By: John Bauer
Talk to any member of McMaster's baseball team about the past season and you will probably hear the same two words uttered: “turnover season.” The campaign started off better than anyone on the team could have imagined with an 18-2 demolition of the York Lions. The Lions would win the next game in extra innings in a sort of preview for what lay ahead for the Marauders. The team lost close game after close game, finishing a lowly 1-17.
“Baseball's a funny game,” said infielder Eric Telford. “Sometimes the bounces don't go your way. That first game everything was going right for us and then the second game we lost in extra innings and since then it's been a tough road. It's tough to keep your morale up. We've had a couple games where the bounces just haven't been going our way.”
Normally a 1-17 season would be reason to take a good, hard look at a sports program. But a glance at the Marauders' roster shows that a whopping 15 of the team's 24 players are in their first or second year of eligibility.
Telford agreed. “We're a young team. Lots of guys don't have much experience in the OUA. I think it's just learning every game and trying to get better.”
The biggest steps toward future success may have actually been made this past off-season. McMaster aligned its baseball program with that of the Hamilton Cardinals.
“We've been using the clubhouse and the change rooms and the speakers in the stadium,” said outfielder Mike Campagnolo. “It definitely does feel a lot more like a baseball team this year. We have noticed the difference and it's a lot better for the program.”
Catcher Brandon da Silva notices another big difference this year. “There's definitely more people [in the crowd]. Not just parents,” he said.
The agreement also means that McMaster's players can play summer ball for the Cardinals, instead of having to return to their hometowns to play. Several of the players have already taken advantage of this opportunity. But the most significant change might have been the installation of former NCAA player, Intercounty all-star, and Ancaster native Adam Strongman as the new head coach.
“I like the style of coaching that he brings to the table,” said da Silva. “He brings a lot of knowledge and experience. Being a player himself, it's been a good change for the team.”
Head coach Strongman likes the squad he has inherited.
“The team that I have assembled this year and that we have had in the past, have had the same amount of talent as all the other schools in our league ... For me, the overall record doesn’t really show the development of the team. We did many things right this year and the team continually did everything that I asked of them,” said Strongman.
“We are a very young team who learned what the OUA is all about and the players will be able to prepare with more intensity knowing what will be expected next year.”
All and all, the team has taken its down year in stride. They feel that this year was a necessary step in their ascension back into the realm of OUA contenders. With the season done, they will start their off-season training regimen, and return to their club teams or play for the Cardinals over the summer. But they are excited for next season to start, to prove that this year was not indicative of what McMaster baseball is.
“It starts with recruits, it starts with bringing the right people in,” said Telford. “If we start to do that, we brought the right coaching staff in. We have people here that can coach us. Now it's about getting the players and coming together as a team. It's about building young guys that are going to be here for years to come and guys that are going to compete in the OUA. That's what it's all about.”
McMaster’s Thanksgiving weekend was spent on the road this year, traveling the less-than-scenic southern Ontario stretch between London and Windsor.
The women’s soccer team achieved lukewarm results against Western and Windsor. The 5-0 loss to Western is a negative, but the team bounced back to following day to grab a 0-0 draw against fifth-place Windsor.
This weekend’s goal was to not drop any points, but two weekend wins from Guelph means McMaster is battling the Gryphons for fifth place. Brock is tied with McMaster, but the Marauders have the upper hand because they have conceded four fewer goals. Fifth-place Guelph has only 17 goals against, but they have to play Laurier, Western and Windsor – teams who may be keen to run up score lines to improve playoff seeding. The Gryphons would need to lose all their remaining games for Mac to jump ahead in the standings.
With a double-header against the lowly Algoma Thunderbirds, it is fair to pencil in the McMaster squad for a playoff spot. In their first year of OUA conference play, Algoma has 150 goals against in 14 games – an average of 10.7 goals against per game.
Mac will face a tough opponent in the quarterfinals of playoffs, but playing Algoma for the final two games of the season gives the team an opportunity to get some offence going and inject the team with some confidence in the final third of the pitch. The Marauders have only scored nine goals all season, second-last to Algoma. Granted, all other teams have had the opportunity to beat up on the Thunderbirds and inflate their goal totals.
