Gates sets a new single-game scoring record to help the Marauders to their first home win of the season
The women’s basketball team played their first home game of the year on Nov. 11, defeating the York Lions 89-81. Backed by a record-setting 47 point night from senior guard Sarah Gates, the maroon and grey team snuffed out a late Lions rally and picked up their first win of the season.
Heading into the game, the Marauders were searching to fill their win column after two losses on their Ottawa road trip at the beginning of the year. The team’s narrow 66-68 defeat against the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Nov. 5 was followed up a day later with a blowout to the Carleton Ravens. On a 30.3 per cent field goal efficiency, including only nine out of 39 made attempts from beyond the arc, the McMaster University team fell to the Ravens 57-73.
Against York, the team was quick to pick up their offense, spearheaded by an eight point rally from Gates to cut ahead 23-13 at the end of the first. Lauren Golding and Cyanna King were dominant for the Lions, scoring 22 of their combined 24 second quarter points on nine for 12 shooting. Even with their efforts, the Marauders defense remained sharp, forcing six turnovers that led to eight converted points in the quarter.
With 20 points on eight for 11 shots, Gates helped put McMaster up 46-37 entering the half. Arianne Soriano added 12 points and two three pointers to aid the Marauders’ scoring charge.
Coming out of the break, the Lions struggled heavily from the field, missing 16 of their 21 shot attempts. The cold stretch allowed McMaster to take firm control of the contest, jumping out in front 69-48 after a difficult 11-point quarter from York.
In the final quarter, Gates absolutely commanded the court. She would net four three pointers while scoring McMaster’s last 18 points to finish the game.
“Our team feels like we’ve been together for years sometimes . . . When things click and we’re all having fun, it just feels like fun basketball. In those moments for everyone it just feels automatic,” said Gates.
“Our team feels like we’ve been together for years sometimes . . . When things click and we’re all having fun, it just feels like fun basketball. In those moments for everyone it just feels automatic."
Sarah Gates, SENIOR GUARD
Despite York’s 33 point comeback attempt in the fourth, the Marauders emerged victorious 89-81. Although they were outrebounded 30-44, McMaster’s 15 steals and consistent ball pressure were enough to limit the Lion’s end of game surge.
In a historic night, Gates finished the game with 47 points overall, topping her former career-high of 38 points set last year against Guelph on Nov. 13. The performance set a new single-game scoring record for McMaster, beating out Lindsay Degroot’s previous high of 38 points from 2008.
Averaging a league-best 30.8 points per game on a 54.1 per cent field goal percentage, the three-time Ontario University Athletics all-star has been sensational for the Marauders early on in the campaign. With this season marking Gates’ final year on the team, an extra championship title would be the perfect addition to her McMaster legacy.
“I want to win another national championship . . . I believe that our team has the potential to do it. We just gotta keep growing, keep learning from our mistakes throughout the season so we can peak at the right time,” said Gates.
“I want to win another national championship . . . I believe that our team has the potential to do it. We just gotta keep growing, keep learning from our mistakes throughout the season so we can peak at the right time.”
Sarah Gates, SENIOR GUARD
Pitching in with an all-around performance, Soriano finished with a line of 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Her game-high four steals helped to lock up the Lion’s ball handlers, who committed 23 turnovers on the night.
On the opposition’s side, Golding finished the game with a line of 31 points and 10 rebounds. Also securing a double-double, King chipped in with 24 points while pulling down 16 rebounds for the Lions.
With their win against York, the Marauders showcased their abilities as one of the league’s best offensive teams. Making the second most threes per game while maintaining the third best field goal percentage, McMaster’s efficiency and outside shooting presence has played a key role in their early season scoring successes.
Going forward, the team can continue to work on the defensive end of the ball. Ranking third last in personal fouls and points allowed per game, improvement in these areas will make the Marauders a true force in the league and complement their elite offensive talent led by Gates’ devastating scoring abilities.
After discovering and self-reporting an ineligible player on the roster, the Marauders were forced to forfeit each game played to that point
A season that seemed to start on a strong note for the Marauders turned sour rather quickly. The team dropped their first game against the Carlton Ravens to a close score of 24 to 18 but followed up with an absolute blowout against the York Lions, winning 39 to one. Despite the lopsided score, the game will officially go down as a loss.
On Sep. 9 news broke that McMaster University would have to forfeit their win against the Lions due to an administrative error. This error made a member of the team who participated in both games ineligible, reversing the outcome of their lone season win. The final line score on the Marauders website now reads as a win for the Lions with a final score of one to zero.
The initial statement on the issue came from McMaster Athletics and Recreation itself. They cited an administrative error, stemming from a student transfer. Upon discovery, they passed along this observation to U Sports and the OUA, who made the ruling shortly thereafter.
