance in the Lions goal. When called upon to deal with crosses and balls played into the area, the netminder was equal to the task. The Marauders played as hard as they could, with the excellent Garnett always probing from midfield, but every attack was repelled by the Lions backline. Lao should have doubled the lead in the dying minutes when Downes was fouled in the area, but he placed his penalty kick wide of Cavalluzzo’s right hand post. To add to the frustration of McMaster, Vecchi was dismissed with seconds remaining for a second yellow card, and despite some late flurries of pressure, it was all too little, too late. Stinson, a native of Toronto, was named game MVP for the winners, while teammate Henry Moody of Toronto was voted championship MVP after a dominant performance at the heart of the Lions defence. York will get a chance to defend the national title on home turf as the Lions will host the 2015 CIS tournament in Toronto.
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GEE-GEES CLAIM 8TH OUA TITLE IN WIN OVER MUSTANGS
HAMILTON Ont, - For the second time in three seasons, the CIS no. 1-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees are champions of the province, defeating the no. 5 Western Mustangs 1-0 at Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton on Sunday November 2nd. Having not lost since their season opener against the UOIT Ridgebacks, Ottawa continued to dominate conference play posting back-to-back 1-0 victories in the OUA Final Four en route to capturing a record eighth OUA title. “It truly was a team effort,” said Ottawa head coach Steve Johnson “We are more of a team this year than perhaps other years. Other years we may have had more individual talent, but collectively this team has really performed well all season.” Pilar Khoury was named Player of the Game in both matches, scoring Ottawa’s lone goal in each win. While she did not start the game against Western, leading some to question whether it was due to an injury or just a tactical decision, Khoury subbed into the game shortly after the midway mark of the first half and provided the strong play that earned a MVP award this season.
curving boot into the box that Khoury was able to strike with a beautifully-placed header into the right side of the net past Mustangs goalkeeper Tori Edgar.
lunged forward and headed the ball right on target, but goalkeeperCynthia LeBlanc made a spectacular diving save that preserved the victory for her team.
The Mustangs struggled to create offensive chances in the second half, but
Like OUA’s other co-leading goal scorer Emily Brown from Laurier, Western’s Amanda Boyle was also held scoreless in the championship tournament. Both players tallied 21 regular season goals, but neither could find the back of the net in the Final Four, with their team’s being held off the goal sheet in both tournament games (Western beat UOIT on penalty kicks in the semis after playing to a scoreless draw).
“We are more of a team this year than perhaps other years. Other years we may have had more individual talent, but collectively this team has really performed well all season.” – Steve Johnson
nearly tied the game in the 85th minute. The Gee-Gees scoring play came in the game’s 57th minute and started with a wellplaced kick from defender Maris Barnabe. From 30 yards out, Barnabe delivered a
A crossing pass was sent from the side of the field and made its way to just in front the Gee-Gee’s six-yard box. A Mustang player
The Gee-Gees were without 2013 division MVP Julia Francki after she received a red card in the team’s semi-final match against Laurier. Ottawa narrowly escaped the semi-final against Laurier; the Golden Hawks missed a penalty kick in the game’s final minutes. Had the penalty kick been successful, the Gee-Gees likely would have been playing for bronze today. Both Western and Ottawa will now prepare for the CIS National Championship taking place Nov. 6-9 in Quebec City. The Gee-Gees head into the CIS tournament riding a 18game winning streak. With the OUA receiving three berths in the 2014 national tournament, the bronze-medal winning UOIT Ridgebacks will also had to Quebec City.
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GAELS CLAIM THIRD CONSECUTIVE HAMPIONSHIP BEATING GUELPH 32-23
KINGSTON, Ont. – The Gaels claimed a 32-23 victory over the Guelph Gryphons on Saturday November 8th in the 2014 OUA Final match at Nixon Field. With the win Queen’s claimed their third OUA Championship title in a row and 21st title overall to tie Toronto for the most for any school. The Gryphons had a dominant forward performance in the first half. Although the Gaels were first on the ball, Guelph pushed back immediately finding themselves in the Queen’s end where they were awarded two consecutive penalty kicks shot by Joe Newman to give them an early 6-0 lead. The Gryphons didn’t slow down and the Gaels found themselves on their heels again as Guelph attacked their goal line to put Alexandre Charest-Pekeski through with the first try of the game. The Gryphons returned yet again to the Gaels end breaking down the defensive line with Eric Howard finding a seam to put down a second try to lead 16-0 by the 30th minute of play.
it together again and finished 80 minutes strong,” said head coach Gary Gilks after the win. “We spoke about that (veteran leadership) in the locker room about an hour before the game and that when we are under pressure it’s the vets that need to stand up and take charge and they all did. Every single one of them stepped up and really led the way, I’m quite proud as they helped out the rookies and less experienced players. The Gaels burst into the second half finding their way through the Gryphons defense by blocking a kick and James Dent (Toronto) diving on the ball to put down the try and grab the Gaels their first lead of the match. The Gaels struggled to push past the Gryphons defense on the right edge of the pitch drawing all the Guelph defense away to leave the Jeffrey MacDonald (Toronto) wide open to receive a cross pass and score his a try of his own completed with a conversion by McQueen. Again the Gaels returned to the Gryphons end with Kirkham putting down his second try of the game adding to the Gaels 29 unanswered points.
“It was just unbelievable the strength our guys have they just dug in deep and even though we got behind no one panicked”
The Gaels found their footing and pushed into the Gryphons territory with Lucas Rumball (Toronto) diving across the line to put down the first try for the Gaels followed by Adam McQueen (Canmore, Alta.) completing the conversion. ,Not phased, the Gryphons responded with offensive attacks however the Gaels shut them down this time to gain possession and get the play back in the Gryphons end. In the final minutes of the first half Tommy Kirkham (Vancouver) broke through the Guelph defense to put down another try for the Gaels closing the Gryphons lead to 16-12 at halftime. “It was just unbelievable the strength our guys have they just dug in deep and even though we got behind no one panicked and they just put
Guelph responded and pushed into Gaels territory to score their first try of the second half put down by Blake Aram with a conversion by Joe Newman. The Gaels inched across the pitch in the – Gary Gilks final minutes of play and were awarded a penalty kick shot successfully by McQueen to solidify their lead. There wasn’t enough time left on the clock for the Gryphons to catch Queen’s off their incredible second half comeback leaving the score 32-23 by the final whistle to mark the Gaels third OUA banner win in a row., Kirkham was named man of the match for the Gaels after putting down two tries in the victory. Queen’s has now won 16 straight OUA regular season/playoff home games at Nixon Field.
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MCMASTER DOWNS GUELPH 20-15, WINS THIRD YATES TITLE IN FOUR SEAS HAMILTON Ont, – The No. 3 McMaster Marauders captured their third Yates Cup banner in four seasons with a 20-15 victory over the No. 5 Guelph Gryphons in the 107th Yates Cup, presented by Pioneer Energy at McMaster’s Ron Joyce Stadium before a crowd of 4,554 on Saturday November 15th. Defences dominated the contest, with a combined 12 turnovers between the two teams, including five interceptions by the McMaster defenders. For the Marauders, defensive backs Joey Cupido (Hamilton, Ont.) and Allan Dicks (Abbotsford, B.C.) each had a pair of interceptions, and defensive lineman Mike Kashak (Courtice, Ont.) returned one interception for a 30-yard touchdown. Each squad also conceded two safety touches apiece. Cupido’s performance earned him the Dalt White Trophy, presented by Porter Airlines, as the most valuable player of the Yates Cup game. In addition to two interceptions he posted three solo tackles, one assist, and one late-game pass breakup in a strong McMaster defensive stand. “To be able to win this on our home field in front of our own fans in the city I grew up in is the most special feeling in the world,” said Hamilton-native Cupido, who has now accumulated 14 career post-season appearances. “This defence just has so many good players. At the end of the day, we just stuck to the game plan and played our best game of the year today.” The championship marked the seventh Yates Cup title in McMaster club history, all coming from 2000 to date. The Marauders last won the title back-to-back in 2011 and 2012, advancing to the Vanier Cup both years and winning the national title in 2011. McMaster had downed Guelph 30-13 in the
2012 Yates Cup final. “You win championships with defence and that was certainly true today,” said McMaster head coach Stefan Ptaszek, claiming his third conference title as a head coach. “Our defence played their best football when we
“To be able to win this on our home field in front of our own fans in the city I grew up in is the most special feeling in the world” – Joey Cupido
needed it most. I think Guelph’s quarterback played a great game but he was playing against I think the best defence in the conference.” On offence McMaster running back Chris Pezzetta (Burlington, Ont.) amassed 144 yards on 23 carries to lead the ground attack, while quarterback Marshall Ferguson (Kingston, Ont.) completed 24 of 34 attempts for 191 yards and three interceptions. The top Marauder receiver was Daniel Petermann (Stoney Creek, Ont.) with seven receptions. For Guelph, starting pivot Jazz Lindsey
(Markham, Ont.) completed just one of six passes for 13 yards and threw three interceptions before being pulled early in the second quarter. In relief, James Roberts (Cambridge, Ont.) connected on 17 of 29 tosses, amassing 183 yards and blooping a pair of interceptions. Receiver Alex Charette (St. Catharines, Ont.) pulled in eight passes for 108 yards. Both defences asserted their presence from the outset, the first quarter seeing a combined six turnovers in addition to a safety touch apiece. McMaster grabbed three interceptions, including a pair by Cupido, while the Gryphons reeled in one pick and a pair of fumble recoveries. In the dying minutes of the quarter, Guelph’s Rob Farquharson (Niagara Falls, Ont.) scored the first touchdown of the game on a 41-yard run, giving the Gryphons a 9-2 advantage at the first intermission. McMaster closed the gap midway through the second quarter with a 32-yard Tyler Crapigna (Nepean, Ont.) field goal, and took a 12-9 lead on the next play from scrimmage with Kashak returning a 30-yard interception for a major score. Crapigna added a 34-yard field goal in the third quarter, and later conceded a safety on the final play of the frame, to nurse a 17-11 McMaster lead into the final intermission. McMaster and Guelph each added a field goal in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, and a Guelph rouge on a 61-yard punt by Daniel Ferraro (Mississauga, Ont.) narrowed McMaster’s advantage 20-15. Guelph mounted a last-ditch drive in the dying seconds, but was firmly repulsed by the Marauder defence.