A fifth-place finish has incredible value because of the top-table strength in the OUA West. York, Western and Laurier are all top-ten ranked teams and one of those teams will finish in third place. Right now, Laurier sits third but they only two points separate them from first place.
As the regular season wraps up, McMaster will have their eyes on the scoreboards from around the league as their playoff fate won’t be decided by their own play alone.
Heading into the annual Thanksgiving tournament, the Marauders women’s volleyball team was an unknown quantity.
After finishing second to Toronto without some key contributors, it is clear the Marauders will be a competitive team regardless of who is able to suit up.
The opening game against Royal Military College saw some miscommunication among players, but their confidence grew as the game went on. Granted, RMC is a weaker team, but for Mac to handle them in straight sets is a good sign. The first two sets saw the Marauders win 25-8 and 25-12 before RMC found their footing a bit in the third set and only lost 25-16.
Their second game against the Queen’s Gaels was closer, with Mac still winning in straight sets (25-22, 25-20, 25-19). Queen’s is typically a powerhouse in the conference, but is undergoing a transition year with a new coach.
Beating the Gaels meant Mac would take on the Varsity Blues – a team head coach Tim Louks expects to be at the top of the standings this season. McMaster gave them a challenge, but were ultimately straight-setted to earn silver at the tournament.
McMaster’s Maicee Sorensen and Joanna Jedrzejewska were named to the tournament All-Star team.
The regular season gets underway on Friday against a tough Western squad. Mac has a tough schedule to start the season, playing Windsor and Ottawa before a trip to Thunder Bay, Ont. to take on Lakehead.
The championship window for McMaster’s women’s rugby team has rarely been more open.
The No. 2 ranked Marauder squad is set to host the 2-3 Western Mustangs in the OUA semifinals on Oct. 19. Should they win, they’ll host the winner of the Guelph-Queen’s game.
Captain Cindy Nelles says the team is ready for the final stretch of the season.
“Our coaching staff and strength and conditioning staff have done a great job being ahead of the health trends,” said Nelles.
Mac did not play Western in the regular season, but the team expects a tough game regardless of the Mustangs’ middling record.
“They are a very fit team, they always have been. But our team has the fitness and the strength to go toe-to-toe with them. I think we have a better strength and conditioning program. In order to beat Western, we have to play our style of rugby,” said Nelles.
The ceiling for this team is as high as it has been for years. The squad only graduated two players last year and has maintained a solid core of third- and fourth-year athletes who have gone through a tough couple of years. McMaster was bounced in the OUA semifinals in the past two seasons.
Along with the continuity, Mac won a sevens tournament in March that helped increase the team’s on-field chemistry.
The CIS national tournament is a realistic possibility for the team. Beating Western puts Mac through to nationals, but getting to the OUA championship game is not the end goal.
“I have my eyes set on an OUA championship, and many of the girls also want to see that happen for us. We want to stick it to the OUA, we want to stick it to Guelph, we want to stick it to Queen’s,” said Nelles.
Expectations for the national tournament are high.
“I think this team has a strong contention to be in that CIS championship game,” said Nelles.
A bold statement from the Marauder captain, but understandable too. With a veteran-heavy roster and a convincing regular season, McMaster could be walking away from the 2014 season with multiple medals.
With four games remaining and a total of 12 points up for grabs, McMaster’s women’s soccer team heads into the critical stretch of their season.
At first blush, their 3-6-3 record is uninspiring. Given their circumstances, it is a respectable tally and sets them up to be only one point out of the playoffs.
Mac grabbed two points this weekend by drawing No. 5 York and No. 7 Laurier 0-0 in both games. The ability to hold opposing offences at bay has put McMaster in the thick of the playoff hunt. Captain Sophie Ykema said the team was prepared for the powerhouses and adjusted accordingly.
“We changed our formation for the two games. We were aware of the threats that Laurier and York had,” said Ykema.
Nicole Pacheco, Kelsey Orlando, Steph Davis, and Ykema, along with other rotating pieces, helped comprise the back line in front of star keeper Brittany Duffey.
