After falling to the Queen’s University Gaels for the Ontario University Athletics Forsyth Cup, the McMaster men’s volleyball team are headed to the U Sports Men’s Volleyball Championships, but not exactly where they would like to be.
For the first time in seven years, the Marauders are heading to nationals, not as OUA champions. Although surely grateful that they still get to compete at the national level, the disappointment is still there. After a change in OUA men’s volleyball structure, the men’s team had to play their final game on the Gaels’ home court, despite being the number one seed.
The close matchup saw the Marauders and Gaels play five sets. After ending the first set 19-25, the Marauders bounced back strong, winning the second and third set 25-19 and 25-23, respectively. Unfortunately, the Gaels were in the comfort of their own home and were able to outscore the Marauders in both the fourth and fifth set, 16-25 and 13-15.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu1vUPwhaJ8/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
This result landed the Marauders ranked seventh place going into nationals in Quebec City this weekend. Not only is this McMaster's lowest seed at the national tournament since Mac hosted in 2007, but their first opponents are also their longtime rivals, British Columbia’s Trinity Western University Spartans.
The number two seeded team has faced Mac several times in the national playoffs, and for the last four years, they have outplayed Mac. For First Team All-Star left side Andrew Richards, this is the last Canadian university volleyball championships he will ever play in. So hopefully the Marauders will be able to shake the curse and come out victorious against the Spartans.
First serve is scheduled for this Friday at 6:00 p.m.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
The McMaster men’s volleyball team is heading to the Ontario University Athletics volleyball semifinals for the 15th-straight season. After defeating the York University Lions 3-1 in the OUA quarter-finals, the Marauders are heading into the Final Four ranked fifth in the nation.
Several Marauders were also honoured with OUA recognition, with outside hitter Matt Passalent taking home the highest honour, OUA West Player of the Year. Fifth-year Andrew Richards took home the Dale Iwanoczko Award for his work off the court. Passalent and Richards were both named First Team All-Stars, while Craig Ireland was named to the Second Team. First-year middle Tyler Pavelic’s season was recognized with a spot on the All-Rookie team.
With six straight OUA titles, the journey to their seventh begins this weekend when the Marauders face the University of Windsor Lancers in a semi-final match-up. If they win, they will go on to play in the final game for the OUA Forsyth Cup. The game will be on Saturday, March 9 at 1 p.m. at Queen’s University.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Buo_HlthWVd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
After defeating the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in the OUA finals to capture the Critelli Cup, the Marauders are heading to Ryerson University to play in the U Sports National Championships for the second-straight season. With the No. 2 seed in the tournament, the Marauders will face the No. 7 Concordia University Stingers.
Led by Critelli Cup game MVP Hilary Hanaka, the Marauders hope to see a different result in this year's National Championships compared to last year. The ladies headed out to Regina last year where they unfortunately did not finish where they wanted to. Losing in the first round to McGill University, the Marauders were not prepared for the level of play, but are hoping to see different results this time around.
Already defeating the Carleton University Ravens during the 2019 OUA semi-finals, who were also the 2018 U Sports Champions, the idea of going straight to the top does not seem so far off. Tip-off time is at 12 p.m. Thursday, March 7.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bujafa4hYPe/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
When Coach Ptaszek was presented with the offer to be the head coach at a program he had called home for over 10 years, there was no way he could refuse.
“It wasn't just a job for 10 years, it was more than that,” said Ptaszek. “A lot has changed over the last two and a half years, but there's still a lot of the great people around the campus and football program which made it a very, very exciting offer, and something that I was extremely interested in.”
Ptaszek’s name speaks volumes when it comes to Marauder football. So though many players and supporters were not too happy about the letting go of previous head coach Greg Knox, the arrival of Ptaszek quickly changed that.
Being the only coach to lead the Marauders to a Vanier Cup championship in 2011, his reputation certainly precedes itself. Ptaszek also held the record for longest winning streak in U Sports (formerly known as Canadian Interuniversity Sport) history, 21 games, brought home three Yates Cups and was named the CIS Coach of the Year in 2012.