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VARSITY BLUES SWEEP UA WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS
OTTAWA, Ont. - The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men’s water polo team claimed the 2014 OUA championship banner with a 7-6 win over the Carleton Ravens, Sunday November 30th in Ottawa. Toronto claims their ninth OUA title in the past 13 years and 30th overall in program history. The Blues earned their spot in the championship final with an 18-4 win over McMaster in semi-final action on Saturday November 29th.
Chapman and Topan were named 2014 OUA all-stars. Varsity Blues bench boss Vlad Tasevski also earned OUA coach of the year honours. The two teams were tied 2-2 after the first quarter, Toronto took the lead for good with two goals in the second frame and were up 4-2 at halftime. Carleton brought the game within one (5-4) at the end of the third, but the Blues held on with both teams adding two more goals in the 7-6 win.
Michael Chapman and Gorast Tasevski led the Blues with two goals apiece, while Evan Price, Sever Topan and Emre Tali each added a single tally in the win.
OTTAWA, Ont. - The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s water polo team earned their sixth provincial title in program history in defeating the Ottawa Gee-Gees 8-2 in the OUA championship final Sunday November 30th in Ottawa.
as the championship MVP, while Breanna Gadzosa was honoured as the most valuable goalie for the third time in her career. George Gross Jr. earned coach of the year honours. Bidinosti and Danielle Hirsh also earned OUA all-star honours.
Toronto successfully defends their title and wins their fourth title in the past seven years. The Blues complete a perfect season, going 8-0 versus OUA competition in exhibition play and earning a spot in the final with a 17-2 semi-final win over Queen’s yesterday. It marks the second consecutive season that Toronto has gone undefeated versus Ontario competition.
Tied 2-2 after the first quarter, the Blues shut out the Gee-Gees for the remainder of the game. Toronto scored four in the second quarter and added two more in the fourth to round out the dominant win.
Second-year standout Emily Bidinosti won the Roy Gunnell Trophy
Bidinosti and Alexandra Kraft each scored two, while Ana Miroslavic, Marianne Tout, Julie Szpara and Danielle Hirsh each added one in the win.
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QUEEN’S WOMEN, CARLETON MEN CROWNED OUA FENCING CHAMPIO
TORONTO, Ont. - The OUA Women’s Fencing Championship concluded on Sunday February 1st, after two days of fierce competition. Individual events took place on Saturday January 31st, while team events ran on the following day. The Queen’s Gaels went home as the overall team champions for the second year in a row, topping the competition with 276 points. RMC, with 220 points, won silver, and the Carleton Ravens finished with the bronze at 216.
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - On Sunday February 22nd at the 2015 OUA Men’s Fencing Championships hosted by Brock University, the Carleton Ravens were crowned the OUA Champions for the sixth time in the program’s history taking home the Charles Walter Trophy. The Ravens captured gold in both the Epee and Foil team events and took home the bronze in Sabre. The Toronto Varsity Blues grabbed gold in the Sabre event and bronze in Foil. Rounding out the team medals on Day
Individually for the Gaels, Lily Jiang and Tiffany Chan captured individual bronze medals in sabre and foil, respectively. Queen’s also took home a team gold medal in sabre and a bronze in foil.
epee. Emese Dukai of the Ravens also took home a medal, winning bronze in epee. It was an impressive all-round tournament for the Ravens, who also won team gold in epee and a team bronze in sabre.
RMC captured silver medals in foil and epee, but was held off the individual medal podiums,
Rounding out the team competition, Western won the gold medal for foil.
Two Carleton Ravens found the top of the individual podiums when Adrienne Sukunda won gold in sabre, and Isabelle Gauthier won
Two were Queens (Epee - Silver), Ottawa (Foil - Silver), Western (Sabre - Silver) and RMC (Epee - Bronze). In the individual results, Carleton led the way taking home three medals, including gold from Geoffrey Devaney in the Men’s Foil event and silver from both Alexandre Salat (Men’s Foil) and Joseph Wright (Men’s Epee). The Toronto Varsity Blues collected two medals in the Men’s Sabre event from William Kinney (Gold) and Tommy Liu (Silver).
Alexandra Lyn won the Ottawa Gee-Gees lone gold medal, winning foil.
Ryerson’s Arseni Tikhomirov captured gold in Men’s Epee event while RMC’s Harrison Kelertas (Men’s Epee), Ottawa’s Nicholas Wagman (Men’s Foil) and Western’s Andrew Kennel (Men’s Sabre) all took home individual bronze. Toronto’s William Kinney received the George Tully Trophy for Sportsmanship and Brock’s head coach Tim Stang took home the Christian Vidosa Trophy for OUA Coach of the Year.
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ERN MEN, QUEEN’S WOMEN BRING HOME 2015 OUA SQUASH BANNERS
WATERLOO, Ont. – The Western University men and Queen’s University women claimed the OUA men’s and women’s squash titles on Sunday February 1st at the Northfield Racquet Club in Waterloo. Western won their unprecedented 32nd straight OUA men’s title, a streak that began in 1983. The 2015 championship title was the 42nd in school history for the Mustangs. For Queen’s, it was their 11th women’s title and first since 2010. Western topped the men’s field with 34 points while Waterloo improved one spot from last season to claim the team silver medal with their 25 points. McMaster and Toronto tied for the third spot with 21 points but the Marauders were awarded the team bronze with having won one more game than the Varsity Blues. Rounding out the men’s field was Guelph, competing in their first ever
OUA championship, finishing with 11 points for fifth while Queen’s (8 points) came in sixth and Brock (6 points) in seventh. Individually Waterloo’s Cameron Seth successfully defended the men’s title avenging an early round robin loss to Western’s James Van Staveren in the flight 1 gold medal match with the 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-8) victory. With the win, Seth was named the men’s most valuable player. Rounding out the flight 1 men’s action was Toronto’s Colin West who beat Patrick Morkus of McMaster in the bronze medal match. West was also named the men’s rookie of the year for his stellar play throughout the tournament. On the women’s side, Queen’s 27 team points narrowly edged out last year’s champion, Toronto who finished with 24 for the team silver medal. The Western
Mustangs came away with the bronze thanks to their 20 tournament points. The McMaster Marauders were able to grab fourth spot with 11 points while Brock (4 points) finished fifth and Waterloo (3 points) came in sixth. In women’s individual play, it was a tight battle from start to finish as each player went 1-1 in the round robin style of play. The winner was decided by who had the highest point tally in their two matches played with Heather White (101 points) of Queen’s earning the top spot and was named the women’s MVP in the process. Coming away with the silver medal was Evelyn Moorhouse (91 points) of the Varsity Blues while Holly Delvaigne of Western (70 points) picked up the individual bronze. The women’s rookie of the year was awarded to Natasha Anzik of the Gaels.