The path to OUA playoffs runs through a handful of away games. Trips to Western, Windsor and Algoma make up the final games of the 2014 campaign. Those first two tests will be tough – Western is ranked No. 8 in the CIS, Windsor is the second game of a back-to-back – but the double-header is a nearly guaranteed six points.
“Our goal this weekend is not to drop any points,” said Ykema. “Against Western, we recognize they are one of the best teams in the OUA and in Canada, so we’re going to try to play them similarly to how we handled York and Laurier.”
In 12 games, Algoma has conceded 128 goals against, or 10.6 goals per game.
But meanwhile, McMaster has struggled to score, only finding the back of the net nine times in their 12 games.
The women’s squad controls their own fate, with only five points separating them from fourth place. Final standing position will not matter as much as it has in past years as the top-three teams – York, Western, Laurier, respectively – are all jockeying for position and are well clear of the pack.
Mac would prefer an easier quarterfinal game, should they get there, but the team beams confidence about any playoff situation.
“We’re trying to sneak into that fifth spot, where we’d love to play Windsor on the road,” said Ykema. “We think we could win a game against Laurier, Western or York, but we’d rather those teams beat each other up and we come in for the next round.”
There’s an added bonus with having the weak Algoma squad on the last weekend of the regular season, as the team will have an opportunity to get its offence going.
Players are slowly getting back to full fitness and despite an underwhelming regular season, McMaster could be poised to make some noise in late October.
By: Jaycee Cruz
Since 2009, Mac and Western have split their rivalry pretty evenly, but on Oct. 4 the Marauders got the most recent victory in this heated rivalry, upsetting the Mustangs on the road in a 32-29 thriller.
Very few saw this upset coming.
Mac’s game plan going in wasn’t to be pass-heavy on offense but that’s the way the game went. Offensive coordinator and assistant coach Jon Behie remarked, “We thought we’d have to sling the ball around a little bit, but 52 times is a lot…but that’s the way the game flowed. We’re not looking at those stats mid-game. What we prepare on the sideline and what we call is based on how the game’s going.”
The Marauders offense didn’t feel like they had to prove anything to anybody going in and entered the Western game with an attitude of confidence despite having the underdog status.
Coach Behie commented that an important part of their game plan was to control the clock and time of possession.
“I think we controlled the time of possession against them. We won that battle and kept our defense in good spots for the most part. We told our quarterbacks to take as much time out of the play clock as they could, control what we could control on our specific side of the ball,” said Behie. By doing that successfully, Western was limited in points just enough to secure the McMaster victory while also keeping their perfect season intact.
With the victory moving McMaster from No. 4 to No. 3 in the country, Mac now has a bye week and two regular season games left against Laurier and Ottawa.
“The main thing for the players is to rest up and get as healthy as we can for the home stretch. We are practicing three times this week and focusing more on self-reflection on who we are and what we can do better rather than worrying about an opponent,” said Behie.
“It’s a great time to have a bye on Thanksgiving because we can send our players home to their families where they can spend some quality time with their loved ones at home and come back refreshed, ready to get after this stretch run of two regular season games and then they count.”
The timing of the bye week could not have been any better as the No.3 McMaster Marauders head into the weekend with a 6-0 record and plenty to be thankful for. The coaching staff hopes this week of team self-reflection and self-examination will iron out any kinks that need to be polished and refined before Mac makes their run at the Yates Cup.
By: Jaycee Cruz
First down production is a constant focus for McMaster’s football program. Due to the three-down system in Canadian football, positive yardage on first downs is crucial to the success of an offense. After the game against Guelph, Mac was not thrilled with their production.
The Marauders ran 43 plays on first downs against the Carleton Ravens on Sept. 13. Of those plays, only two accounted for negative yardage, 11 were incompletions, and the remaining 30 plays went for positive yardage. Mac racked up 223 total yards off of their first-down plays and averaged a healthy 5.2 yards per play. If that figure were to be measured against Behie’s criteria for a “first-down win”, meaning five or more yards, Mac had a lot of first-down wins against the Ravens defense.
