Looking back at the 2011 or 2012 McMaster football seasons, it would be pretty hard to imagine a football game with anything less than a sold out crowd cheering in the stands. For the 2013 McMaster football team, that thought became a reality.

With the playoffs being questioned for most of the Marauder’s 2013 season it is hard to imagine the thought of a near empty Ron Joyce Stadium for a game like the quarterfinals. McMaster was taking on the statistically matched Ottawa Gee-Gees. It was almost a guarantee that Marauder fans would cash in to buy tickets to come out and watch their Maroon and Grey pummel that very same team the same way they did back at their home-opener in August. Sadly, the scene on Oct. 26 was in fact the exact opposite. Although weather certainly played a major role in the less than impressive attendance on Saturday’s game, the folks that did decide to attend were all dresses accordingly, not letting the lower than normal temperatures and the rain put a damper on their Marauder spirit.

Fifth-year player Michael DiCroce knows what it is like to play for a sold out at Ron Joyce Stadium and knows that this past weekend’s attendance was definitely something they were not expecting.

“The past couple years when we have been on top and winning, asking for support was simple but now that we haven’t been on top and we are doing things differently it has shown through lack of support,” said DiCroce

“Its unfortunate to think that they only want to be around when we are successful, because our true fans are out there for any game in any condition.”

Assistant Coach Jon Behie said the weather was definitely to blame but the low attendance was understandable.

“We typically haven’t had big crowds for quarterfinal games, but as we get further down the line in the playoffs that’s usually when we see higher attendance numbers,” Behie said.

“We weren’t overly surprised but certainly the weather played a big factor with attendance being as low as it was, and it’s disappointing but certainly understandable under the circumstances.”

Despite a much quieter than normal Ron Joyce Stadium, the Marauders and the coaching staff did not let that get in the way of their mission to defeat the Gee-Gee’s in order to continue on in the playoffs.

McMaster dominated with commending efforts from Wayne Moore who had 140 rushing yards in the game and Steven Ventresca who picked up a touchdown off an interception of Ottawa quarterback Aaron Colbon. McMaster was able to come out on top holding the Gee-Gees to a mere seven points with the final score reading 41-7 for the men in Maroon.

With the quarterfinals easily grasped, it’s now onto the semi-finals for the Marauders. Due to a Gryphons win over the Windsor levitra cialis viagra price Lancers, McMaster is matched up once again with their OUA rivals the Western Mustangs.

With top guns Matt Sewell and Joey Cupido all healthy and back in the roster, this Western game should certainly be a much different one for the McMaster Marauders. Mike DiCroce was also another key player who was out of the line-up the last time the Marauders laced up to face Western. With him and others back in, the Marauders are definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with.

“This week will be something else,” DiCroce said.

“It is always a full tilt battle when we play Western and being playoffs just adds to it.”

Looking back on previous seasons, knowing that the Marauders have previously taken out the Mustangs before puts some assurance back into their preparations for Saturday’s match.

“Knowing we have taken them out the past couple years in the big games has also added to the rivalry,” added DiCroce.

“It’s going to come down to how deep we can dig within ourselves to battle and win the effort war throughout the game.”

With TD Stadium expected to house more purple than maroon on Saturday it will all come down to McMaster’s integrity. It almost felt as though McMaster played an away game this past weekend, so being on the road in London, Ont. this weekend shouldn’t be a problem for the confident Marauders.

The semifinal game kicks off at 4:30 p.m. at the home of the Purple Ponies.

 

The Marauders women’s rugby team was able to pull off a win against the Western Mustangs to score an OUA bronze medal in miserable weather conditions.

The weather posed a challenge for both teams, as the combination of torrential downpour and rugby cleats made the ground very muddy, which increased the number of errors throughout the game.

“There were increased handling errors which is never ideal and the ground was not very solid at all. I know that the forwards, especially the front row had a difficult time adjusting to the adverse conditions. But eventually we were able to modify our game and play more our style,” said Marauders captain, Cindy Nelles.

Although the weather was bad, Nelles was able to find some positives that put them at an advantage in the game.