Football -- Stefan Ptaszek returns to @mcmasteru as @Marauderftbl head coach. #GoMacGohttps://t.co/LaotrQMLPq
— McMaster Marauders (@McMasterSports) November 28, 2018
For Ptaszek, his success can be linked back to his philosophy for leading a team: ‘Football Family’. Using his own experience as a university student-athlete as the blueprint, Ptaszek’s goal to ensure that those in the program see one another as a family is a part of what makes those under him do so well as a unit.
“It's not just 80 guys that get together to play games eight times a year, they have to learn to believe and trust each other,” said Ptaszek. “All of that, under the umbrella of a world-class education, helps them to hopefully leave this place with the tools to be successful forever. That’s the big picture here; winning football games is just a by-product of doing all these other things”
Ensuring that a team has a family bond after such a controversial firing is a difficult task, but for Ptaszek, he finds that the incident has made the team more tight-knit than before.
“When [the players] were not having much guidance in terms of who their next coach was going to be, I think it caused them to have to build a tighter relationship. But they're stronger now, and capable of great things,” said Ptaszek. “Coaches like Scott Brady and John Parkes have been instrumental at keeping this locker room focused, so moving forward I think I inherited a really great situation. I'm going to be smart enough to build upon the great things that are in place here.”
For Ptaszek, building on things that are in place means listening to the needs of the team first, by getting to know his new student-athletes.
“I've had at least one sit down with each player and we're planning another one,” said Ptaszek. “I'm also getting to know the quarterbacks better because quarterback play is a huge thing we have to focus on in the off-season.”
Working hard in the weight room and getting stronger in the winter, the Marauders who are one of few teams lucky enough to most likely be keeping a majority of their starters for the 2019 season, will not have to do a lot of rebuilding. With a small graduating senior class, the team is young with a bright future ahead.
“We have two seniors, Eric Blake and Jordan Lyons, that we may potentially lose to the CFL, but if we're lucky, they’ll be back for their fifth year,” said Ptaszek. “We're going to be a year older, smarter, bigger, faster, stronger and in a great position. McMaster wasn't broken when I took this job, so I'm excited to see where they go.”
Though they have very few players leaving, this has not stopped Ptaszek from adding to the recruiting that was done before he arrived.
“I’m trying to compliment Brady and Parkes to have a great recruiting class,” explained Ptaszek. “It's still early in the process, but we’re really excited about our recruiting class.”
With 23 commits so far, the 2019 recruiting class is shaping up to be a good one.
As for goals for the 2019 season, reaching their full potential is all Ptaszek wants out of the Marauders. With the standard of excellence in Ontario set by the Western University Mustangs, he aims to close that gap.
“This year we’re a bit better at every position, plus our great recruiting class that is coming in, so I think we will be able to achieve our goal of closing that gap of the provincial standard set by the Mustangs down the road," said Ptaszek.
“This means being better at offence, defence and special teams, and attention to detail in every area,” Ptaszek added. “When the Yates Cup is being played in 2019, the Marauders want to be on that field, and I think that’s a realistic goal.”
With weight training, quarterback play and recruiting well underway, the only thing missing is an offensive coordinator, after the departure of Tom Flaxman last week. Once that role is filled, hopefully, Ptaszek and the Marauders will be able to return to that level of excellence that Ptaszek is known for. Although we will have to wait for that first kick-off come August to find out.
[thesil_related_posts_sc]Related Posts[/thesil_related_posts_sc]
The championship window has shut on the McMaster Marauders' first Vanier Cup-winning generation.
Behind 2011 winners like Joey Cupido, Steven Ventresca, Marshall Ferguson and Chris Pezzetta, the 2014 Marauder football program shoehorned their way into the Vanier Cup. There are handfuls of other players that contributed to the run, but these players were the leaders.
The 2014 Vanier Cup featured only one lead change after the 0-0 score was broken, and that change would prove to be the fatal one. McMaster lost 20-19 after a 13-yard field goal from Montreal’s Louis-Philippe Simoneau gave the Carabins the lead.