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VARSITY BLUES MEN AND WOMEN CROWNED OUA CHAMPIO OTTAWA, Ont. - The Toronto Varsity Blues won both the men’s and women’s team titles at the 2015 Ontario University Athletics Championships, hosted at the University of Ottawa, February 5th - 7th. The Blues men have now won the conference meet for 12 straight seasons, while the women defended their 2014 title.
capped off the three-day meet winning the 400 IM title, to add to his 200 IM and 200 butterfly titles.
The Western Mustangs stood second in both the men’s and women’s standings but were well back of the defending champions. The Mustangs had a strong final day of competition, winning four gold medals, five silver, and one bronze. The Guelph Gryphons edged out McMaster by three points to take third place in the women’s rankings, with the Marauders in third on the men’s side.
Byron MacDonald earned OUA coach of the year honours on both the men’s and women’s sides for the second straight year.
Rookie sensation Kylie Masse took the meet by storm. She received the Dr. Jeno Tihanyi award for individual medley excellence and was honoured as both the female rookie and swimmer of the year. Masse won four individual titles, all in OUA record time, sweeping the 50, 100 and 200 backstroke events, while also winning the 200 IM. She was a member of U of T’s record-breaking 400 medley relay team and also helped the Blues to a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay.
The University of Ottawa swimmers had success in their home pool, winning two gold medals on the final day of competition to finish with five overall golds and 17 medals.
On the men’s side, second-year standout Hochan Ryu garnered OUA swimmer of the year honours as well as the Dr. Jeno Tihanyi award. Ryu
U of T’s Oliver Straszynski garnered male rookie of the year honours, ending the meet with the 200 freestyle gold medal.
McMaster’s Konrad Bald won the 50-metre breaststroke, making him a four time OUA Champion in that event. That was McMaster’s only gold on Day Three, with four swimmers claiming silver.
The coaches also had the opportunity to recognize graduating student-athletes with special Awards of Dinstinction. This year seven athletes were recognized: McMaster’s Eric Anderson, Konrad Bald and Ben Stubbs, Ottawa’s Eryn Weldon, Toronto’s Paige Schultz and Vanessa Treasure, and Western’s Emma Sproule.
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EHEAD, CARLETON WIN COLD WEATHER SHORTENED OUA NORDIC CHAMPIONSHIP NORTH BAY, Ont. - The 2015 OUA Nordic Skiing Championships kicked off Friday night in North Bay under extremely cold conditions at the Laurentian Ski Hill. With the temperatures hovering around 20 below, the skiers battled the cold to kick things off as the Nipissing Lakers and Nipissing University hosted the event for the second straight year. The first medals were handed out following the 2 x 0.6 km Free Relay, with three different teams hitting the podium on the women’s side. Carleton 1, Kyla Vanderzwet and Kendra Murray took home the gold, finishing in a time of 17:55 to set the bar. Claiming the silver medal was Lakehead 1,
Sadie White and Alannah Maclean who were two seconds back at 17:57. And in third place was Nipissing 1, Shelby Dickey and Kajsa Heyes, skiing on their home turf finishing with a time of 19:04 for the bronze medal. Rounding out the top five were Lakehead 2 in fourth spot and Carleton 4 in fifth – both teams were just over two minutes behind the leaders. The men’s side mirrored the women’s results, as Carleton 1 took home the gold, Lakehead 1 earned silver and the hometown team of Nipissing 1 claimed bronze. Steffan Lloyd and Colin Abbott set the pace at 14:05 for Carleton, to win gold.
Despite a strong race from both Lakehead 1 and Nipissing 1, the Carleton team finished 25 seconds ahead. Ben Wilkinson-Zan and Angus Foster were second for Lakehead and Thomsen D’Hont and Jordan Cascagnette representing Nipissing were 31 second back of the leaders. Carleton 2 and Lakehead 2 completed the top five as the top nine teams all finished with times under 17 minutes. As a result of extreme cold weather conditions in North Bay on Sunday, Day 3 races were cancelled at the 2015 OUA Nordic Championships. Carleton men captured their first OUA Nordic banner since the 2011 while the Lakehead women’s team won their 11th consecutive championship.
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BROCK WOMEN, MCMASTER MEN CAPTURE OUA WRESTLING BANN SUDBURY Ont, - New champions were crowned in wrestling at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championships on Saturday February 14th as the McMaster Marauders and Brock Badgers won the men’s and women’s banners, respectively, at the Ben Avery Gym in Sudbury. The Marauders tallied 83 points to claim their first men’s title since 1993, edging the Brock Badgers by a single point. The Badgers did not go home empty-handed, however, as they took the women’s crown back from Western with 59 points, making it seven titles in 8 years. Rounding out the top three were the Western Mustangs on the men’s side and the Guelph Gryphons on the women’s. McMaster placed in the top three in nine of the eleven possible weight classes, winning three gold, five silver and one
bronze medal. Jason Buckle of McMaster was named the OUA’s most outstanding male wrestler after claiming gold in the 61kg division in a rematch of last year’s final against Brock’s Zack Falcioni. Also winning gold medals for the Marauders were Chris Garneau (68kg) and Joban Phulka (82kg). McMaster’s Omar Ahmed was named the OUA rookie of the year after winning the silver medal in a close 65kg bout against Nick Rowe of Brock, while McMaster head coach Nick Cipriano earned the coach of the year award after leading his team to the championship. Ali Koca from the York Lions earned the OUA community service award. In the women’s competition, Brock dominated the standings, medaling in six of eight possible weight classes, taking home four individual gold medals, one silver and
one bronze. Carlene Sluberski earned the OUA’s most outstanding female wrestler award after winning the gold medal in the 55kg class with a victory over Madi Parks from the Western Mustangs. Also winning individual titles for the Badgers were Jade Parsons (48kg), Emily Schaefer (51kg) and Olivia Di Bacco (72kg). Schaefer was named the OUA’s rookie of the year following her victory, and head coach Marty Calder earned the coach of the year award. Urshian Khalid from the York Lions was named the recipient of the OUA community service award. In addition to reaching the podium, the top three finishers in each weight class advance to the CIS championships, which will be hosted by the University of Alberta in Edmonton beginning Feb. 27.
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BROCK REPEATS AS DOUBLE CHAMPION, ENTERS RECORD BOOK EDMONTON (CIS) – The Brock University Badgers have become the first school in CIS wrestling history to sweep the men’s and women’s national championship team banners in consecutive years, following their authoritative performance at the 2015 meet held in the University of Alberta’s historic Main Gym. The Badgers clinched both the men’s and women’s titles even before Saturday’s gold medal matches got underway, but that didn’t stop the OUA powerhouse program from jacking up the medal count as they finished with a combined 14 medals, including six gold. With the win the Brock women tied a CIS record of four straight banners, previously set by the Simon Fraser Clan and, with five titles overall, moved into a tie for second place with Calgary, one behind Simon Fraser. The Badger men, meanwhile, extended their own national record by claiming their 15th CIS banner. Four of Brock’s gold medals were won the women’s side, including Jade Parsons’ fourth straight in the 48-kilogram weight class, and her fifth CIS podium overall after she also collected silver at 51 kg in 2009 when she was named rookie of the year while competing for the University of Regina. Also finishing on the top of the podium for the Badgers was Carlene Sluberski (55 kg), Indira Moores (59 kg) and Jessica Brouillette (63 kg). Sluberski has now won gold in each of her three CIS campaigns (55 kg, 51 kg, 55 kg), while Brouillette defended the 63 kg title she claimed as a rookie a year ago. “We wrestled incredibly well this weekend. But, we didn’t come here focused on winning the team titles, or setting CIS records or any of that, we came here to perform as well as we could in our individual matches, and we knew if we did that, we would have success as a team,” said Brock head coach Marty Calder, who would later be honoured with the CIS men’s and women’s coach of the year awards. “Our women were fantastic, I mean four gold medals; they were awesome,” Calder continued. “And outside of one or maybe two matches on the men’s side, I thought we were great on that side too. This was a great event, with a lot of really great wrestlers, and you could really see the parity in CIS wrestling right now. It is a great competition with really awesome coaches and athletes. It’s not easy winning these matches, or these banners, and I know how hard we worked to win them.” Concordia’s Veronica Keefe was the only other female wrestler to
successfully defend her 2014 gold medal, at 72 kg, with an injury win over Guelph’s Gracelynn Doogan. Also a CIS champion last season, Gryphon Kelsey Gsell was supplanted at the top of the 82 kg weight glass by Calgary powerhouse Holly Ellsworth-Clark. Alberta’s Hayley Thomas finished off her CIS career on the highest point possible, as she claimed gold in the 51 kg weight class by defeating Brock rookie Emily Schaefer 8-0. Thomas, who hails from Whitecourt, Alberta, was named the CIS female wrestler of the year at the championship banquet after the meet, while the silver-medal wearing Schaefer was honoured with the rookie of the year award. For the second consecutive season the male wrestler of the year honours went to Michael Asselstine, also from the U of A, who put on a dominant performance this weekend, including his 12-2 victory over McMaster’s Jason Buckle in the 61 kg gold medal bout. Asselstine, an Edmonton native who earned silver for Canada at the 2014 Pan-Am Games, was trailing Buckle 2-0 in the early going, but performed three straight gut wrenches to take a commanding 6-2 lead, and then racked up another six straight points to win his second straight CIS title. The fourth-year Golden Bear, who became only the second male to win backto-back CIS MVP trophies, had previously earned a CIS silver in 2013 in the 65 kg category. The Alberta sweep of the wrestler of the year awards represents just the third time that has happened in CIS history, following Lakehead (2012) and Simon Fraser (2008) as the other schools. Ilya Abelev was the other big story in the men’s draw, as the UNB wrestler grappled his way to his fourth straight CIS gold medal in his fourth different weight class. A native of Ottawa, and former competitor for the Western Mustangs, Abelev previously won CIS gold in the 72 kg (2013), 68 kg (2012) and 65 kg (2011) weight classes, and on Saturday added the 76 kg class thanks to his defeat of Aleksander Soronov of the Winnipeg Wesmen. The men’s 57 kg gold medal tilt was a showcase of talent as well, with Western’s Steven Takahashi triumphing over Saskatchewan’s Dylan Bray. Takahashi, whose father won a Commonwealth Games wrestling gold medal in Edmonton in 1978, returned to the mat this season after missing last year’s conference and CIS championships with an injury. He had previously celebrated trio of CIS victories in the 54 kg weight class. Saskatchewan’s Josh Bodnarchuk was awarded the CIS male rookie of the year award after he struck national championship gold in the 54 kg bout, defeating Concordia’s Trevor Banks.