“I think that the conditions although adverse did play out to our advantage because we are a team that can execute fancy plays but can also break it down to the nitty gritty rucks and mauls type of game that a rainy muddy field provides.”

The Marauders executed a number of those fancy plays to get to a score of 26-5 over the Mustangs, a win that brought Mac to it’s second bronze medal in a row.

This was Nelles first bronze medal, however, as she was injured for the bronze medal match last season. Although the medal did not match up with her season goals, she believes that they proved themselves in their game and out-played the Western team.

“It was not our ideal outcome seeing as how we had our hopes set on going to nationals, but we made the most of being in the bronze medal match against Western and we were able to physically dominate them, so as far as our performance in the game, I'm pleased,” said Nelles.

As captain of the team, Nelles felt as though she had a great season as well, and proved to do better than last year.

“Individually I am proud of my season, being one of the leaders on the team was a bit of an adjustment but I feel that I was able to balance that with making my return to Mac Rugby after having a rough season last year.”

Now, the captain will continue to train hard, in order to make the national senior women’s team.

“I really want to make it to that level and think that with the support here at McMaster, and all the training and guidance that athletes are provided here, it can really help me along that journey.”

As for the rest of the team, they will be gearing up to compete in a couple of indoor tournaments, and they will also be training for a tournament in BC in March.

“There are a few sevens tournaments scattered throughout the winter and I know we will be looking to assemble some players to attend those tournaments.”

The team will look ahead to the winter season to train hard, and hopefully qualify for the CIS Championships next year.

 

The tip-off of the 2013-14 OUA season marks 2786 days since the McMaster Marauders last saw the CIS Final 8 tournament. That’s seven years, seven months, and 15 days. The only drought that was longer was from 1970 to 1985.

This year is looking like the one where that all ends. With a roster so deep that some reserves would be starting on other OUA teams, McMaster has a shot to get back to the national tournament. Head coach Amos Connolly insists that this is the goal, but not because of the drought.

“We want to get to nationals because we’re fed up of watching it. We feel that this is the level we should be playing at. History is not the motivator,” says Connolly.

Entering his fourth year as the bench boss for the Marauders, Connolly truly owns the program now. While in past years, there has been hold over from the Joe Raso era, there is only Nathan Pelech remaining from that era. Pelech is a team leader and one of the players Connolly says he has the best relationship with.

It’s been a turbulent four years, but there is a palpable optimism surrounding the team this year. What has fostered that optimism has been the team’s decision to move towards building a culture of family and accountability. Through pre-season road trips to Laval, Que. and the University of Calgary, Connolly says he sees an increased intensity in the team.

The core of the team is experienced now; Adam Presutti, Joe Rocca, Nathan McCarthy and Aaron Redpath all have two years under their belt, Taylor Black made the leap to being a top player in country in his third year and Pelech is providing the veteran mentorship that a national contender needs (see: 2013 Lakehead Thunderwolves, who had six fifth-year players and grabbed a CIS silver medal finish.)

“There’s a maturity there now. You can see it in the way the guys communicate with each other and with the young guys,” says Connolly of that 2011 rookie class. While those players have stepped into leadership roles, Black has also taken on the responsibility of leading this team to nationals.

In 2012-13, Black finished fourth in the country in Player Efficiency Rating, a sabermetric that boils every statistic down to one number to gauge a player’s effectiveness. The players ahead of him? Phil Scrubb, Tyson Hinz and Clinton Springer-Williams – all starting players for the CIS champion Carleton Ravens. The Stoney Creek, Ont. native also rebounded at an impressive clip, grabbing 22% of Mac’s defensive rebounds. All of the on-court pieces are in place for Black, but for this team to reach its potential, it will need Black to get more out of his teammates.

“You can see it now. You can see the way he commands himself in practice and the way our guys trust him. This is a break-out for him and we’re just working on him simplifying his game,” Connolly said of the Marauder’s lead power forward.

The path to nationals runs through arguably the toughest conference in the CIS. With the Oct. 29 CIS top-ten rankings having four of the top six teams hailing from Ontario, Mac cannot afford a slow start.