McMaster used a drive with three minutes left to march down and set Tyler Crapigna up for a 31-yard field goal attempt. Montreal’s Mathieu Girard broke through to block the kick and ended Mac’s chances to win their second Vanier Cup in school history.
Now, that play will probably be discussed to no end. McMaster had the ball with only half a yard to go, and Mac had already pushed the ball for a first down in two situations prior. The percent of kicks that get blocked at that distance is just above zero. If Mac makes the kick, they lead 22-20 and the Carabins have to move the ball down the whole field with 58 seconds left. The Marauders have one of the best passing defences in the country, so it is a gamble that made sense.
The counter-argument is that Mac moves the ball, gets the first down and runs the clock down. Maybe they score a touchdown; maybe they get a field goal but they likely end up with a lead and Montreal has even less time, if any. There is a possibility they don’t the first down, and Mac is in the same spot as if they have their kick blocked. There’s no definitive answer to that situation, but it is important to at least hear the logic.
And let’s not act like Montreal wasn’t a better team. In front of 22,649 fans – mostly Carabins supporters – they weathered a lackluster first half and took advantage of good field position. On the Carabins' game-winning drive, they were given a short field after Mac conceded a no-yards penalty on the punt return. Converting on the short field against Mac isn’t easy though, and Montreal set up a tee-shot for the win.
McMaster has made three Vanier Cup trips in four years, a respectable and significant mark. For the players, that does not mean anything, at least not right now. In the locker room, there was just red eyes and silence. The only breaks in the quiet were some murmurs and the sound of pats on the back as players and coaches embraced.
This group was not supposed to be here. Head coach Stefan Ptaszek said that his group isn’t as physically talented as the teams from 2011 or 2012, but they had more heart and toughness. You cannot cheat the football gods for this long, though. Without the ability to get the ball into the endzone, it is hard to win championships. Yet, McMaster came within a point of doing just that.
As this championship window closes, another may be opening. The team is deep and talented at skill positions, and the coaching staff has shown the ability to transition teams well. 2013 was a season littered with injuries to key pieces, a defensive co-ordinator change and they still made the playoffs. 2014 saw the insertion of a ton of young talent. Between Ptaszek, Jon Behie and Greg Knox, they make the pieces fit and any regression will be short lived.
That isn’t supposed to make this any easier – to lose on a blocked kick is rare and especially heartbreaking. But the McMaster Marauders looked adversity in the face and beat it time after time. For that, the Maroon family should raise their glass and cherish the ride.
Photo credit: Fraser Caldwell
Using defence and a strong running game, Mac bested the Mount Allison Mounties 24-12.
The score line does not reflect how one-sided this game was. McMaster’s line play made the difference and put the Marauders through to their third Vanier game in four years. Outside of Laval, Saskatchewan made three Vanier trips in four years from 2003 to 2006.
Winning a Mitchell Bowl is a weird scenario, akin to knowing that you get a high mark in a course but the class is pass or fail. There’s a trophy that says they won something, but the feeling of accomplishment isn’t there. The players were not overly eager to hoist the trophy or take a ton of pictures with it. It’s a ticket to the Vanier, which is the real goal.
It was the quintessential McMaster football performance. In the past, Marauder teams may have been a bit more predictable in that you knew who was going to be making the big plays and lighting up the scoreboard. This isn’t a bad thing — that group has a Vanier Cup ring that says otherwise. But Mac is deeper and it is clearly more difficult to plan for. When Sportsnet broadcasts games, they put the names on the back of player jerseys. So many players contributed today that the change was a welcome one.
Mount Allison put up a good fight, but you could see how one conference has outgrown the other. Mac sacked Mountie quarterback Brandon Leyh nine times and hit him at least 19. Mount Allison’s offensive line got blown up on the first two plays of the game, one resulting in a pass that hit the back of a receiver and the other ending in a sack. They could not open holes for rookie running back Chris Reid either — he finished with 53 yards on 11 rushing attempts. Reid finished third in the CIS for rushing yards per game, tallying up 123 per contest.
