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With injuries hindering the success of the women’s soccer team for seasons in the past, the youth and health of the team shows a promising future for the Marauders.
17 first year players and more than half of the roster has been added, and a fresh group of athletes have been injected into a team that had playoff dreams cut short at the hands of injuries.
Three regular games into the season and a current record of 2-1-1 shows that these Marauders are willing to compete and will have the chance to to do just that.
Co-captains Taylor Davis and Sophia Ymeka are playing in their last year of eligibility and add years of experience to the defensive back line.
Aug. 29 - McMaster vs. Waterloo TIE 2-2
With the first season game, the McMaster women’s team looked promising. McMaster led 2-0 with points on the board from Jessie Faber and Maila Carboni. Carboni, a rookie striker, got her first OUA goal in her debut in maroon and grey. The Marauders regulated most of the 90 minutes of play before the Warriors answered back with two goals of their own in the 85th and 87th minute.
Both teams split the points, and neither came out with a victory.
Aug. 30 - McMaster vs. York LOSS 0-1
Though McMaster’s defence remained steady throughout, a goal in the 49th minute of play saw the Lions get back on the bus with a win.
Sept. 5 - McMaster vs. Windsor WIN 1-0
The Marauders’ first win this season came at home as they competed against the Lancers. The goal was made by the first-year striker Maila Carboni.
Sept. 6 - McMaster vs. Brock WIN 1-0
It was a flawless winning weekend for the McMaster soccer team as they beat the visiting Badgers. The only goal of the day came from first year Alexandra Riganelli in the 26th minute of the game.
With games scheduled almost every week for the next few weeks, the team will have to keep their health a priority for a shot at making it to playoffs. It is still early in the season and the team’s performance will decide their own fate.
The team will hope to continue their winning streak as they travel to Toronto to face York on Thursday, Sept. 10. Kick-off starts at 5 p.m.
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By: Jaycee Cruz
The importance of rebounding is old-hat in basketball circles. Ask a coach about how his team can improve and taking care of the glass is bound to come up. For the McMaster men’s basketball team, rebounding is one of their greatest strengths.
McMaster ranks eighth in the country when it comes to total rebounds per game, averaging a healthy 42 rebounds per game. If we dive deeper, Mac ranks fifth in defensive rebounds per contest (29.7) and 18th in offensive rebounds per game (12.3).
Mac’s rebounding has helped their recent success in their double-digit wins over Waterloo and Guelph. In both games, the rebound battle was close in the first half, but the Marauders increased their intensity on the glass in the second half.
This helped them increase their leads and secure victories over the Warriors and Gryphons. McMaster out-rebounded Waterloo 48 to 22 and out-rebounded Guelph 44 to 29.
“In our first half against Waterloo our scoring totals off of our defensive rebounds were horrendous. We had 16 defensive boards that led to seven fast-break points. In the second half it was like our defensive rebounding was turning into double the points,” said Amos Connolly, head coach the men’s basketball team.
“The rebound is one thing. The tempo at which you break out of it is another. I thought that we were better in the second half of the Waterloo and Guelph games,” said Connolly.
“We were better at translating a defensive rebound into a stressful possession the other way.”
A high-pressure possession is created by grabbing the defensive rebound and pushing the pace up the floor, which is a style McMaster likes to play. Run outs lead to easy points in transition.
“I think if you can get to the paint in eight seconds and stress the defense that way, that’s great. Whether that’s a post player running down the floor, rim-to-rim, or you enter the ball up the sideline and that guy attacks or gets into a threatening area within eight seconds, I think that’s good,” Connolly said.
Mac isn’t the biggest team in the nation. Their tallest regular-rotation players are Connor Gilmore and Taylor Black who both stand around 6’ 7”.
For what they lack in height, they make up in speed. One of Mac’s strengths is their quickness, which helps create favorable number advantages for the Marauders in transition. Connolly thinks pushing tempo is necessary with a team full of guys that hover around the 6’ to 6’ 5” mark.
“I think we’re deep and I think we’re athletic and I think we’re a little bit small. I think pushing pace makes sense for a team like this,” said Connolly.