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MUSTANGS WIN FOURTH OUA FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIP IN FIVE
GUELPH Ont, – For the fourth time in the last five years, the Western Mustangs stand atop the Ontario figure skating landscape, as the Mustangs won the OUA Championship on Wednesday February 18th at the Gryphon Centre. The Mustangs capped off the two day event with a strong performance in the synchro to finish with 73 points in the competition, 13 more than defending champion and host
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Guelph Gryphons. The Ryerson Rams earned bronze with 57 points, just edging out the McMaster Marauders who finished with 56 points.
(Senior Silver Similar Dance#), Margaret Purdy (Novice Short Program), Clarissa Luo (Senior Silver Solo Dance), all brought home hardware, alongside Western’s silver in the synchro event.
Western won a total of nine medals at the event, including taking gold in the Junior Silver Similar Dance thanks to the duo of Clarissa Luo and Nicole Lawson. Western also earned five silver medals, with Amy McMillan (Senior Silver STARSkate), Carly Smith and Lauren Malott
Earning bronze medals for the Mustangs were Purdy and Liao in Senior Similar Pairs, the team of Purdy, Liao, Jessica Chow, and Giouzelin Mutlu in Pairs Four, and Liao again in the Gold STARSkate event.
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EN” HAWKS: LAURIER MEN AND WOMEN SWEEP OUA CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS WATERLOO, Ont. – The Laurier curling powerhouse is back atop the OUA, as the Golden Hawks swept the conference titles at the Guelph Curling Club on Monday February 23rd.
against the Brock Badgers, who beat Guelph 4-2. A three-point third end proved crucial as Laurier built a 5-2 lead through six, and they would win the game an end later when Brock managed just a single point.
Both teams outlasted their competition en route to closely-contested wins, and will now move forward to the CIS/CCAA Curling Championships which they will host in Waterloo from March 18th - 21st.
With two OUA berths in the national tournament up for grabs, and Laurier claiming top spot while already enjoying the host berth, the bronze-medal matches took on added importance.
The Golden Hawk men advanced to the final with an 8-4 win over the Brock Badgers in the morning’s semifinal round, rebounding from a 2-0 deficit after the second end. They met the Western Mustangs in the title game, after Western defeated Toronto 7-5 by scoring two in the bonus ninth end. Taking the lead with two points in the fifth end, Laurier added another in the sixth and won the game 4-3 when Western managed to score just one in the seventh.
There, the Guelph women sprung a last-ditch comeback to steal bronze — and a place in Waterloo — from the Carleton Ravens. Carleton had held a 7-5 lead after the seventh end, but Guelph knotted the game with two in the eighth and followed with another two in the bonus ninth to seal the win.
On the women’s side, Laurier fought back from a 4-1 deficit through four ends of their semifinal against the Carleton Ravens, scoring one in each of the next four ends to seal a 5-4 victory and set up a title game
Things were not nearly as touch-and-go on the men’s side, where the Toronto Varsity Blues jumped ahead of the Brock Badgers early and never looked back. Toronto built a 4-0 lead through the third end, and only grew in confidence from there, easily dispatching Brock 9-3 to book their place at the national tournament
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VARSITY BLUES CROWNED 2015 OUA WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL CHAM GUELPH Ont, - The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s volleyball team defeated the Ottawa Gee-Gees 3-2 (25-18, 24-26, 24-26, 25-17, 15-9) in the 2015 OUA Final Four gold-medal match on Saturday February 21st. The win marks Toronto’s ninth OUA title in program history, and first since claiming the banner in 2010. U of T has now won eight of the last 20 provincial titles. The No. 3 nationally ranked Blues were 18-1 during the regular season and went onto defeat the Queen’s Gaels 3-0 in quarterfinals and edged the Western Mustangs 3-2 in semi-final match. “The resilience that they demonstrated was amazing,” said Varsity Blues head coach
Kristine Drakcih. “We talked about the it’s the teams who can play their systems best in these moments that prevail. We weathered some storms and it wasn’t always easy; Ottawa played great. I’m just so proud of how we stuck to our plan and stuck to our system.” Fifth-year veteran and OUA East player of the year Charlotte Sider led the Blues with 15 kills, 11 digs, two blocks and two aces, while Jennifer Neilson added 12 kills, four aces and three blocks on the night. Neilson was named the player of the match for her efforts. Rookie Anna Feore had a breakout game, notching 12 kills and eight digs, while Bojana Radan added 10 kills, three blocks and two aces.
Madelyn Mandryk notched an outstanding 49 assists, with Denise Wooding recording 16 digs in the victory. The University of Toronto is now set to host the 2015 CIS women’s volleyball championship, presented by Canuck Stuff, this week (Feb. 26th - Mar. 1st) at the brand new Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport. All eight teams have been confirmed, with Toronto and Ottawa representing the OUA, Trinity Western, Alberta and UBC coming from Canada West, Montreal and Laval earning the RSEQ berths and Dalhousie on behalf of the AUS.
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RAUDERS SWEEP WARRIORS 3-0 FOR THIRD HT OUA MEN’S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP HAMILTON Ont, - It was to be his last game at the Burridge Gym, and Jori Mantha made sure that it was a memorable one. Mantha led the Marauders with 16 kills as McMaster put on a stunning performance to cruise past the Waterloo Warriors and win their third consecutive OUA title, and sixth in the past eight years on Saturday February 21st. Having already secured a place in the CIS Championship tournament with their semifinal win a night earlier, the Marauders entered the national event on a high note. The entire lineup was exceptional as McMaster swept Waterloo 25-18, 25-20 and 25-21 to claim the Forsyth Trophy yet again. Hitting .323 as a team, the Marauders had three scorers hit double digits, as Stephen Maar and Danny Demyanenko joined Mantha with 10.5 and 10 points respectively. But the fifth-year senior was the undisputed star of the show, winning the Most Valuable Player of the Match honours after killing 16 of 24 attempts with just a single error (.625). Austin Campion-Smith returned to full form, pulling the offfensive strings for 41 assists, and leading McMaster with 10 digs. The top team in Canada very much looked the part from the opening
whistle on Saturday, coming out swinging to put Waterloo on the back foot early. The middle combination of Jordan Dyck and Jordan McConkey was doing all it could to keep Waterloo competitive, but side-out volleyball was not enough given their early deficit, and Waterloo dropped the first set by a seven-point margin. Much as they had in the opening set, the Marauders began well in the second, and held the lead throughout. Increasingly, the Warriors outside hitters were struggling to contend with McMaster’s blocking, and the duo of Zach Doherty and Aidan Simone were both held under 10 per cent hitting on the night. Remaining steady on both sides of the ball, and pressing Waterloo from the service line, McMaster comfortably saw out the second set to take a commanding overall lead. Their backs against the wall, the Warriors saw errors creep into their game in the third set, and even while McMaster’s offence cooled somewhat, Waterloo remained well off the pace. The veteran middle Dyck turned in a fantastic set, but it was not enough to overturn the deficit his team faced, and McMaster ultimately made good on their second match point to lift the Forsyth Trophy yet again.