Mac did not escape from the game unscathed. On the first rush of the game, running back Chris Pezzetta seemed to injure his knee on a non-descript play and did not return. That knee has suffered two ACL tears between 2012 and 2013. Officially, Pezzetta was listed as questionable to return with a lower-body injury. Running back Wayne Moore took a hard hit in the third quarter but returned, while receiver Josh Vanderweerd suffered a hit to his head and did not play for a few series.
It was the defence and special teams that gave Mac the win, causing the injury to Pezzetta to be minimal. Mark Mackie logged three sacks and won the Most Valuable Player award. Tyler Crapigna had three field goals and two punts inside the 20-yard line. One of those caused a safety after the Mount Allison possession.
The scene afterwards was the polar opposite of the Yates Cup celebration. Players lined up behind the stage, Sportsnet did the bowl presentation and the team moved on. It was pouring rain, so that would have forced people to get off the field pretty quick. But there was no real celebration because the players and coaches didn’t think they have anything to celebrate.
Next week, they might. McMaster takes on the Montreal Carabins in Montreal, after the RSEQ representative topped Manitoba 29-24 in the Uteck Bowl. With a deep roster lead by players with Vanier experience, Mac has a real shot at bringing the championship back to Hamilton.
Photo Credit: Sarah Janes
When the Marauders beat the Guelph Gryphons 20-15 on Nov. 15, they did more than win a trophy or earn a berth in the Mitchell Bowl. They solidified the McMaster football program’s place in history.
With the Yates Cup win, McMaster can rightfully say that they are the most consistent program of the new millennium. Since 2000, Mac has won seven Yates Cups in eight championship game appearances — three more than Western, the next closest program.
The team is undefeated in Yates Cup finals under head coach Stefan Ptaszek and has won three championships in the last four years. Achieving “dynasty” status in sports is incredibly difficult, yet here we are. And of all the squads to win a Yates, this one may have had the toughest road.
The team came into the season as relatively unknown given a less-than-stellar campaign the year before. Winning the OUA was a goal, not an expectation like in previous years, and that showed in the celebra- tion. The post-game scene was emotional chaos.
Players yelling, screaming about the win, finding family and loved ones to embrace and running toward the stage — it was an outpour of feelings. No one really had a direction; players darted between runs to the stage and the people calling their names.
As someone who has witnessed Yates Cup wins by the Marauders before, it was interesting to see the confusion. This group has a handful of players who have won the Yates before, and they still have players who won the 2011 Vanier Cup, too. But you couldn’t tell that anyone had been there before, because in a way, they never have.
Recent Marauder generations had dominated the competition, running through Yates Cup opponents with little regard for who lined up on the opposite side of the ball. Now though, the league talent has caught up and the Marauders were not as balanced.
This game encapsulated all of that. Mac’s passing game was non-existent: Marshall Ferguson (one of the 2011 Vanier Cup winners) completed 24-34 passing for only 191 yards, throwing three interceptions in the process.
The ground game was effective, but running back Chris Pezzetta could not get every first down. He tried, though. Pezzetta, who tore his ACL twice in the past two years, rumbled for 144 yards. Guelph, while under-manned due to injuries to Jazz Lindsey and A’Dre Fraser, put together good drives and stymied Mac’s attack. The only Maroon touchdown of the game came from defensive lineman Mike Kashak, picking off a James Roberts screen pass, stiff-arming the Guelph QB and running for 30 yards to put six on the board.
It was the defence that brought the Yates back to McMaster. Joey Cupido picked off the Gryphons twice in the game — once in Mac’s endzone — and has 14 interceptions in 14 career playoff games. The CIS does not know who the all-time leader in post-season interceptions is, but let’s just give it to Cupido.
It was a performance so good, there is little risk of time stretching the truth and exaggerating just how well Cupido played. A crucial break-up in the fourth quarter solidified his spot as the Yates Cup MVP.