Last year, McMaster finished the interlock portion of the season 2-5. If the team wants to make a serious run this year, they’ll need to do a much better job against their OUA East counterparts. That’s a tall order, as Carleton, Ottawa and Ryerson are No. 1, 3 and 4 in the CIS rankings respectively.

With Carleton hosting this year’s CIS basketball championships, they receive an automatic berth. That means three teams are coming out of the OUA. McMaster should no doubt be a team competing for that spot and end the Final 8 drought.

Women's team looks to take next step

New year, same mantra: it’s all about the process. After seeing Danielle Boiago and Hailey Milligan put the OUA notice with simultaneous breakout seasons, McMaster finished fourth in the conference after losing to Ottawa in the bronze medal match.

With those players back in the lineup and having another strong offseason according to head coach Theresa Burns, McMaster needs to pay extra attention to detail in order to take the next step. This is something familiar territory, as last year the team did just that. Mac stumbled out of the gate, going 3-4 in interlock play, but recovered in the second half to make their way to the bronze medal game.

That bounce-back didn’t surprise Burns. As the team followed the process and the young bench began to round into form, McMaster thrashed teams like Laurier and Brock who had beat them earlier in the year.

“This year, we need to get to a peak quicker and maintain it through November. Then we need to get to a higher peak in the second half,” says Burns.

Getting to that peak earlier in the season is going to be very difficult, as the Marauders are without two key members of the rotation. Isabel Ormond had shoulder surgery over the summer. The jack-of-all-trades wing player suffered a shoulder injury in a game against Carleton in November 2012, popped it back in and played through discomfort all season. Burns says there were multiple times after that where Ormond would have to pop the shoulder back in throughout the season. The timeline for her recovery is to get “Izzy” back on court in January.

The anticipated debut of top-recruit Jelena Mamic is going to be delayed for a year, as she tore her ACL before even graduating high school.

Burns will rely on Vanessa Bonomo, Boiago and Milligan as the “engine” of the squad, and if any of them have an off night, McMaster could struggle. Last year, Mac had deep rotation, with nine players averaging double-digit minutes per game. Expect more of the same this year, as the veteran coach looks to employ a unique strategy.

“We don’t want players to pace themselves. We want them to burn out, grab a second on the bench, and then go back out and burn out again,” says Burns.

In order to do this though, players need to adhere to the process put in place. They have to trust their teammates to do patchwork while the starters rest. Burns is confident in the strategy, and points to the preseason gold medal game against the University of Saskatchewan for proof.

“In the Sask game, in the second half, we had five people on compare viagra prices the court who absolutely went bananas and gave it everything they had and were absolutely gassed. But they brought a ten-point deficit back and tied the game,” says Burns. “Then, we put fresh legs in and they went for about a minute and we went back to the ones that had turned it around, and they were recovered.”

Burns admits that it’s tough to condition players to ask for substitutions, but believes that the group will change their mind once the results are there.

McMaster is in a tough conference again, as the Windsor Lancers opened the season as the No.1 ranked team in the CIS. The Lancers returned all of their major contributors from last season and are a lock for a medal finish at the CIS championships.

But since the Lancers are hosting the Final 8 tournament this year, there is another berth on the line. If McMaster finishes anywhere in the top-three in the OUA playoffs, they will earn a Final 8 bid – something that a team with three fifth-year players will be eager to do.

It’ll take a top to bottom effort over the long season, with little margin for error. But with a solid system in place, a trip to nationals is within grasp.

 

John Bauer

The Silhouette

After a regular season that made lacrosse relevant again at McMaster, the men's lacrosse team knew that they still had a great deal of work to do to be counted among the league's elite. Though the team was the fourth of five seeds in the west and was not expected to go far in the playoffs, Saturday's 13-7 loss to the Guelph Gryphons in the wild card round of the Baggataway Cup stung nonetheless.

Guelph entered the cup hunt ranked fourth in the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association power rankings, mainly due to their vaunted offensive talent. Their big guns did not disappoint, but the Marauder defense simply could not match the Gryphon attack that seemed to come in waves.

