Adam ScottiThe McGill Redmen’s 15 game winning streak came to an end Sunday afternoon with an emotional loss to arch-rival Concordia. It was a tight game until the last 10 minutes, but Concordia made plays when it mattered most and defeated McGill 17-10.
The first half was extremely slow for both teams. The Redmen were ineffective passing and Concordia’s lineouts were off the mark.The referee kept calling penalties on McGill’s scrums and also sent a Concordia player to the sin bin.
“The ref was saying that we were engaging too quickly and I think that comes with communication with the forward pack. I don’t think it will be a problem, we just need to work on it a little more,” said fly half Josh Reznick.
The first chance for points came in the 19th minute, but Gideon Balloch missed the kick.
The first half ended disappointingly for McGill. The score remained 0-0 and second-row Maxwell Gregory had to leave the game with a dislocated shoulder.
After the scoreless first half, the second started off very well with McGill aggressively pushing for a try. With a steal from Concordia’s lineout, McGill took possession near Concordia’s end. Scrum half Josh Reznick made a beautiful inside pass to Rodderick Mackenzie who scored the first try of the game. Balloch made the ensuing conversion to make the score 7-0.
A few minutes later, McGill extended their lead to 10-0 as a penalty against Concordia resulted in Balloch making another kick.
The Stingers would answer though with a beautiful offensive play resulting in a try and narroweing McGill’s lead 12 minutes into the second half. The following conversion, however, was nowhere close to the goal posts, and the score remained 10-5 for the Redmen.
McGill was called on a penalty a couple minutes later, giving the Stingers a chance for three points, but they could not convert.
In the 20th minute, another try and successful conversion by Concordia left the Redmen in uncharted territory. They now trailed 12-10.
Tensions ran high in the game’s dying minutes. Pushing and shoving began and sent Redmen center Sam Skulsky and a Concordia player being sent to the penalty box.
McGill desperately pushed for another try but Concordia’s defence held. The Stingers answered with another try, and could have put the game out of reach with a successful conversion. However, Concordia again failed and the score remained 17-10. Despite one last opportunity McGill could not even the game.
While the Redmen were obviously frustrated, they remained optimistic after the game.
“We’re obviously disappointed with the outcome,” said McGill Head Coach Craig Beemer, “but it was a really good wake up call. Concordia played well, and on a few defensive mistakes by us they were able to capitalize and score a couple of really nice tries. We were pretty well matched. I don’t see any other team being better than another when it comes to physical presence or skill. We are usually predominately the better skilled team but I wouldn’t say that right now. They are even with us at this point.”
Reznick agreed that the loss and tightly contested game could ultimately prove beneficial for the Redmen in the upcoming playoffs.
“I think this is the first time our team faced adversity in a long time,” he said. “I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing, it’s a learning experience. We’re starting to build now towards the playoffs and we have to take this loss in stride, and hopefully put forth a better effort come semifinals. I think the intensity was there today, we were hitting hard but we just weren’t necessarily playing the smartest rugby in the world.”
The Redmen now head to the playoffs, hoping to have learned something from the loss. They will try to begin a new winning streak on November 7, when they play the Sherbrooke Vert et Or in the Quebec Student Sports Federation semifinal at Molson Stadium.