It’s important that Mac knows that they have pieces that need to be used in certain capacities to yield successful results.
Despite the fact that a relatively fast tempo is ideal for the Marauders’ offense, they will slow the game down when it is necessary.
However, a fast pace is their first choice if they can get out in transition before the defense gets set.
“We do run half court sets when we have to. We attack a set defense with a set offense but the first look off of a defensive rebound is a run out,” said Connolly.
The Marauders have four games remaining in their regular season and they are all home games.
McMaster will take on the Queen’s Gaels next on Feb. 7 here at Burridge Gymnasium. Tip off is set for 2 p.m.
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After 18 regulation matches and 17 wins, the Marauders are exactly where they want to be.
They are in first place in the OUA, they’re ranked no.1 in the country, and they are hosting the OUA Final Four championships for the fourth season in a row.
“Our first goal was to secure home-court throughout the playoffs, and we did that, so once we clinched against Guelph, that was a good thing for us,” said head coach Dave Preston.
While the Marauders still have two regulation matches to get through against the Queen’s Gaels and RMC Paladins, both of those games will be in the Burridge Gym heading into the bye-week, which Preston believes to be an advantage for the team.
“I think every time we get to play at home is special. Playing in front of your family and friends, and more importantly the people you represent, it means a lot for our guys to wear that name on their uniform, so anytime we get to play in the Burridge Gym, it means a lot” said Preston.
The match at home against Queen’s will also have added value, as it will be the last home game for seniors Jori Mantha and Austin Campion-Smith.
Mantha and Campion-Smith have put in five solid years of hard work and time into the Marauders volleyball program, and their investment into McMaster University and being a Marauder will be recognized at Seniors’ Night on Feb. 7.
“Anytime you’re changing chapters in your life, it’s an emotional and very engaging time,” said Preston.
“So these matches mean as much to anybody, but a little bit more for [Jori] Mantha and [Austin] Campion-Smith.”
As that night is sure to be an emotional one, the Marauders have been working on balancing their technical game plans and emotional attachment in order to be as effective on the court as possible.
Preston uses the term “dialed-in” to describe the Marauders state at this point in the season.
“The two areas that we really want to dial-in are our tactical and technical game plans, and our emotional attachment. And I think we’ve done a pretty good job at managing both of those for most of the season,” said Preston.
Two other terms that Preston drills home for the team is simplicity and repeatability, which are two big things the Marauders have been practicing effectively so far.
“The success of how we do things is simple. It’s not easy, but it’s simple. So we don’t get consumed by the extra stuff around it, we do what we do, and we do it really, really well on a repeatable basis.”
Right now, the Marauders are in the middle of a three-week taper, where they are training at a lower volume, but at a higher intensity, so that after the bye-week, they can ramp it up for the OUA Championships.
While the vibe in the dressing room remains positive heading into championship season, the Marauders leadership council is making sure that no one on the team is getting too far ahead of themselves.
“We’ve experienced a silver and bronze medal in nationals in the last two years that provides us with a reminder of ‘look, it’s not that easy,’” said Preston.
Although Mac is heavily favoured to win the OUA Championships, Preston is reminded by experience that in sports, anything can happen—what counts is hard work and practice, which the Marauders have been doing for almost six months now.
“It’s sport, there are no guarantees, and everything can happen in a split second change. But your preparation is fully under control and we’re taking care of that, so our guys are on it. I have full faith, and so do they.”
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For the first time since the 2009-10 season, the McMaster women’s volleyball team are division winners.
The landscape of the OUA has changed a couple times in the past six seasons, with the provincial league being one whole division in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. This season, the OUA reverted to a two-division style: the OUA East and OUA West.
Mac’s OUA West title didn’t come easy, for a couple different reasons. The Marauders had to retool after losing their highest usage player and their setter. Those players were instrumental to McMaster’s OUA title win.
Even the division-winning game was dramatic; McMaster was down two sets to the defending division champions, the Guelph Gryphons. Behind Joanna Jedrzejewska and Lauren Mastroluisi, the Marauders rallied and beat Guelph in five sets to solidify their division title.