Guelph would open the game by jumping out to generic viagra buy usa a 3-0 lead in just over six minutes of play, with goals from Michael Cavanagh and two of their big three, Jordan Critch and Ryan Serville. Jamie Batten would respond for McMaster, before another Guelph goal capped the scoring for the quarter at 4-1.

The teams would exchange goals for the first eleven minutes of the second quarter, with Marauders goals from Ryan Adams and Alex Goacher. The Gryphons would score two late goals to push the lead to 8-3.

The third quarter would turn chippy, with over ten minutes in penalties handed out. McMaster was given a serious opportunity, spending a good portion of the quarter on the power play, but only managed a single goal with the man advantage. They added an even strength goal by Mitchell Iszkula, but Guelph managed two tallies of their own.

Adams and Iszkula would each notch their second of the game in the fourth, but the story of the quarter was Curtis Knight, one of the Gryphon's players that plays in the National Lacrosse League. He played a factor in all three of Guelph's scores to close the game out at 13-7.

Guelph now moves to the Baggataway Cup quaterfinals to play Bishop's University, while the Maroon and Grey have a long off-season ahead of them. Mac lacrosse fans can take heart that a good majority of the squad still have their peak years left to give to the team, as only four regulars, Mark Phillips, Benjamin Mullholland, Quinton Welychka, and Ian Waud are in their fourth year of eligibility and one, Carter Williams, is in his fifth.

The wind, rain and mud were not enough to hold back the Marauders cross country team on Oct. 26. at Chedoke golf course here in Hamilton.

In these awful conditions, the men’s team was able to finish second overall, a finish that has improved their CIS ranking from sixth place overall to second. The women’s team finished sixth overall, which was a finish that head coach Rory Sneyd did not see coming.

“Toronto is a bit better than I thought. I thought our women might be able to give them a run but we are not quite there yet,” said Sneyd.

In the women’s race, the Toronto Varsity Blues finished third overall, the Queen’s Gaels finished fourth overall and the Windsor Lancers finished fifth overall, which brought the Marauders in sixth spot.

“It was disappointing that Windsor nipped our women for that 5th place spot. I thought our third, fourth and fifth runners ran well – Kierstin Myers, Emily Nowak, Raquel Burgess. Unfortunately, we did not have the low sticks we typically do. We expect this to change at the CIS Championships” said Sneyd.

The low sticks that were missing for this race were Maddy McDonald, and Courtney Patterson- two runners that typically finish within the top 15, or 20 at OUA’s, but this year finished within the top 30.

Although the team finished in sixth, which was a finish they want to improve on, they still have their eyes on the prize at CIS Championships, and all of the top seven runners can pull out a great race under pressure as they have done several times throughout their running careers.

The men’s team managed to surprise a lot of the other teams at the championships, finishing second overall, and beating out strong teams like the Queen’s Gaels, and the Windsor Lancers to get there.

This has been the men’s team’s best finish in the OUA championship in several years, and the surprising finish labeled head coach Rory Sneyd as the men’s cross country coach of the year.

Leading the pack for the men was captain Blair Morgan, who had an excellent race, finishing in sixth place overall, which was a major improvement from last year’s 36^th place finish.

“I think the main difference between this season and any other was the amount of base training I got in at the end of the summer, up around 120km a week this year,” said Morgan.

Morgan was surprised with his result, and felt as though his team ran faster than he could have ever thought.

“Coming into the race, I had figured that the team had a really good shot at bronze, and if we ran well we could potentially take down Windsor for the silver.”

Individually, Morgan was thinking he could finish well too—but not as well as how he ran in the race.

“I was thinking top 20, maybe second team All-Star if it was a great day. I definitely exceeded all my goals for that race by far, as we were significantly ahead of Windsor in the team race and I was way further up than I could have imagined,” said Morgan.

He accredits his strong finish to not letting people ahead of him in the race get too far away.

“I decided I wasn't going to let anyone in the pack get away from me, and after somewhere between 3 and 4k it was just me and Taylor Reid left from our team,” said Morgan.

Reid finished right behind Morgan, not even a second off of his time, and finished in 7^th place.