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GUELPH MEN, TORONTO WOMEN C OUA TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPION
TORONTO Ont, - The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women and the University of Guelph Gryphons men were crowned the 2015 OUA track and field champions on Saturday February 28th at the Toronto Track and Field Centre at York University. The Varsity Blues claimed this year’s banner decisively with 180 points, winning their first since 2004. They beat the secondplace Gryphons by 51 points, followed by the Western Mustangs with 125. Rounding out the top five were the Windsor Lancers with 84.5 points and the York Lions with 83. The Gryphons take home their first championship since 2013 and beat out the Lions for the title with 157.70 points. Trailing in third place was Windsor with 1 35 points, followed by the Mustangs with 97 and the Varsity Blues with 78. The Lions dominated the first event of the day, the women’s weight throw, as Brittany Crew broke the OUA record with a throw of 18.69m. Crew received the gold medal; Ekua Cudjoe from the Varsity Blues received the silver medal with 17.33m and Ashley Connell, from the Gryphons received the bronze
medal with 17.07m. Meet records continued to come down later in the day as the Lancers Corey Bellemore broke the OUA record in the men’s 600m with a time of 1:18:47. The Varsity Blues Sasha Gollish also broke the 600m OUA record for the women with a time of 1:30:41. The Lions Khamica Bingham tied her own OUA record from last season in the 60m run, finishing with a time of 7.23. In the men’s 60m, Bismark Boateng finished with a gold medal and a time of 6.80; and Ike Omoruna finished with a silver medal and a time of 6.90 for a 1-2 York finish. Kristian Benjamin from the Gryphons won the bronze with a time of 6.93 seconds. The Mustangs Caroline Ehrhardt won her second gold of the meet and broke the OUA record in the women’s triple jump with a leap of 13.04m. Julia Stille from Toronto and Vanessa Oliver from Guelph rounded out the podium. The Varsity Blues dominated the 4x400m as the men’s team topped the OUA record
with 3:17:10. Their relay squad included Isiah Weathers, Sacha Smart, Greg MacNeill and Rayshaun Franklin. On the other side, the women’s team of Maggie Hanlon, Ellie Hirst, Fiona Callender and Rachel Jewett cruised to gold with a time of 3:46.75. A trio of Lions took home gold in the field as Nick Fyffe won the men’s triple jump with 14.50m, Eric Brathwaite defended his shot put championship with a throw of 17.56m and David McKay won the men’s pole vault for the fourth consecutive season with a height of 5.05m. The Lions men and women 4x200m relay teams also received gold. The men’s team included Jameel Brown, Ayo Agusto, Lucas Watson and Xavier Jehovah, who made a time of 1:27:83. The women’s team included Bingham, Sheereen Harris, Danielle Knight and Mikeisha Bobb, who recorded a time of 1:38:96. In addition to the hardware won at the OUA championships, the top two finishers from each event, as well as all student-athletes who surpassed the automatic standards, have qualified for the CIS championships.
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RONTO WOMEN, WINDSOR MEN CLAIM TEAM NERS AT CIS TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS WINDSOR, Ont. (CIS) – The 2015 CIS track and field championships came to an end on Saturday March 14th at the University of Windsor’s St. Denis Centre, with the host Lancers claiming the ninth men’s team banner in program history - and their first since 2011 - and the Toronto Varsity Blues finishing atop the women’s standings for the first time since 1998 and the fourth time overall. The U of T women dominated the three-day meet finishing with 131.5 points, compared to 79 for second-place Trinity Western and 73 for York. The Varsity Blues earned a total of 15 medals, including five gold. “All we wanted to do is come in and do our personal best and we accomplished that,” said U of T’s Carl Georgevski, who earned the Sue Wise award as the CIS women’s coach of the year. “We had athletes ranked 12th that ended up fifth. We’re extremely happy with everyone’s performances.” Fourth-year Blues veteran Sasha Gollish was named the outstanding female athlete of the meet as she came up with another multi-medal performance on Day 3. The Toronto native earned the silver medal in the 600m final, crossing the finish line in a school-record time of 1:29.71. Teammate Rachel Jewett was right behind her in third with a time of 1:30.16. Gollish also placed second in the 1500m (4:18.75), with teammate Gabriella Stafford earning the bronze medal in 4:20.86. Gollish ended the meet with gold medals in the 1000m and 3000m, silver in the 600m and 1500m, as well as a relay title and Canadian record in the 4x800 event. “I wanted to give it my all to help us win the banner,” said an elated Gollish, who had been named the CIS female athlete of the year in track event before the start of the competition. “The 4x800 was a last minute call and I’m so glad to have been a part of that team. My favourite slogan is stronger together. We had a great time. Everyone did their best. People out performed how they were expected to perform. It was great.” Fiona Callender catapulted Toronto’s 4x400 relay team from third to first with an outstanding third leg. Callender, along with Ellie Hirst, Honor Walmsley and Jewett claimed the gold medal in a time of 3:48.33. Fourth-year U of T veteran Julia Stille garnered her first career CIS medal, claiming the silver medal in the women’s triple jump with a distance of 12.61m, while teammate Danielle Delage, who placed second in the women’s pentathlon on Thursday, claimed the bronze medal in the women’s high jump (1.76m).
Western’s Caroline Ehrhardt secured her spot in the CIS championship record book with a record-breaking performance in the triple jump and high jump. Ehrhardt jump of 13.16m broke a 22-year old standard set by Kelly Dinsmore of Windsor in 1993 to win the gold medal in event. Stille placed second (12.61m), while Trinity Western’s Sabrina Nettey took home the bronze medal (12.47m). On the men’s side, the Lancers team total of 101 points was good enough to edge out their rivals from Guelph, who finished second with 92 points. York claimed the bronze medal in the team competition with 73 points. Windsor and Guelph dueled down the stretch with the CIS team title up for grabs heading into the final event of the competition, the 4x400 meter relay. Windsor’s team of Jesse Drennan, Corey Bellemore, Chris Kramer and Alex Ullman secured the victory with a first-place finish in a time of 3:17.79. Windsor’s Ullman and Bellemore both had big performances on Saturday including second and fourth-place finishes respectively in the men’s 600 metres. Victoria’s Adam Paul-Morris earned the gold in the 600m in a time of 1:18.33 while Ullman picked up silver in 1:18.52. Garrett King of Calgary was third in a time of 1:1856 while Bellemore rounded out the top four in a time of 1:19.11. The Gryphons were able to stay alive in the team competition thanks to a strong performance in the men’s 1500 metres. Guelph’s Ross Proudfoot, who was also the CIS male athlete of the meet, won gold in a time of 3:47.84 while Victoria’s Thomas Riva picked up the silver in a time of 3:48.08. Alex Wilkie from Queen’s won the bronze in 3:49.03 while Guelph claimed the fourth and fifth spots as Kyle Grieve and Aaron Hendrikx finished in 3:49.32 and 3:50.03. In the day’s other relay, the York Lions captured gold in the men’s 4x200m relay in a time of 1:27.97. That time edged out the University of Regina who finished second in a time of 1:28.39 and the University of Saskatchewan who won the bronze in a time of 1:28.93. In the field events, the Lancers once again got a number of strong performances which helped to clinch the men’s team title. Windsor finished third and fourth in the pole vault as Milos Savic captured a bronze medal with a vault of 4.92m and Chris Waugh finished fourth with a best of 4.82m. York’s David McKay won the pole vault in convincing fashion as he finished with a winning vault of 5.20m to easily win the event. Nathan Fillpak from Alberta finished second at 4.92m.
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NS DEFEAT LANCERS TO CAPTURE WILSON CUP TITLE IN 13 SEASONS OTTAWA, Ont. - It doesn’t get old for Dave Smart and the Carleton Ravens. They thumped a hot Windsor Lancers team fresh off a thrilling semifinal victory, 103-59 on Saturday March 7th to capture their ninth Wilson Cup title.
points. “Tommy and Phil are matchup problems for everyone so we just have to space well and play off those guys. Tonight it was me stepping up, last night it was Connor, sometimes it’s Gavin. It doesn’t really matter to us who it is. It’s whatever the defence decides to give us and we just play.”