The real benefit from the OUA West division win? Mac will host the OUA Final Four as long as they win a quarterfinal game in playoffs.
Teams that host the OUA Final Four have had successful track records in recent years – three of the past four hosts have made it to the OUA championship game.
Mac will look to repeat as conference champions, but have to grind through the rest of their regular season.
They will have a test against 11-6 Queen’s before taking on RMC, the team with the worst record in the OUA.
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Championship season is looming and McMaster continues to come up in trophy conversations. February marks the end of the regular season and brings us the (arguably too long) playoffs or championship meets for a variety of Marauder teams. 2014-15 could be one of Mac’s most successful years. Here’s what to watch for going forward.
Head coach Tim Louks has his team peaking at the right time once again. Mac has ripped off two comeback wins in recent weeks and clinched first place the OUA West division. With that finish, they will host the OUA Final Four as long as they win in the quarterfinals. That being said, Mac was swept in their three losses this year and they’ll likely meet one of the teams that beat them during championship weekend. The positive: those games happened on Nov. 23 or earlier, meaning McMaster has had time to improve.
Player to watch: Joanna Jedrzejewska
McMaster hasn’t seen a more dominant program on campus since the 2012 football team. They dropped their first game against Western but haven’t looked back since then, only losing two sets in 16 games. Head coach Dave Preston has his group leading nearly every team statistical category. Mac has consistently qualified for the CIS Final 8, but they have been unable to capture a national championship, winning bronze and silver in 2014 and 2013, respectively. This Marauder team is firing on all cylinders and the other CIS contenders have looked shaky. Nothing is guaranteed, but McMaster could be home to a national champion come March.
Player to watch: Danny Demyaneko
The Marauders track team are past the mid-way point of the season and are on a roll heading into the Boston Invitational on Feb. 13. While three athletes were selected to compete at the Boston University Valentine Invitational, the rest of the team will be competing at the CAN AM Invitational in Windsor.
Blair Morgan, Chelsea Mackinnon and Jeff Tweedle have been given the opportunity to compete at the fast track in Boston University.
Players to watch: Chelsea Mackinnon/Jeff Tweedle
Mac pulled off an incredible comeback against the Toronto Varsity Blues on Feb. 1, but they didn’t come out completely unscathed. Hilary Hanaka, an OUA Rookie of the Year candidate, suffered a foot injury and only played 20 minutes. According to the coaching staff, she will be available for the final regular season stretch. While Hanaka avoided major injury, the team lost another key contributor. Linnaea Harper broke her foot against Guelph and is finished for the year, and meanwhile Isabel Ormond and Jelena Mamic were unable to suit up at all because of injuries suffered in the off-season. Theresa Burns’s group will still qualify for playoffs, but they will have to rely on their depth and alter their play style a bit if they want to make their way back to nationals for the first time since 2010.
Player to watch: Clare Kenney
The sky is the limit for Mac and this deep roster, but they haven’t been able to put it all together yet for 40 minutes. The team came close to doing that against Toronto, putting together a 49-24 first half against the Varsity Blues. The Marauders wavered in the second and U of T actually won the half. The OUA is as deep as it has ever been, with Windsor, Ryerson, Ottawa and Carleton all in the top five of the CIS top ten. Head coach Amos Connolly’s group has a soft schedule going forward, but they need to iron out the wrinkles and play a complete game before any Mac fan buys a CIS Final 8 ticket package.
Player to watch: Aaron Redpath
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The Marauders track team posted several personal best times at the largest indoor track meet of the year, the McGill Team Challenge.
Several of the Marauders were entered into the fast heats of each race, which helped them run to some incredibly fast times at the half-way point of the season. Taylor Forbes and Blair Morgan both ran to personal best times in the 3000m.
“Blair took the lead, and then Taylor took the lead over from Blair, and at a certain point you could see Taylor getting kind of tired, so Blair went back in the lead, so between the two of them, they kept on pace,” said head coach Paula Schnurr.
With about two laps to go in the race, a runner on the Queen’s team pushed to take the lead and fell. When he got up again, he made another push for first place.