In 13^th place was Connor Darlington, who raced while sick and still finished as an OUA All-Star, and right behind him was Lionel Sanders in 14^th, who fell during the race and still finished strong.

Not too far behind Sanders was Taylor Forbes in 16^th spot, and finishing up the scoring for the Marauders was Gabe Ghiglione in 36^th place, and rookie Paul Rochus in 78^th.

These notable finishes was encouraging for Coach Sneyd, as he found the team worked very well together to work their way up in the pack.

“What I liked the most was that the men got after it and worked really well with their teammates to maintain their positions.”

Coach Sneyd thinks canada viagra for sale that the team can carry their confidence from this second place OUA finish to the CIS Championships, and can prove that the top finish was no fluke.

“On the men’s side, I knew they could be second. I was just surprised that our men were a convincing second despite the fact that our potential 1-2 punch was our 3-4 guys in the race. This bodes well for doing even better in London. The guys are motivated to prove that the OUA race was no fluke and they want to be on that CIS podium”

The men will attempt to reach the OUA podium on Nov. 9, in London Ont. at Thames Valley Golf Course, while the women will attempt to prove themselves, and race to their potential, and finish within the top five in the country.

When the Marauders stepped into Alumni Hall in London, Ont. they knew that they would be facing a difficult team, under difficult circumstances.

“I knew it was going to be a battle. Rarely, do you go into London and come out with an easy victory. I’ve been in this game for 20 years and I do not think it has ever happened,” said head coach Dave Preston.

Although McMaster was able to get off to a quick lead early, leading the match 2-0, the team found themselves struggling in the third and fourth set, when the Mustangs began to make a comeback to tie the match, 2-2.

“The first two sets, we played really well, but we let up a little in the third,” said Preston.

In the third and fourth set of the match, the Marauders began to not play to their potential, which gave the Mustangs some added confidence.

“The third and fourth set we just didn’t look like we were paying attention to the details as much. We weren’t as engaged in the match. We were playing, but we weren’t completely on top of things and it cost us.”

Preston believes that the Marauders serving got a little out of control, which the Mustangs capitalized on and took advantage of in the third and fourth sets.

“Our serving pressure got a little loose. We started to miss some and the ones that we were putting in, weren’t putting them under any strain. Because we weren’t putting them under as much serving pressure, their offence began to get smoother,” added Preston.

Although most would be panicked in a comeback situation, against a team that is on their home court, and feeling confident, Preston and his team were cool, calm and collected going into the fifth set, which is exactly what ended up bringing them to the win.

“I really like how we handle ourselves in those situations; we don’t panic. It is composure and confidence. A lot of teams want it and coaches know that it is a necessary ingredient, but our [players] know how to play games on a line. We don’t panic, we stick together,” said Preston.

The Marauders have proven their ability to keep their composure in pressured situations. In the past six games they have played (preseason included), they have gone to five sets four times. Out of those four times, they have been able to come out on the other end victorious for all of them.

In their victory against Western, Preston made sure to credit outside hitter Jori Mantha in the win.

“Jori Mantha was ridiculous. Stephen Maar and Jayson McCarthy got some kills and stuff, but a portion of that is the attention that Jori is drawing…Jayson and Stephen played very well. Our middles did cheap viagra ship next day as well, but Jori was really good. He was very efficient, very calculated and a go-to guy the whole time.”

Besides the individual efforts, it is clear that the entire team has the confidence, and faith in themselves to pull off a big win, and Preston has the same amount of confidence and faith in his team as well.

“I have 100% faith. You get the right kids, who are here for the right reasons, you got faith…Panic of ‘will this person do what is required’, not at all. I trust them. When it comes down to that, these [players] get it.”

This game is in the past now, and crossed off the list. Preston takes each game, and dissects it as not just a building block, but also a process to where they would like to be in the peak of their season – which will be at the OUA, and CIS Championships.

But before they think too far ahead, they will need to try and beat the Toronto Varsity Blues, a team that will try to take down the Marauders early on so they do not get over-confident

“Getting two wins in a row was important to us, but they are over. We got to move on and Toronto is coming in trying to knock us off, we know that. We are prepared for that. We are focused still on our side of the net.”