Carleton was not only playing for the Wilson Cup, but for redemption after the Lancers got the better of the Ravens back in January on Windsor’s home court. But this time, it really wasn’t close. The Ravens led from start to finish and shook off an early physical flurry from the Lancers to take a slim first quarter lead. Carleton was able to pull away in the early stages of the second with a 14-4 run. Neither team was feeling very good shooting the ball with the Ravens shooting 33 per cent and the Lancers shooting 31 in the first half. The Lancers hung around for the first half of the quarter but the Ravens forced them into sloppy play. A few turnovers and a couple ill-advised fouls was all Carleton needed to turn it into a 17-point lead with four minutes to go in the first half. Carleton led by 23 at the break.
Carleton focused on their inside game in this one and it paid off as they had 34 points in the paint and dominated the battle on the boards 52-29.
“Tonight it was me stepping up, last night it was Connor, sometimes it’s Gavin. It doesn’t really matter to us who it is.”
Windsor’s aggressive play didn’t seem to be paying off. They keyed on Philip Scrubb especially and sent him to the line six times where Scrubb hit 11 of 12 free throws on the night. The game really got away from the Lancers when their frustration started to show through four minutes into the second half. They were assessed three technical fouls on the same stoppage. To add insult, and important points, the Ravens were 26-for-31 from the line on the night.
– Victor Raso
“Rebounding was a major focus,” said head coach Dave Smart. “We were hoping to break even. We thought that would give us a decent shot at winning the game because they rebound so well. We were fortunate we got some stops and rebounds. “They rebound and attack the rim so we knew it was going to be like that,” added Smart. “I don’t think we were prepared for it when we got to their place. They didn’t shock us with their talent but they shocked us with their intensity. He’s done such a good job with that group. They’ve got some guys that can play but they lost a lot. It’s hard to replace that much talent but they’ve been probably better this year. That’s how they play. They get after it on the O boards, get after it in transition, and they play free. They didn’t shot as well today as they can so that allowed us to get out in front too.”
The Lancers and the Ravens both head on to the CIS Final Eight next weekend to be played at Ryerson University. Seedings and the final wild card spot will be announced on Sunday.
Victor Raso had a very efficient game and was named the Porter Airlines Player of the Game.
“It’s going to be tough,” said OUA Final Four MVP, Thomas Scrubb, of the upcoming national tournament. “The three other teams here this weekend will probably have a big chip on their shoulders since they all lost a game this weekend. We know we’ve played well this weekend but we need to step it up a notch next weekend. We’ll have to see what kind of draw we’ll get but we’ll be prepared.”
“We just stick to our roles and play confident in them,” said Raso who went 5-for-6 from the field and 7-for-8 from the line for a game-high 21
Alex Campbell, Evan Matthews, and Kalid Abdel-Gabar all scored in double-digits for the Lancers in a silver medal winning effort.
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TOP-SEEDED RAVENS FIVE-PEAT, SCRUBB BROTHERS ENTER RECORD TORONTO (CIS) – The top-seeded Carleton
had also faced off in last year’s CIS title match,
15-10 started the second quarter on an 11-0 run
University Ravens claimed the W.P. McGee Trophy
with Carleton prevailing 79-67. It marked the third
to open the game up. The lead quickly ballooned
for the fifth consecutive season and for a record
rematch in CIS men’s hoops history after Victoria
to 20 and, with 5:10 remaining in the half, Ottawa
11th time overall thanks to a decisive 93-46
beat Waterloo in both 1985 and 1986, and back-
head coach James Derouin was whistled for a
victory over the No. 3 Ottawa Gee-Gees in the
to-back victories by StFX over Brandon in 2000
technical foul which seemed to give his Gee-Gees
championship final of the 2015 ArcelorMittal
and 2001.
a spark they desperately needed. Ottawa scored on consecutive possessions and then drew a
Dofasco CIS men’s basketball Final 8, Sunday March 15th, in front of a near-sellout crowd of
“It’s pretty cool to think about,” said Phil Scrubb
3,917 at Ryerson University’s Mattamy Athletic
about the five consecutive national titles. “Each
Centre.
individual one is different and pretty special and this one, after we lost a few games this year, is a
The Ravens, who earned the top seed for the
good feeling.”
charge call at the defensive end and moved to within 13 points. Carleton held steady however and had retreated to the locker room up 38-23.
national tournament after they captured the OUA banner a week ago, completed a successful five-
Ravens bench boss Dave Smart, who has been
The Ravens came out of the break hungry for
year run for the second time in program history,
at the helm for all 11 McGee Trophy triumphs,
more and Connor Wood led the champions on a
equalling their remarkable streak from 2003 to
echoed his point guard’s statements about what
16-2 run to open the second half. Third-year guard
2007.
the most recent one means to him.
connected on three straight three-pointers and added a pull up jumper all within the first three
Brothers Phil and Thomas Scrubb became just
“Really for me, it’s one at a time. It’s always a
minutes of the quarter.
the fourth and fifth players in CIS annals to win five
different group. To win without Tyson (Hinz) and
national rings in men’s basketball, joining Osvaldo
Kevin (Churchill) is not easy – they were the heart
Jeanty from the 2003-2007 Ravens as well as Eli
and soul of last year’s team and to find a way to
timeout,” said Derouin after the game. “That put
Pasquale and David Sheehan from the University
get it done this year is pretty special.”
their lead at 26 and the way they were defending, I knew we had a pretty uphill climb at that point and
of Victoria dynasty in the 1980s. Carleton’s defence smothered the Gee-Gees, In his final university game, Phil Scrubb
“They came out on that run and I had to burn a
it seemed to go from bad to worse from there.”
limiting the country’s highest-scoring team from
completed a dream weekend as he received his
the regular season (94.5 ppg) to just 23 points in
Ottawa’s offence could never find its rhythm and
second Jack Donohue Trophy as Final 8 MVP -
each half, including eight points in a 22-8 fourth
the Gee-Gees trailed 70-38 after three quarters.
three years after he first merited the award in
quarter. The Ravens, who had the nation’s top-
To make matters worse, the OUA bronze medallists
2012 - and was named Carleton game MVP for the
ranked defence this year (56.4 ppg) led 15-10
also lost their CIS coach of the year as Derouin
third time in as many games this week thanks to a
after the first period, 38-23 at halftime and 71-38
received a second technical foul and was forced to
28-point, 10-assist performance. The all-star guard
after 45 minutes.
leave the bench for the final quarter.
from Richmond. B.C., the only player to win CIS player-of-the-year honours on three occasions over
Fifth-year Ottawa guard Johnny Berhanemeskel,
Not satisfied with their lead and unwilling to
his career, shot 10-of-16 from the floor, including
the 2014-15 CIS player of the year, was held to just
take a possession off, the Ravens outscored
4-of-8 from beyond the arc, and was 4-of-5 from
six total points on 1-of-10 shooting, including 0-of-
Ottawa 22-8 in the final quarter to put the finishing
the free throw line.
6 from three-point range, and didn’t find the score
touches on the lopsided victory.
sheet until two minutes before the halftime break. Thomas, the reigning two-time CIS defensive player of the year and 2013 Jack Donohue Trophy
For the game, Carleton shot 55.4% from the
winner, had a double-double of his own with 20
field and 52.2% from beyond the arc, compared to
points and 12 rebounds.
25.0% and 15.4% for their opponents. The Ravens also won the rebound battle 44-29.
The cross-town rivals from the nation’s capital Leading 15-10 after 10 minutes, the Ravens led
With tournament host Ryerson winning the bronze medal earlier on Sunday, the OUA conference swept the CIS podium for the second time in three campaigns. Carleton, Lakehead and Ottawa finished 1-2-3 in 2013.
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LANCERS CAPTURE THIRD STRAIGHT TLE WITH DOMINATING WIN OVER RAMS
WINDSOR, Ont. - For the third consecutive year, and sixth time in seven seasons, the OUA championship banner will hang in the rafters of the St. Denis Centre as the Windsor Lancers are champions once again. The Lancers defeated the Ryerson Rams in front of a packed and frenzied home crowd by a score of 71-51 on Saturday March 7th. The first quarter was dominated by OUA Defensive Player of the Year, and the Lancers leading scorer, Korissa Williams, who scored 12 of her 18 points in the opening frame. For the game, Williams tied for the Lancers lead with 18 points, and led all players with 10 assists and six steals. Trailing 23-16 into the second quarter, the Rams looked overwhelmed at times in trying to deal with the Lancers ball movement and defence, allowing Windsor a 10-2 run in the quarter to go ahead 35-25 after Ryerson had narrowed the score to 25-23.
Rouge et Or. For Windsor, it will be an opportunity to make history and become just the second team to win five consecutive national titles, something that has only been accomplished by the mid-70s Laurentian Voyageurs dynasty.