But Forbes and Morgan were able to hold him off, and finish first and second overall in the distance.
Forbes ran a personal best of 8:19, and Morgan ran a personal best of 8:21.
“It’s always going to come down to a kick between (Taylor) Forbes and (Blair) Morgan,” said Schnurr.
The new track rules in place add a conversion factor onto the times ran on banked tracks versus flat tracks.
Because the track at the St. Denis Centre in Montreal is banked, a couple of seconds gets added onto each distance.
This means that although Forbes ran an 8:19 at McGill, with the conversion factor, he actually ran an 8:25.
This time, and Morgan’s time with the conversion factor of 8:27, has both of them ranked sixth and tenth overall in the CIS.
The next day, Forbes and Morgan ran a 1500m, which saw both of them reach new personal best times of 3:54 and 3:55.
Austen Forbes also ran to personal best times in the 3000m with an 8:28 and in the 1500m with 4:00.
Although the Forbes are tearing up the track so far this season, their time training for track will be cut short, as they will be making a trip to Florida in February to compete in their first triathlon of the season.
This means that Taylor Forbes will be missing out on the competitive Valentine Invitational at Boston University.
The track team makes the trip to Boston every year, and only select a couple of athletes that will be able to compete with some of the elite competition that the States has to offer.
“You always wonder the difference there with him doing all the other training…there is still a bit of fatigue there from biking and swimming, because running isn’t his only focus,” said Schnurr.
“But that’s what they want to do…certainly the cross-training is helping them.”
Chelsea Mackinnon also did well on the weekend, having a hard-fought race in the 1000m where she had to make up ground and play catch-up after a runner fell in front of her.
“When that kind of thing happens, you think okay, that’s it the race is over for that person, because they’re out of the race and they spend all this energy and adrenaline to get back in, but she was great and she just kept moving through and closing the gap and kept on working,” said Schnurr.
Despite the obstacles on the track, Mackinnon still ran a very fast time of 2:55, finishing ninth overall out of 55 runners, and is ranked 12th overall in the CIS for the 1000m.
The following day, she ran in the fast section of the very competitive 1500m, and finished fourth overall, running to a personal best time of 4:36.
“That’s one of the best races competitively that she has ran,” said Schnurr.
Mackinnon is ranked 17th overall in the CIS in the 1500m.
Maddie Benjamin also ran to a personal best time in the 1500m, running a 4:45 in the distance.
In the men’s 1000m, Jeff Tweedle had a standout race, finishing sixth overall out of 47 runners and running a 2:27. His time at the flat track at the Don Wright Invitational on Jan. 17 has him ranked 12th in the CIS.
Jeff Mah ran to a personal best time in the 600m, running a 1:22 which put him in 13th place out of 56 runners.
The majority of the Marauders will be gearing up for the York Invitational on Jan. 31, while Blair Morgan, Chelsea Mackinnon and Jeff Tweedle will prepare for the Valentine Invitational at Boston University the following weekend.
Photo Credit: Maxine Gravina
The McMaster women’s basketball team’s game plan has always been simple: run. From the moment the warm-ups come off to the last seconds of the fourth quarter, a momentum is kept that revolves around speed and agility. For the players to run fast and play long minutes, it is training that helps to set the tone.
In his first year working at McMaster, Ben Bahrami, head Strength and Conditioning coach of the McMaster women’s and men’s basketball teams does what he can to assure the players remain active while competing on the hardwood. Though adjusting to a new school meant forming fresh relationships with players and coaches, the program has been allowing Bahrami to continuously grow.
“The athletes are very motivated and involved. It’s a good thing that we are busy and I love it,” said Bahrami.
Having a six-day program in the off-season and workouts two to three times a week during the season, Bahrami and staff give nutritional advice and train the basketball teams in recovery. In the event of an injury, alternate programs are created for athletes that will still allow them to take part in team lifts. No program is ever set in stone and exercises are made to fit the individual’s needs in order to maximize fitness.