The Marauders will bring this focus into the game against the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. in the Burridge Gym.

 

It was a nail biter for the women’s volleyball team on Oct. 26 as their match against the Western Mustangs proved to be a back-and-forth battle.

McMaster would fight to the finish and come out with a narrow 16-14 win in a nerve-wracking fifth set giving them their first win of the season on the road.

Melanie Walsh says a steady energy level is what played a large factor in the team’s win over the Mustangs on Saturday night.

“We kept a very steady energy level throughout the whole Western game and that was a large part of our win,” said first year Walsh.

The Marauders came out in full force to start the match winning seven of their first eight points in the opening set which would establish them as the leaders early on in the game. The Mustangs would fail to answer to the Marauders efforts and continued to make mistakes, which the confident Mac squad was able to dominate on. McMaster notched a commanding 16-10 lead after consecutive combo blocks from Maicee Sorenson.

The Marauders continued to triumph and would increase their lead to 23-10 over the Western Mustangs. Western would gain some life and reel off a six-point run to bring them within four points of the Marauder squad. McMaster would re-organize my canadian pharmacy online and come out on top taking the first set of the game, leading the Stangs 1-0.

Western would strike back against McMaster and continue on a run to kick off the second set. Western would notch three aces over the course of a six-point streak against Mac to give them an 11-3 lead. The good fortune would continue for the Mustangs and their lead would increase by another nine points. Despite a comeback effort from the Maroon and Grey contingent, Western’s lead would only grow and they would eventually win the set 25-12 tying the game at 1-1.

The hosting Western Mustangs would then win four out of the first five points at the start of the third set and would hold an early lead. McMaster would soon switch gears and begin to claw their way back into the top spot. The lead was cut to just two points with Western clinging to a 16-14 lead over the Marauders.

McMaster’s momentum would pay off with two kills from Mastroluisi and Bukovec to bring the Marauders to a 20-18 lead. The gears would switch once again and Western would find their second wind to win the third set 25-22. Western now led the game 2-1.

The visiting Marauders did not start the fourth set well, and it appeared as if the Mustangs had finally gotten under their skin. Bukovec would soon revive the tired Marauders with two straight aces to help McMaster creep up on the scoreboard. The teams went back and forth until Bukovec once again hit some rockets towards the Mustangs to help the Marauders to win four straight points to bring them to a 17-15 advantage. McMaster would continue to soar, not falling behind at any point in the fourth set. They would go on to win their next eight points, building a large advantage for themselves. Mac would eventually lock down the win tying the game at 2-2.

Both teams had steady runs all attempting to stay within reach of one another and would eventually show both team’s tied at 14 a piece. Caitlin Genovey’s serve would find the floor and would be the game-winning point for the Maroon and Grey, as they would take the fifth and final set at a close 16-14.

With some newfound confidence and a better understanding of what lies ahead, the Marauders can now come away with a focus and a new outlook for their season. The team will now prepare to face the Toronto Varsity Blues on Nov. 2 on their home court in Burridge Gym.

 

Sarah O'Connor

Staff Reporter

After an amazing winning-streak and defeating the top ranked York Lions numerous times this season, the Marauders were defeated in overtime over the weekend by the Windsor Lancers. The loss on Oct. 26 puts an end to the team’s hope of clinching a third straight OUA title.

Both the McMaster keeper Angelo Cavalluzzo and Windsor keeper Dejo Olagbegi made fantastic saves during the first-half. In the 60th minute, the Lancers that took the lead from a free kick 25 yards in front of the Marauder net scored by Lancer player Chris Mayorga.

Trying their hardest, it wasn't until 75 minutes in that Marauder David Serafini tied the game at 1-1 with a penalty kick. Serafini took a dangerous run at Olagbegi resulting in the keeper taking Serafini down a bit too hard in the box.

After 90 minutes and still tied, the game went into overtime and both keepers continued to put on a show viagra express delivery between the posts. Seven minutes before penalty kick time, Windsor's Michael Pio sped past the McMaster defense and scored the winning goal. The Marauders tried to even up the score but were time was not on Mac’s side.