“I am so tremendously proud of this group of individuals who pushed through this championship weekend”
By the time the second-quarter buzzer sounded, Ryerson found itself dug into a 42-29 hole and could not recover from the 13-point deficit.
– Chantal Vallee
To the Lancers credit, they made sure not to take their foot off the gas pedal, outscoring Ryerson 20-8 in the third quarter, led by Porter Airlines Player of the Game Emiy Prevost who scored eight of her 18 points in the third frame. Prevost was a force to be reckoned with all game, cleaning up the glass with a game-high 11 rebounds, while adding two blocks and three steals. With a 62-37 lead going into the fourth quarter, the Lancers turned the final frame into a formality, and despite being outscored 14-9, it was not enough for Ryerson who was denied their first ever OUA championship. Both teams will now prepare for the CIS Final 8 national championship tournament beginning March 12 in Quebec City, hosted by the Laval
“I am so tremendously proud of this group of individuals who pushed through this championship weekend,” said Lancers head coach Chantal Vallee. “It is a tremendous rehearsal for Quebec City and it’s only a part of the journey. We look forward to being there and to continue climbing our mountain.” The Rams will have the opportunity for redemption in La Belle Province, as they also receive one of OUA’s berths in the CIS tournament. “We’ll take this as a learning experience and this is the stage that we’re going to be playing on for three games (at the CIS Final 8),” said Rams head coach Carly Clarke. “We still have to be incredibly proud of being second in the OUA. That’s a pretty great accomplishment for this season and something we hope to build on next week.”
The Rams won an OUA medal for the first time in program history, and ranked No. 7 in the CIS Top 10 are still a team to look out for at the national championships. Ryerson guard Keneca Pingue-Giles led all players with 24 points in the loss; Silvana Jez was the only other Ram to score in double digits with 10 points. Windsor dominated down low, outscoring Ryerson 48-12 in the paint, and out-rebounded their opponent 42-32. Ryerson led only once in the game, and that came very early in the first quarter.
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LANCERS MAKE HISTORY BECOMING JUST TEAM TO WIN 5 STRAIGHT NATIONAL TIT
QUEBEC CITY (CIS) – The top-seeded and tournament favourites Windsor Lancers earned their fifth-consecutive Bronze Baby Trophy, tying the record for most consecutive CIS championships on Sunday March 15th by defeating the McGill Martlets 60-47 at the PEPS Gym of Université Laval in the ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS Women’s Basketball Championship gold-medal game. In a relatively close fought battle, the Lancer seized control early in the first frame and never relinquished their lead from there on out. With their fifth straight title, Windsor now equals a record set by Laurentian, who also won five consecutive national titles between 1975 and 1979. With the championship victory the Lancers also brought their season winning streak to 16 games and playoff winning streak to 21. Their last series defeat came back in 2012 when they lost the OUA Final Four final against the Ottawa Gee Gees. Fifth-year players Korissa Williams and Jocelyn LaRocque also accomplished quite a feat with the victory. They have now raised the Bronze Baby trophy in each of their past five seasons, a feat that has never been done at the women’s CIS level. Williams was also named MVP of the tournament, leading her team in the finals in points (21), rebounds (14), assists (7) and steals (6) . “Every championship is special, but this one even more. We only had nine players for most of the season, and for me, to win in the city of Quebec, where I’m from, it’s pretty special,” said Lancers head coach Chantal Vallée after her team’s historic win. “We didn’t panic (when McGill got close), it
was no big deal. It happens in basketball, it’s a game of runs. We reacted as champions, pushed to the limit and got some scores.”
to be more disciplined and follow the game plan and stick with it for 40 minutes. No one is going to give it to you.”
The Martlets, who were the first Quebec team to participate in the national final since the Laval Rouge et Or in 2002, claimed their
The first quarter of the national championship was marked early-on by the defensive prowess of both teams. CIS defensive player of the year Korissa Williams stood out and demonstrated why she won the honour. Williams stole the ball on backto-back McGill possessions, both resulting in four easy points the other way. Constant pressure from Windsor wore McGill down and after one quarter the Ontario champions were up 21-10.
“ E v e r y championship is special, but this one even more. We only had nine players for most of the season, and for me, to win in the city of Quebec, where I’m from, it’s pretty special”
The Martlets worked hard throughout the second quarter to get back into the game. McGill started gaining momentum after three-point shots from Dianna Ros and Carolann Cloutier that brought the Lancers lead back down to seven, but Windsor responded with a three of their own from Caitlyn Longmuir and at the half, it was Windsor 34, McGill 26.
best result at a national tournament. McGill had also previously won bronze in 1996.
The second half started much the same as the second quarter, with the Martlets scoring early to close the gap. Now only up 34-32, the Lancers once again responded scoring the next eight points. Williams continued to set the pace for both teams accumulating 21 points after 30 minutes. Windsor would finish the third ahead 45-38.
“We knew it was going to be a grind. They were a disciplined team, they knew what they were looking for. Their experience and their discipline came through and I think that was the difference in the game,” said Martlets coach Ryan Thorne. “To be the best, we have
In the fourth quarter, the only real threat the Martlets posed was when they managed to bring Windsors lead down to five points, but as hard as McGill tried, the Lancers never cracked under the pressure completing the job en route to a 13-point, 60-47 victory.
– Chantal Vallee
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GRYPHONS DEFEAT UQTR PATRIOTES 4-0 O CLAIM FIRST QUEEN’S CUP IN 18 YEARS Guelph, ON - Officially, the capacity at the Gryphon Centre is listed at 1,300. As the years pass, it will be interesting to see how many thousands more claim they were there the night the Gryphons were crowned OUA Champions. On Saturday March 7th in front of a soldout crowd, the University of Guelph men’s hockey team won 4-0 over the UQTR Patriotes (L’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières) in the 104th Queen’s Cup. With the victory, the Gryphons claim their first OUA title since 1997. In short, the Gryphons played nearly perfect hockey in all aspects of the game on Saturday night, and it would not take long before the capacity crowd had something to cheer about. Just 56 seconds into the game Guelph’s leading scorer and OUA All-Star Nick Huard (North Bay, ON) sent the crowd into a frenzy when his snap shot through traffic flew into the top corner to give the Gryphons an early 1-0 lead. That was the start of an impressive opening 20 minutes by the Gryphons who came close to doubling their lead on several occassions. Teal Burns (Victoria, BC) led a 2-on-1 break and would fire a shot low blocker side that Patriotes goalie Francis Desrosiers was just able to keep from squeaking through. After an entertaining, and physical opening period, the Gryphons led 1-0 heading to the second. The second period would start off exactly like the first, with an early goal from the Gryphons. This time, it would take the Gryphons just 40 seconds into the period to score.
Scott Simmonds (Uxbridge, ON) fired a perfectly placed shot over the shoulder of Desrosiers and under the crossbar for his third goal of the playoffs to give the Gryphons a 2-0 lead. Over the next five minutes, UQTR would try desperately to get back into the game, but the Gryphons stood strong defensively, blocking shots and using some great stick checks to keep the Patriotes at bay.
UQTR would have a chance on the power play to finally get on the board, but Guelph’s standout rookie goalie Andrew D’Agostini was once again at his best for the Gryphons. D’Agostini made several key stops, stretching to get a pad on one puck, sliding over to turn away a one-timer shortly after, before finally flashing the leather to make an impressive glove save.
With 1:37 remaining in the period, the first penalty of the game would be called, and it would come against the Gryphons as Michael Hasson was given a double minor for high sticking. Not only were the Gryphons able to kill off the first half of that double minor late in the period, they actually created a short-handed chance of their own.
The end of the game would get a bit chippy as the teams would trade penalties in the last four minutes, but ultimately, the outcome was never in doubt. As the final seconds ticked away, the crowd would rise to their collective feet as the Gryphons swarmed D’Agostini while helmets, gloves and sticks flew through the air.
When the horn sounded at the end of the second period, the Gryphons held a 2-0 lead and sat 20 minutes away from an OUA Championship. Guelph’s penalty kill unit would pick up where they left off after the intermission, successfully killing off all four minutes of UQTR’s man advantage. With momentum, and the crowd, clearly on their side, the Gryphons would get another scoring chance as Scott Simmonds streaked into the zone and picked the top corner for his second goal of the night to give the Gryphons a 3-0 lead. The Gryphon fans barely had any time to celebrate that goal, as just nine seconds later Nick Huard would score his second goal of the night, as his wrist shot trickled through the five-hole of Desrosiers and in to make it 4-0 Gryphons with just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation. At that point, the party was on. The 104th Queen’s Cup was within reach.