From what the athletes eat, to the pre-game warm-up and post-game cool-downs, the Strength and Conditioning Program is holistic and helps strengthen all aspects of a student-athlete’s life. Three lead coaches will work alongside interns from the McMaster Kinesiology program. Those groups are responsible for working with different McMaster varsity teams to accelerate the growth of players and keep them healthy.
Under the leadership of coordinator Steve Lidstone, Mac’s Strength and Conditioning program is solidifying its spot as one of the best university programs in the country.
“Strength and conditioning is huge for injury prevention, for performance and for team culture. With sports like basketball, their seasons are very long and the athletes’ bodies would break down if this program didn’t exist,” said Bahrami.
Twice a week, players fill out a fatigue survey sent directly to their inbox that is completed as soon as they wake up. Players answer questions on a scale that asks about stress levels, sleep quality and mental wellbeing. Along with direct face-time with coaches and trainers during post-game stretches and talks, McMaster has many ways to cater to the players on the team.
Several tests are done throughout the year assessing factors like body composition and strength and focus is placed on recovery from the high-intensity portion of training.
“The numbers go up because our athletes are amazing. They are going to get stronger.”
With a shot at playoffs nearing, modifications in the program will be introduced to the players with a greater emphasis put on the individual’s strengths. Programs are flexible and always keep in mind the players’ health.
Having multiple resources available for McMaster athletes, the willpower of the staff and the consistency of different programs within the athletic department suggest that the Strength and Conditioning program will only get better. “We are able to bring people in and work together. We are succeeding in the culture that Steve [Lidstone] and the coaches have created,” said Bahrami.
Ongoing communication between head varsity coaches and their Strength and Conditioning coaches is important in guaranteeing success and good health on and off the court.
Head coach of the women’s basketball team, Theresa Burns says, “strength and conditioning is a part of everything we do.”
Paying attention to the weaknesses of the team and finding solutions in practices while pushing physical boundaries during team lifts has only helped sharpen the Women’s Basketball team’s quick style of play. In games where players play big minutes, preparing the body is crucial.
Rookie Hilary Hanaka and third-year guard Danielle Boiago know all about big minutes. Hanaka is ranked third, while Boiago is ranked fifth in the OUA for minutes played per game. Averaging 33.9 and 33.7 minutes a game respectively, a fundamental fitness plan helps in keeping these players running up and down the court without a sign of short breath or fatigue.
“You can’t play a fast game with players that don’t have that kind of foot speed or fitness. I think we are a little quicker in all of our positions now, our fitness level is very good,” said Burns.
The cohesive and seamless link between varsity teams and programs such as Strength and Conditioning foster development in a player’s skill set.
“He [Bahrami] has to take a lot credit for the team’s success this year because your athletes can’t do what they do on the court without that base of fitness,” said Burns.
Juggling a full-time student course load and the demands that come with being a student-athlete can be difficult but the support available to players like Hanaka have made the transition from high school basketball to the university level a lot easier to handle. Working a schedule around academics, a program is made with team members in mind.
“We are able to bring our full potential on the court,” said Hanaka.
“The games are a lot more demanding and very fast paced,” she said, comparing it to her high school experience. “With conditioning, it’s one notch up.”
As fans, it is easy to only see one aspect of the game. While watching a double header at Burridge, it could be hard to understand the amount of work that goes on off the court for our players to yield the results that are witnessed. A team’s success is the result of all of the little puzzle pieces being brought together.
It is through the presence of programs like Strength and Conditioning at McMaster that coaches can continue to test the abilities of our athletes and what they are capable of. Because of the combination of experienced staff, great facilities and the care given to McMaster student-athletes, this program is unmatched in most universities in the country.
“Our athletes are so well supported. Being a McMaster athlete is pretty special and a big part of the special feeling is knowing how well supported you are,” said Burns. “There is nothing standing in your way. Nothing.”
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McMaster is a team with national championship dreams, but a middling defence.
Despite their 9-3 record in conference play, defensive issues are still keeping McMaster a step behind the OUA elite, which includes Ottawa, Carleton and Ryerson. They have regressed defensively from last year: in 2013-14, Mac owned a defensive rating of 88.4. Now, the Marauders are up to 98.4, a mark that hasn’t changed in the new year despite a weaker schedule.