McMaster keeper Angelo Cavalluzzo was disappointed with the loss but knows that the Marauders can expect great things to come in the future.

"The loss was definitely disappointing but the team played really well today,” said Cavalluzzo.

“A lot of our team, including myself, haven't experienced losing this early in the season but I believe this will be a good learning experience going forward into next season and give us a real drive next to do well. I'm really proud of the effort the whole team put in today, and I'm already looking forward to the great things we'll do next year."

With the men’s soccer season now over, the Marauders can use the loss as a stepping- stone for their improvement for future seasons to come.

The Windsor Lancers will now be playing in the OUA East in next week's final-four match-up.

The regular season viagra pills for sale has come to an end for the Marauders men’s rugby team, and they will now be playing the quarterfinal game against the Brock Badgers – a team that they know well from last year’s quarterfinals, which ended with an 8-3 loss for McMaster.

“I would be lying if I said that 'the past is the past' and that we needed to look forward,” said captain Andrew Ferguson.

“I think that everyone involved in last year's quarter final loss has a bit of a chip on their shoulder coming into Wednesday's game… We know how Brock is going to play and we are excited at the opportunity to play them with our season on the line.”

The Marauders have played Brock already this season, and were able to pull off a win, with a close score of 22-19.

This was the same case last year, where the team was able to pull off a win early on in the season against the Badgers, but unfortunately could not hold them off in the last match of the season in the quarter-finals.

But there have been some major changes and differences in this year’s team, compared to last year’s team, with the most notable change being the loss of some key veterans.

“The biggest adjustment we have had to make from last year is the loss of a few key vets who helped build a demanding environment conducive to team success,” said Ferguson.

The addition of some notable recruits, however, has made the team stand out, and have more of a connection and positive outlook on the season.

“I am extremely happy with the additions of our rookies and the atmosphere in the room. Everyone is upbeat and believes that we have the potential to win the OUA. I think that is what separates us from last year's team, cohesion and respect goes a long way in a physical sport like rugby,” added Ferguson.

The Marauders now find themselves in a position where they could end the season on a better note than last year’s, and win the OUA quarter-finals to advance to the semi-finals- which is something that they are more confident with, especially after their whopping 57-0 win over the Warriors last weekend.

“I could not have written a better game to finish the season on. Winning a game like that gives everyone confidence going into playoffs. This game also gave everyone a chance to get all the kinks out of our game and I think we are a much more complete team because of it,” said the captain.

Ferguson believes that their record of 4-3 is justifiable given the talent that lies within the OUA conference, but they definitely have the ability to be up there in the standings.

“When you look at all the talent that is present in the OUA, a 4-3 record is definitely nothing to be ashamed of. That being said, we believe that as a team, we have the pieces to compete for top of the league,” said Ferguson.

Their underdog status stands, but Ferguson and his team firmly believe that they could be a dark horse team for winning the OUA Championship after they blow by the Badgers this Wednesday.

“By conceding a few early games in the season, we put ourselves behind the 8-ball so to speak. We created a tougher road to the final then we would have liked but I think everyone is confident that we can overcome our underdog title and win an OUA championship.”

The men’s rugby team will prepare to get to the OUA Championships by taking it one step at a time. The first step will be this Wednesday, Oct. 23, against the Brock Badgers on the Back Ten field.

 

LIONEL SANDERS

This runner’s greatest accomplishment has been winning the Muskoka Ironman on Sept. 8 of this year, with the second place finisher- Andreas Raelart- being a world record holder for the Ironman and a multiple-time Olympian.

CONNOR DARLINGTON

Darlington has placed 4th at Canadian National Cross country championships- which qualified him for Worlds. He also won the gold in the 5000 m at the Canada Summer Games

The triathlete finished 7th at the OUA Championships last year, and won female viagra jelly gold at Canadian Nationals triathlon for the Under 23 race in 2013, and 2nd pro at Canadian Nationals 2013

This triathlete turned competitive runner has finished within the top 25 at OFSAA cross country three times, and came 7th in the 1500 m last year at the OUA Championships