Following the third game of the season — a 20 to 14 loss to the Ottawa Gee-Gees — the team fielded questions on the matter at their postgame press conference.
“As the head coach and manager of the football team, it’s 100% on me. I’ve got a player on the roster that shouldn’t be. . . One of my guys is not eligible, and that's got to be on me to make sure,” said Stefan Ptaszek, the team’s head coach.
Not only was the team directly affected by the matter in terms of the overturned game, but the issue also appeared to create further problems heading into their week three matchup. Although Ptaszek stressed that the team was well prepared and in a strong mental state, the devastating news and the extreme recency were more than likely a factor.
“We only had 20 hours to digest what happened prior to this kickoff. . . Captains [found out] at 2:00 p.m. yesterday, the team at 3:00 p.m. [They] were a little shell shocked and stoic for sure,” explained Ptaszek.
Following the announcement, the team fell to zero wins and three losses on the year, and sat dead last in the Ontario University Athletics standings as the only team without a win. McMaster has also since lost their spot on the U Sports top 10 national ranking, having been displaced by the Mount Allison Mounties.
The team has rebounded moderately well since those disastrous initial three games, winning two of their last four games, but it might simply be a case of too little too late. It was going to take a herculean effort from the team in order to return to the postseason for the first time since their provincial title victory in 2019-2020. Although it’s technically possible for them to still secure a playoff spot, the stars would have to perfectly align, and their chances are diminishing by the game as a direct result of this costly mistake.
As December and the holidays approach, so does exam season. And for McMaster student-athletes, that means hitting the books and taking a step back from the athlete side of things. But as November comes to a close, there are still a few more games Mac fans can check out.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will take on the York University Lions this Friday at 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. The women are ranked No. 5 in the country, and will be looking to improve their 7-2 record before the break. Meanwhile, the men will be looking for a much-needed home win after losing on the road back-to-back in Ottawa this past weekend.
The men and women will be heading to London to face the Western University Mustangs this Friday. The men’s team, who has won six consecutive conference titles, will be looking to improve their 6-1 record against the 5-3 Mustangs. The women’s team currently holds a 4-3 record while the Mustangs sit at 5-3.
Although this will be it for the majority of December as the Marauders buckle down for exams, the men’s volleyball team will take a trip down south to Long Beach, California, to participate in their annual North American Challenge. The men have performed well against their American counterparts, holding a 7-0 record against their usual rivals for the challenge, the Ohio State Buckeyes. This year, they will face off against Long Beach State University, who they beat in back-to-back games last year, and the University of California Santa Barbara. The challenge will begin on December 29 and will continue until New Year’s Eve. Although they will not be close to home for the holidays, the Marauders should have no trouble entering the New Year undefeated once again.
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By Lucas Uggenti
A regular season that saw many highs and lows for the McMaster men’s soccer team is nearing an end, concluding yet another mediocre year in which the talented group finished third in their conference. This has grown to become a bit of a disappointment as the group has set expectations much higher than where they finished.
For a second-straight year, McMaster has finished third, a few points out of the top spot, which was somewhere the team believed they deserved to be. Ultimately, the team’s goal is an Ontario University Athletics championship, which would give them a berth into the national U Sports tournament.
This goal is still not out of the question, but McMaster will need to find a way to beat the inconsistent bug that has plagued the team for much of the season. Inconsistency has been the team’s Achilles’ heel early on in the season, but the Marauders have found ways to survive in games, squeaking out big points when necessary. This has come much to the chagrin of head coach Dino Perri.
“It was a pretty inconsistent season,” said Perri. “Because we had a young team, we were able to compete with the best in the league, while also dropping points to teams at the bottom of the table. That’s inconsistency.”
McMaster started the season off hot, winning their first three games, outscoring their opponents 8-2 during that stretch. Unfortunately, the Marauders hit a bump in the road only managing to muster five points out of possible 18 in their next six matches; they went 1-3-2 in that stretch.
“Our biggest strength is that we are a team,” Perri said. “There are many individuals on this roster that are capable of stepping up into the spotlight and playing well. Although we have good depth, consistency is something we lack, which hurts us.”
Hoping to play to their strengths as a team and build off of some bad performances, something sparked the Marauders as they found new life late in the season.
Following an inspired 1-1 draw against the defending champions, the York University Lions, McMaster then went on a tear, winning five of their next six games, including a 2-2 tie with the Wilfred Laurier University Golden Hawks.
This could not have come at a better time for McMaster, as the OUA playoffs are right around the corner. The Marauders’ expectations remain as high as they once were, accepting nothing less than a championship.