This is not news to the players or coaching staff. Last year, McMaster’s defence was more conservative. Overall, the defense was effective against lesser competition, but the team still struggled against elite teams. The simpler system from last year was not going to stop the teams McMaster needed to beat in order to win a national championship. That’s why head coach Amos Connolly and his coaching staff overhauled the scheme and added new wrinkles.
“We have a lot of rules for a lot of scenarios; a staggered screen has a rule, a dribble hand-off has a rule. There’s a lot of stuff. Some guys are further along than others in their knowledge and implementation of those rules,” says Connolly. “Last year, we would handle perimeter screens differently but there wasn’t a clear concept. Now, we’re playing a defensive system that helps us win on the highest level.”
Mac is struggling to pick up their new scheme for a number of reasons; the system requires players to make the right decision faster when defending, which has been made difficult by poor communication on rotations. And typically, younger players struggle to pick up any kind of system in university because they lack experience at the post-secondary level. Fourth-year guard Aaron Redpath recognized those struggles.
“We’re nowhere close to where we need to be. For instance, against Nipissing, we give up a 24-point quarter while we also hold them to a zero-point quarter. There’s a lot of inconsistencies on defence,” says Redpath.
Examples like that zero-point quarter are why the Marauders are so rational and calm going forward. They trust the defence and want believe the pieces are here for an elite defence. Both conversations with Redpath and Connolly about the defence were honest and critical; a sign that the team understands the weakness, but that they also have a plan going forward.
Holding any team scoreless means your defence can be highly effective and the system in place is working. It is frustrating to see Mac give up large totals to weaker teams, but they have had their moments against Ryerson, Ottawa and Carleton. More defensive reps are what the team needs to get more familiar with the system. With a month remaining, McMaster has a lot of time to work out the kinks.
Connolly says the team has watched a lot of film in recent weeks and the group has a full understanding of the system. While the upcoming slate of games won’t feature any ranked opponents, the opportunity to improve their defence could represent be the most important part of the season.
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The Marauders men’s volleyball team are officially the most dominant team in the CIS.
After a couple of bad losses from the former No. 1 team the Alberta Golden Bears, and a very hot winning streak from the Maroon and Grey, they managed to move up to the top of the CIS rankings and aren’t looking back.
The Maroon and Grey are coming off of 13 straight wins, and nine consecutive sweeps.
They haven’t lost a set in nearly three months.
At this point last season, the Marauders were winning matches consecutively, but certainly not sweeping matches consecutively.
“I feel like this team is able to execute better than teams in the past,” said middle, Alex Elliott.
“We can implement game plans better, we can strategize better, and we are able to make changes faster.”
Every year, the team continues to build upon their skills and experience in previous seasons, which results in a new and improved style of play.
Elliott is in his fourth year at Mac and has seen the team change and improve throughout the years.
Unfortunately, he has had to watch the Marauders compete in another successful season from the sidelines due to a couple of injuries.
In August, Elliot underwent a platelet-rich plasma injection to help the damaged tendons in his knee to regrow.
“They took my own blood, spun it and took the plasma proteins out and injected it into the knee to regrow the tendon that was damaged from overuse,” said Elliott.
After a couple of months of recovery, he was ready to come back in mid-October, until another injury had gotten in the way.
In the first week of practice, he went up for a hit, and hurt his shoulder. His knees were also very tender again.
“Obviously when you’re injured you want to jump back into things, you want to get right back in there and do it, but you can’t go too fast, because if you do, then other injuries will happen or you can make things worse,” said Elliott.
He was instructed to take a break at Christmas. Steve Lidstone, the head of strength and conditioning at Mac, gave him a program to help in strengthening his knees and shoulders. Those exercises included stretching and rolling out his muscles after practice or a work out.
The results have shown in both his recovery and play--he was a main contributor in the match against Queen’s, especially in the third set, where he managed to score three aces.
“Now my body feels better than its felt all of last year, and you play with injuries all year, but it’s just nagging…but it’s different,” said Elliott.
