A pair of quarterfinals exits

Photo by Mike Marasco/ Contributor

Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams faced ended their seasons after facing tough opponents at the Ontario University Athletics quarterfinals, losing a chance to move one step closer to the finals. 

The men’s team had a tough bout with one of the OUAs top teams, the York University Lions, where they lost 1-4. The women’s team lost to the Western University Mustangs, going scoreless while Western put up only one goal.

Off the field, the marauders had a great weekend, where they upheld their trend of excellence in helping the local community. A standout student-athlete from both the men’s and women’s soccer teams took home the Ontario University Athletics West divisional community service award. The west division makes up half of the conference in women’s and men’s soccer and a total of nine schools. The marauders soccer program has been a consistent recipient of this award. 

A standout student-athlete from both the men’s and women’s soccer teams took home the Ontario University Athletics West divisional community service award.

For the women’s team, it was Claudia Continenza who took home the award for her work as a volunteer coach for club as well as high school level soccer teams in Hamilton. For the men’s team, Christian Cossidente was awarded for his efforts in the McMaster athletes care program. Cossidente participated in “Mac think pink”, which raised money for breast cancer research. He also supported the “Bell let’s talk” movement and many more similar initiatives. Cossidente winning the OUA West divisional community service award marks the fifth time in six years that a marauder from the men’s team has taken home the award. 

Outside of these community service awards, the teams did well in terms of OUA West all-star placing. The men’s and women’s teams both had one player grace the All-star first-team, the team comprised of the very best players in the OUA West. Midfielder Anand Sergeant and women’s team captain Stephanie Roberts both attained their second appearance on the first team for the second year in a row.

The OUA West second team all-stars is where the performances of more marauders were recognized. Carling Goold and Hannah Chau-Stacey represented the women’s team, while Matthew Monteiro Yordan Stoyanov and Dusan Kovacevic made appearances on the men’s OUA West second team.

This year marks the final year of play for the captains of both the men’s and women’s teams: Stephanie Roberts and Yordan Stoyanov. Roberts was a powerhouse in the OUA West, leading the nation in goals last year. As previously mentioned, she was an OUA West first team all-star both last year and this year. Stoyanov had terrific on-field presence. Both will likely be greatly missed next year. 

Even though it was an unfortunate end to the season, the marauders did not let down their community. The individual recognition for the all-star teams are high level achievements. Perhaps, the marauders nominated for all-star teams will jump into a bigger role next year for the maroon and grey.