Martlet Rugby
Over Thanksgiving weekend, the Martlet rugby squad emerged victorious after facing fierce competition in the Ottawa Gee Gee’s and the CIS no. 6 ranked St. Francis Xavier X-Women. The first match had important implications for the team’s post-season picture in the RSEQ as McGill travelled to the nation’s capital to determine which team would have home field advantage for the playoffs. They were able to parlay a strong first 20 minutes into a 14-0 lead as Casey Thorburn and Deanna Foster scored tries. The tilt ended at 21-13 as the Gee Gee’s closed the gap. The latter match was the second leg of the McEwen Cup. McGill jumped out to an early lead behind the brilliance of standout Brianna Miller. The Martlets’ 17-3 lead at halftime was too steep for the visitors to recover from as McGill ended up winning 29-17. Despite the victory, the aggregate score for the McEwen Cup was 46-27 in favour of St. Francis Xavier. McGill will now host Ottawa in the RSEQ semifinals, a match that has doomed the program five years in a row. The team will play on Oct. 19 as part of McGill’s Homecoming week.
Martlet Volleyball
The McGill Martlets took to Love Competition Hall for the first time this season to host the annual Martlet Invitational Volleyball Tournament. McGill kicked off the first day of tournament play by winning 2-0 against Memorial and Regina, ending the day tied with Montreal in first place. However, the team then dropped their match on Saturday against Queen’s University, losing 3-0. This set up McGill for its bronze medal game against Saint Mary’s University. The Martlets failed to close out their opponents in three sets, losing by a narrow margin of a mere 12 points across all three games. Montreal won its gold medal match against Queen’s, three sets to one. McGill’s Marie-Christine Lapointe, a fourth-year setter out of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, was the only Martlet named to the tournament All-Star team. Marie-Sophie Nadeau from the Montreal team was named the tournament MVP.
The Martlets will officially begin their regular season on Oct. 25 in the RSEQ-AUS Interlocking League Tournament in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Redmen Hockey
The Redmen ice hockey team gained three points in its two matches during the regular season’s opening weekend in Toronto. On Friday, Ryerson led the game twice, before McGill tied the score up behind goals from Mathieu Pompei and Cedric McNicoll. However, they were unable to hang on in overtime as Ryerson freshman Domenic Alberga capped off a three point night with the overtime winner. McGill was able to follow this up with a shutout over its ‘Old Four’ rival, the Toronto Blues. Goaltender Andrew Flemming was superb between the pipes for the Redmen as he parried away 37 shots and kept the squad in the game while they were outshot. Sophomore Max Le Sieur had two goals on the night to lead the scoring efforts for the team. The Redmen now host Ottawa and UQTR during Homecoming Week for their regular season home openers as they attempt to return to national prominence.