“I haven’t not felt knee pain playing volleyball in probably four years, and now I’m playing volleyball without any pain. It’s crazy.”
After being out of the line-up for the majority of the season, his main focus since he has been back has been on trying to keep up with the play as best as he can.
“You have teams with big outside hitters that are going to run a slow offence and hit high and hard, you have teams that run so fast that you’ve got to be ready to react so quickly, so for me, I’m focusing a lot on footwork and being able to keep up with the speed of everything,” said Elliott.
So far, he has been able to keep up with the play very effectively, and for that, he credits the trust and intuition that he experiences with his teammates.
“It’s one of those phenomenon’s that’s built in and you can’t really describe it, you just know what’s going to happen and it’s one of the first times I’ve ever had one of those feelings so fast with a group of people,” said Elliott.
“I’ve been out for so long and having that feeling right away when I come back, it’s encouraging.”
The team’s year-over-year success has been partially because of that very element. The team trusts each other, and know where they are going to be on the court at all times due to repetition, but more importantly, intuition.
The Marauders will be on display at home court frequently in the next couple of weeks, as five out of the six remaining games will be in Burridge Gym.
Although the Maroon and Grey have proven themselves on the road, playing on home court in Marauder territory is sure to be an exciting advantage for the team—especially Alex Elliott, who has not played in Burridge Gym since last February.
“It’s always nice to come back to home court in front of your own fans and having people cheering for you,” said Elliott.
“I can’t wait…I’m fired up.”
The No. 1 Marauders will face the York Lions—the last team to strip them from their consecutive sweep record on Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. in Burridge Gym.
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By: Jaycee Cruz
On Wednesday, January 7, 2014 the McMaster Marauders men’s basketball team hosted the Laurier Golden Hawks.
Laurier surprised the crowd by going punch-for-punch with Mac for the first part of the first quarter. The Marauders ended up grabbing the lead and held onto it bringing a 41-37 lead into halftime.
The main source of the Golden Hawks offensive firepower was fourth-year guard Will Coulthard. Coulthard was shooting at will from all over the floor and hit his peak after converting a rare 4-point play. Coulthard ended the half with 18 points and finished the game with 22. Second-year guard Trevon McNeil was instrumental in slowing down the Golden Hawk shooter.
McMaster had four players in double figures with Taylor Black scoring 18, Rohan Boney scoring 11, and Aaron Redpath and Joe Rocca scoring 16 apiece.
Mac shot a respectable 44.4 percent from the field but a cold 15.4 percent from 3-point range. The Marauders dominated the Golden Hawks in terms of points in the paint, outscoring Laurier 50-24.
Despite Laurier making the game closer than expected, Mac slowly but surely pulled away from the pesky Golden Hawks, winning 85-75.
This past Saturday the McMaster men’s basketball team took a road trip to the Mattamy Athletic Centre inside the old Maple Leaf Gardens to play the No. 3 Ryerson Rams. McMaster and Ryerson both entered the game with seven wins and two losses.
The two teams played each other close in the first half with the Marauders taking a 43-40 lead into the halftime break. McMaster escaped the half with a lead, but the scoring seemed unsustainable: Rocca banked in a fading three, Redpath nailed a deep, contested three and Presutti cashed in a pull up long-range attempt with two defenders nearby.
The Rams grabbed the lead from Marauders in the third quarter and never looked back. Ryerson carried that momentum into the fourth and outscored McMaster 32-17 en route to a convincing 98-78 win on their home court.
All five Ryerson starters scored in double figures. Rams guard Aaron Best dropped a game-high 30 points on 11-for-13 shooting from the field and 6-for-7 from 3-point range.
McMaster had three players score in double digits. Aaron Redpath, Joe Rocca, and Adam Presutti contributed 20, 17, and 14 respectively.
The loss adds a bit more separation between the fourth-ranked Marauders and the third-ranked Rams.
Up ahead for the Marauders this weekend are two road games at Laurentian on Friday and at Nipissing in North Bay on Saturday.
Two wins on the road will be good for this Marauders team looking to get back on track after a small setback.