The final score over Carleton may seem impressive on paper, but those who watched the game know that Carleton made it too close for comfort near the middle of the fourth quarter. On two straight drives between the 14-minute mark and the 9-minute mark in the fourth quarter, quarterback Marshall Ferguson threw interceptions that gave Carleton the ball back with a chance to grab the lead. Prior to those two turnovers, the Marauders had made two trips to the red zone that ended in two Tyler Crapigna field goals instead of two Marauder touchdowns.
This brings us to another area worth focusing on: the production of the Mac offense in the red zone.
McMaster took three trips to the red zone and came away with two field goals and a touchdown, instead of the ideal 3 touchdowns. While it is easy to criticize the ratio of field goals to touchdowns in the Carleton game, Behie remains positive.
“The positive thing, if we want to take anything away, is that we’re ending with points. We’re not coming away totally empty-handed. With that in mind they haven’t been total wastes, but we absolutely need to finish with touchdowns and not field goals,” said Behie.
Going perfect in red zone trips is a great sign but there is room for improvement. Had Mac scored three touchdowns on their three red zone trips, the score would have been 45-17.
Behie says the pieces are in place for a touchdown producing offence in the final third of the field.
“I think that system, scheme-wise, we’re okay, we just have to finish,” said Behie.
Mac will have to wait to work out the kinks of the red zone offence. This weekend’s opponent, York, has conceded 51, 61 and 70 points in their three match-ups so far. The Homecoming game against Queen’s will be the best opportunity to see if the Marauders can finish drives with six points instead of three.
On Saturday, the McMaster football team travelled to York University to square off against the Lions. The Marauders won handily by a margin of 49-2. The highlights of their victory is below.
Marauders quarterback Marshall Ferguson threw for 152 yards while running back Chris Pezzetta rushed for 69. Wide reciever Daniel Petermann racked up 107 yards in the air.
The win keeps McMaster's undefeated season alive at 4-0. The Marauders will host Queen's on Sept. 27. as part of McMaster's homecoming.
Photo Credit: Rick Zazuiak
After a productive summer of hard work and mileage, the Marauders cross country team is back and ready to take on some of the powerhouse teams in the OUA.
Their first test will be this weekend at the Western Invitational, where select runners on the men’s and women’s team will get to lace up the spikes and prove themselves in the first race of the season.
After the time trial two weeks ago, there are already some talented athletes who stand out.
On the women’s side, the 3000m CIS finalist Maddy McDonald finished first overall and is looking to improve on last year’s cross country season, when she finished 17th overall at nationals.
“Maddy took the summer off and hasn’t done any serious competing. She just trained and didn’t have a stressful or competitive season,” said assistant coach Paula Schnurr.
Another name that stands out on the women’s side is Phoebe Cseresnyes, who unfortunately was faced with an injury at the beginning of last year’s cross country season.
Cseresnyes is now completely healthy, and is expected to be a top performer for the Marauders throughout this season and future seasons in both cross country and track.
As far as female rookies go, Erin Mawhinney will be the leader of the young pack, which she proved after her outstanding performance at time trial, which saw her finish third overall.
Local rookie and Westdale Secondary School graduate Lauren Locco will also be a force to be reckoned in upcoming seasons, finishing right behind women’s captain Chelsea Mackinnon in time trial.
Veteran runner Maddie Benjamin managed to surprise the coaches in her debut, finishing fourth overall and impressing both coaches.
The main goal for the women’s team this year is to maintain their top six finish overall from last year, a goal that head coach Rory Sneyd sees as being reachable with the right amount of work put in.
“I kind of get the sense with the women’s team that we have enough talent, and if we can stay healthy, that a few people will work themselves into shape,” said Sneyd.
“I see the best running for them in late October and in November for sure.”
As for the men’s team, they are looking to reach the CIS podium this year after being close to doing so last year.
The main goal for the men’s team is to keep everyone healthy, so the best seven on the team will be ready to race hard at Nationals in November.
If this is the case, the team will be heavily favoured to win a CIS medal.
Among the best Marauders on the line will be captain Blair Morgan, who just got off of a ground-breaking season, finishing sixth overall at OUA’s and 11th overall at CIS.
“[Morgan] has got a ton of confidence from how he performed in cross country last year and he had the opportunity to represent Canada at the World University Games Cross country Championships in Uganda, so I think that just having run with the other members of Team Canada and just getting to know them, he feels like he belongs now,” said Sneyd.