The 4-0 win marked the eighth provincial title in program history and first since 1997. D’Agostini was named Harrow Player of the Game for the 104th Queen’s Cup, making 18 saves in the shutout. Nick Huard was named the Porter Player of the Playoffs, finishing with seven goals in nine games. Gryphons head coach Shawn Camp said after the game, “This is what we were shooting for since the beginning of the season. We got off to a great start to the game and gave ourselves every opportunity to win.” When asked about the hometown crowd, Camp added “this is the biggest crowd I have ever seen here, and it made a big difference. It was great that we were able to get off to a good start and get the crowd involved early. They were tremendous all night and the guys really appreciated the support.”
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WESTERN MUSTANGS WIN FIRST OUA W HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP IN PROGRAM HIST
LONDON, Ont. – For the first time in program history, the Western Mustangs are the OUA Women’s Hockey Champions as they defeated the Guelph Gryphons 2-0 in the championship final on Saturday March 7th at Thompson Arena. “I thought we played our finest game of the season,” said Mustangs head coach Chris Higgins. “There were stretches when we were a little bit back on our heels but we had solid d-zone coverage. I thought we forechecked, I thought we skated, I thought we moved the puck. I thought it was one of our best games.” The Mustangs hoisted the Judy McCaw Memorial Cup thanks to goals from Sydney Kidd and Kendra Broad. Kidd, who was named Porter Player of the Playoffs after recording five goals and one assist in five games, scored what would end up being the game winner less than a minute into the second period. “I’ve been here for five years and if there is anytime to start playing your best hockey I guess now would be it, so I’ve been happy with my performance [throughout the playoffs],” said Kidd. Mustangs goaltender Kelly Campbell picked up her fifth win of the 2015 playoffs, stopping all 23 shots she faced to earn Harrow Player of the Game honours and record her first shutout of the postseason. Stephanie Nehring put in a strong performance in the Gryphon net, turning aside 22 of 24 shots in the loss.
“That’s huge,” said Campbell on being named player of the game. “There are so many girls out on that ice that deserve it, I was just fortunate enough to get it this year, but there are definitely a lot of girls that deserve it.”
“I’ve been here for five years and if there is anytime to start playing your best hockey I guess now would be it, so I’ve been happy with my performance [throughout the playoffs]” – Sydney Kidd
After a scoreless first period the Mustangs opened the scoring only 49 seconds into the second period as Sydney Kidd recorded her fifth goal of the post-season, jamming the puck past Nehring at the side of the net to give Western a 1-0 lead.
Both teams traded chances on back-toback power plays midway through the frame, however neither side was able to solve the other, sending the game into the third with the Mustangs up 1-0. Despite some pressure from the Gryphons early on, it was the Mustangs who made their mark on the scoreboard with Kendra Broad going high on the blocker side on a two-onone to extend Western’s lead to 2-0 near the seven-minute mark of the period. With time winding down Guelph picked up the pace and looked to be building some momentum in the offensive end, however a penalty with 3:44 left on the clock put them back on the defensive, and the Mustangs skated away with a 2-0 win and their firstever OUA title. “I think we’re going to celebrate tonight and not give [the CIS Championship] any thought,” said Higgins when asked about moving forward to compete for the CIS title next week. “Tomorrow we’ll wake up and design a practice plan. We have no experience, this is unchartered territory out there, and we’re going to have to get the girls in the right mindset because if you lose the first game you’re basically finished. We are ranked number two now so we will get presumably a lower seed which will be a bonus, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy.”
WOMEN’S TORY
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TERN UPSETS MCGILL TO CAPTURE IRST CIS WOMEN’S HOCKEY TITLE CALGARY (CIS) – Tournament MVP Kelly Campbell recorded a 38-save shutout to lead the Western Mustangs to a 5-0 victory over the defending champion McGill Martlets to claim their first ever Golden Path Trophy in the CIS women’s hockey championship final on Sunday March 15th. The heavily-favoured Martlets, who had made appearances in six of the last eight national finals, were dethroned by a Mustangs team that was participating not only in its first ever CIS championship game, but its inaugural appearance at a CIS national championship tournament. Western relied on a hot goaltender, who allowed just one goal in the 94 shots she faced in the tournament, shutting out the two highestscoring offences in the nation this season in Montreal and McGill. With five goals on just 15 shots, Western became the third Ontario school in history to capture the CIS women’s hockey title and the first since Wilfrid Laurier a decade ago in 2005. “There’s no way to describe this feeling,” said Campbell, who was named the first team All-Canadian netminder Wednesday night. “We’ve worked so hard as a team over the past year and we have the team behind me, I knew we had it the entire time and to get this win against McGill is incredible. “They did [get a lot of shots] but the shots weren’t too bad my team was blocking a few and keeping them wide so overall I wasn’t too worried about it.” The McGill team that took 10 of the first 11 shots of the game got a shock when a wrist shot through traffic from Mustangs rookie Anthea Lasis found the back of the net on just their second shot of the game at the
Markin MacPhail Centre. Leading 1-0 despite being heavily outplayed after 20 minutes, Western got two more quick ones in the first five minutes of the second, which ended Marlets goaltender Taylor Hough’s night after she allowed three goals on just seven shots.
“We were getting pucks to the net but we weren’t getting opportunities,” explained McGill head coach Peter Smith. “They did a really good job of keeping us away from the net and to the outside so we didn’t get a lot of chances and with that goalie, I think that’s what you have to do. She’s going to stop everything that she can see. We had a hard time getting to the net.”
McGill continued to pour on the pressure but Western jumped on every opportunity to counterattack, which led to their fourth goal by championship allstar Kendra Broad as she ripped a shot past Brittany Smrke on an odd-man rush. Despite several chances, including a partial breakaway by McGill’s championship all-star Gabrielle Davidson, Campbell was not letting – Kelly Campbell anything past her, making every save look easy against a frustrated McGill offense.
“If four years ago you would have told me that I’d be standing here today I probably would have laughed at you a little bit”
“What’s there to say about her – I mean she’s just, she intimidates the other teams,” said Mustangs head coach Chris Higgins “You could see it, they were trying to go top shelf. They just weren’t shooting at the net they were trying to pick the smallest corners. She’s unbelievable, and the girls in front of her, there are no rebounds, right? She kicked one out and we got it out of the zone.”
Western stayed strong on defence throughout the entirity of the third period, allowing no comeback opportunity for McGill. A fifth goal in the final minute of play topped off a thrilling game for Western. “Win or lose the final games, it doesn’t change my outlook of this team,” said Smith. “I’m very, very proud of them and what they’ve accomplished over the course of this year. We didn’t end the season quite the way we had hoped for, but I’m still real proud of them.”
The Mustangs completed the upset despite being badly outshot 38-15. McGill went 0-3 on the power play, while Mustangs capitalized on two of five power play opportunities. “If four years ago you would have told me that I’d be standing here today I probably would have laughed at you a little bit,” said Campbell. “Just to get with Western and see the program advance over the last few years has just been incredible.”
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WARRIORS WIN FIRST OUA BADM CHAMPIONSHIP BANNER SINCE 20
TORONTO, Ont. – The University of Waterloo Warriors claimed their first OUA badminton championship banner in five years with a dominating performance at Ryerson’s Kerr Hall Gymnasium during the weekend of March 20-22nd. Waterloo accumulated 63 points over the course of the championship, 18 more than second place Western University. The McMaster Marauders edged out the Ottawa Gee-Gees for third place. The Warriors won five medals including double gold for Surabhi Kadam who won both the women’s singles and mixed doubles titles with her partner Wesley Marr. Kadam was named the OUA Female Most Valuable
Player for her performance this weekend. In men’s singles, McMaster’s Jacob Kao took home the title with a 21-12, 9-21, 2116 victory over Western’s Jack Hall. In the bronze medal match, Nathan Leung won the battle of Waterloo Warriors over teammate Cliff Tuen. McMaster’s Kao then partnered with Muhammad Kamaruddin to win the men’s doubles title in a thrilling 21-19, 17-21, 2119 match over Waterloo’s Clarence Chan and Wesley Marr. Kao was named the OUA Male Most Valuable Player for his double gold performance while Kamaruddin was named the OUA Male Rookie of the Year.
Top-seeded Sarah Bowman and Chinue De La Merced from Ottawa won the women’s doubles title in straight sets over Western’s Adrianna Giuffre and Aisyah Latib. De La Merced also picked up an individual bronze medal in women’s singles to earn her the OUA Female Rookie of the Year honours. The event concluded with Kadam and Marr’s gold medal performance in mixed doubles as they defeated Western’s Bryan Jok and Aisyah Latib in three sets. The banner is Waterloo’s fourth title since the OUA moved to the team format.
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