“Hopefully, we learned from our mistakes throughout the course of the season and build off this little hot run we’ve had late,” Perri said. "Anything can happen in the playoffs.”
In their annual season-ending games against the Algoma University Thunderbirds, the Marauders ended their season on a high note with back-to-back wins to finish with a 9-3-4 record. Powered by a Dusan Kovacevic hat-trick, the Marauders won their first game in Sault Ste. Marie in a 5-3 comeback. They followed that performance with a clean sheet, beating the Thunderbirds 6-0 on the back of freshman defender Miles Green’s four goals.
Men's Soccer -- FINAL: Dusan Kovacevic completed a hat trick late, as the Marauders scored three goals in the final five minutes to snatch all three points in Sault Ste. Marie. #GoMacGo pic.twitter.com/Kj0dywrs2a
— McMaster Athletics (@McMasterSports) 20 October 2018
McMaster finished the season in third place in the OUA West division, earning a first-round playoff match up against the University of Waterloo Warriors. This marks the first game of the playoffs for the Marauders, as they hope to forget about their inconsistent season and focus on what their future holds.
McMaster has the talent, the coaching and the right mentality to compete for a championship, and can only really defeat themselves by remaining inconsistent.
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By Adriana Skaljin
The McMaster women's soccer team started off their 2018 campaign strong, and throughout the season, proved that they have become even stronger towards the end of it.
“This team has a lot of talent, so it is nice to see it translated into results," said team captain Stephanie Roberts.
Going into their last two games of the regular season, the Marauders sit with a record of 6-3-5; good enough for fourth place in the Ontario University Athletics West division. Their wins are results of their strong work ethic, as described by Roberts and echoed by her teammates.
Season highlights include their home opener against the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks on Aug. 24, and their six-point weekend at the end of September, with wins over the York University Lions and the University of Guelph Gryphons.
Their home opener against the Golden Hawks foreshadowed the strong season that followed, as the team began that game with a bang, getting up 3-0 in the first half. This allowed the team to cruise to season-opening 4-1 win.
"This was an amazing way to start off the season," Roberts said.
With York and Guelph traditionally being two of their strongest competitors, back-to-back games against these rivals were positioned to be a tough test for the Marauders. Coming out with six points over that weekend truly showed the strength of the McMaster team. In both games, the Marauders shut out their opponents with 1-0 wins.
Despite their dominant wins and solid ties throughout the season, the team did fall short of a few key victories.
Described as their toughest moment of the season, the team suffered a "winning drought" of six straight winless games. This included all three of their losses during this season, punctuated by a one-goal loss to the Western University Mustangs.
"This [challenge] caused us to work harder in practice," said Roberts. "We ended up coming back from this by beating two teams that were ahead of us in the standings."
The hard work paid off, as they women bounced back with four straight wins.
The team's greatest weakness seems to be that they are unlucky at times, resulting in ties and losses. Sometimes, the unlucky bounces just overpower the skills of the players. Including their 2-1 Sept. 21 loss to the Mustangs, where they blew a 1-0 lead early in the second half.
That score did not reflect their performance, as their strong defensive and offensive skills showed. This game is an example of the ways in which the scoreboard was not defined by their playing abilities.
“We have had some unfortunate breaks, but are overall playing good soccer,” head coach Joe Valvasori said.
Most recently, the Marauders collected a couple of 1-1 ties, tying Laurier in Waterloo, and returning home to tie the University of Waterloo Warriors. The team will next be travelling to Sault Ste. Marie to face the Algoma Thunderbirds in back-to-back games to close off their season.
Women's Soccer -- FINAL: The Marauders split the points in Waterloo. ⚽ pic.twitter.com/2ozUiplj7N
— McMaster Athletics (@McMasterSports) October 7, 2018
"We have always had success playing against them, so we are hoping to have successes again this year," explained Roberts. "However, these are a crucial six points and we cannot take any team lightly in our league, so it will definitely be a battle."
As the team moves forward towards the playoffs, they are hoping to finish in third or fourth, and are confident that they are talented enough to beat any team they may face. Their confidence and skill will definitely be exhibited in their upcoming games.
“As we near the end of our season, I can say with confidence that we now play more as a unit, and not just as individuals,” said Roberts.
Looking ahead to next season, the team anticipates that with the number of fifth-year students on the team, they will all definitely go out with a bang.
Catch their next games against the Thunderbirds on Oct. 20 and 21 at 1:00 p.m.
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McMaster University Homecoming is always an exciting game for both the players and the fans. Big crowds, big games and big wins are always guaranteed. This year the 1-2 Marauders will face the 0-2 University of Toronto Varsity Blues. But before we get to the action, here are some of the most exciting moments from the past five Homecoming wins to get you pumped up for the upcoming game!
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