Austen and Taylor Forbes will also be ahead of the pack, after coming off of very successful summers that saw the twins reach the national triathlon championships, with Taylor Forbes then advancing to Worlds.
Paul Rochus is also a name that stands out on the men’s side. He finished second overall in the time trial and has put in a lot of mileage over the summer months.
Nick Kondrat, who was injured with a stress fracture early on last year is also looking to have a successful cross country season, as he was the top rookie coming into the program last season.
Kondrat worked hard through his injury to come out on top in time trial, finishing third overall.
The coaches were surprised by Derek VanSchepen’s performance, as he did not make the top seven last year, but after his debut performance at time trial where he finished fourth, the odds are in his favour.
Another athlete that the Marauders coaches are looking forward to seeing race includes Gabe Ghiglione, a runner that started at the back of the pack and has quickly worked his way to the top of it in the last two years.
“[Ghiglione] really surprised us last year and he’s such a great competitor, that I think there will be some extra expectations after his success last year, but I think he’s okay with that,” said Schnurr.
Out of the recruits on the men’s side, the coaches are excited about Evan Ubene, who was the first rookie to cross the finish line at time trial, and Frank Sorbara, who is completing his Masters of Physio here at Mac.
If the men’s top runner Connor Darlington stays healthy for the CIS Championships, settling on the top seven to put forward for the provincial and national championships will be difficult for the coaches.
“It’s going to be really hard to decide who’s not going to make it. It’s a good problem to have, but it’s going to be really tough,” said Sneyd.
Before Sneyd and Schnurr have to worry about making any difficult decisions, the team still has to run their first race of the season.
The team will be travelling to Western University on Sept. 20, where they will look to put in a solid team effort to start the season.
It is the same unfortunate story as a year ago.
Last season, head coach Brett Mosen and the women’s soccer team had plenty of reasons to be optimistic. They had a healthy mix of talented veterans, along with some fresh recruits who could make an immediate impact while getting acclimatized to the more physical style of play in the OUA. But injuries quickly ravaged the roster and young players were forced to play big minutes. Experienced members of the team were moved into different positions in order to compensate for the lack of bodies.
Mosen was encouraged because of the team’s offseason progress in 2014, saying that the squad broke fitness test records and played well within the team’s style. His optimism was short-lived.
“Out 25 players on our roster, eight of our players are injured,” said Mosen.
Some of the injuries are significant losses to the squad. Marisa Bremner, an OUA first-team all-star in her rookie season, has suffered a serious injury to her ACL. Rookie central defender Taylor McIvor tore her ACL also and will not use a year of eligibility while she is in rehab.
Another player has a concussion; one has a possible serious injury in her foot. It is too early to call it a lost season, but with the concise schedule and back-to-back games, it is not looking to be a campaign to remember.
“We’re back to square one. We started off so excited about the season and the style of play that we were going to bring forward, but now we’re into a similar scenario as last year where we are asking ‘how can we steal results?’” said Mosen.
With two consecutive seasons marred by injuries, the coaching staff has begun to look into their own practice and recovery methods. There are a variety of factors in play about why McMaster has struggled to stay healthy.
“The easiest thing to criticize is turf, then cleats come into it, and I think we need to look at those things for sure. But we need to look at our strength and conditioning program too. Are we recovering the right way? Are we doing a good enough assessment on players come in individually?” said Mosen.
“I don’t think you can just point your finger at one specific thing. But it’s got everybody’s attention because this is the second year in a row that this is happening to us.”
Turf play has become a controversial issue as people question the safety of playing on the surfaces. A study of young female soccer players published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that there was “similar” risk of acute injury on both artificial turf and natural grass.
A 2010 study found more non-contact ACL injuries happen on turf than on natural grass, but did not account for variables like the type of cleats being worn.
The CIS soccer season is also relatively condensed: teams play 16 games over the span of Aug. 30 to Oct. 19. Eight of those games come in back-to-back scenarios.
And because of that short schedule, McMaster has no time to dwell on losses, both to the roster and in the standings. Another season could come and goes quietly if the team does not rally.