As the players ran around in post-win delirium, it seems like they were running with a bit more freedom. There has been nothing convincing about this season and most of the games against real competition have been ugly affairs.
The season, up until now, left something to be desired because we had experienced the best teams in school history.
But all the talk about being a team that can make a run at the Vanier was validated when that Yates Cup was hoisted.
This new brand of football delivered a Yates and really, that is all that matters. This team is playing with house money, escaping the toughest conference in the country and looking like they still have another gear. The rest of the CIS is wide open too. Laval lost to Montreal in a 12-9 kicker’s duel. Mac’s opponent Mt. Allison made it through a transitioning AUS conference, playing few, if any, games against national contenders.
“It’s okay to be proud. It’s not okay to be satisfied,” said Ptaszek after the game. And watching that group celebrate while taking the group photo, banner and trophy in the centre of the team, you saw the pride. You didn’t see satisfaction. You talk to the players, and you hear that pride but you don’t hear satisfaction.
Players like Pezzetta, Ferguson, Cupido — you could see that they do not want to be a checkpoint on the 2014 Vanier Cup bracket.
They want to be there at the very end.
Mike Roy
The Argosy
Sackville (CUP) -- Alice Munro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature this past October by the Swedish Academy this year as a “master of the modern short story.” She is the thirteenth woman to receive the award, along with being the second Canadian after expatriate Saul Bellow received the same prize in 1976.
Every year, the Nobel Prize for Literature is awarded to an author of any country that demonstrates an excellence in the field of written works, be it fiction or non-fiction. Munro is no newcomer to the realm of literature, as she has carefully produced fourteen collections of her work over several decades, penning hundreds of short stories. Her literature normally focuses on the themes of female identity, such as the coming-of-age tales in Lives of Girls and Women, or the struggles in middle-aged life in Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage.
Munro was born in Wingham, Ontario, a small community located in the southwest part of the province in Huron County. This environment has served as fodder for her stories, which commonly deal with rural locations similar to her hometown. She studied English and journalism at the University of Western Ontario, where she met her first husband, James Munro. She has been a past recipient of the Governor General’s Literary Award on three occasions and the Giller Book Prize in 1998 and 2004.
As a Canadian woman author, Munro represents a cultural shift for those who still think in the viagra online canadian pharmacy same vein as Gilmour. Literature in today’s world is not simply the study of the same famed authors found in textbooks for centuries, but the incorporation of writing from all backgrounds in all time periods. Her win is not only personal, but demonstrates the quality and talent that can be ignored by biased views of inequality.
Furthermore, it places Canada in the spotlight of noteworthy North American literature. While our country has the same wealth of talent as our neighbours to the south, we do not have the same means to publicize and promote our literature on the same scale. Munro being recognized on an international level will not only garner attention to her works, but to those of all Canadians.
Earlier this year, Munro announced her retirement from writing, which could only be capped off with this magnificent honour of the Nobel Prize in Literature. While she cannot attend the reception ceremony due to her health, she is still humble and thankful for the recognition. There is truly no better way to end the career of a magnificent author, who has shaped the Canadian literature landscape, than this.
Farzeen Foda
Senior News Editor
The 74th annual Canadian University Press conference, held in Victoria, BC ended on a sour note after an evening of celebration ended with numerous conference delegates reporting dizziness, nausea and vomiting following dinner on Jan. 14.
The illness spread rapidly among the 360 guests attending the four-day conference. By the morning of Jan. 15, over 60 people had been infected with what was later determined to be the Norovirus, and 11 people had been sent to the hospital.
Following the dinner and a keynote speech was a celebratory gala held at the University of Victoria, which was cancelled as people began feeling ill on the shuttle bus transporting guests to the gala.
Rumours went rampant on Twitter, which served as a source of updates, jokes and precautions about the spreading virus. The conference, this year called Archipelago, was comically renamed ‘Barfipelago,’ and on Jan. 15, the Harbour Towers Hotel, which hosted the conference, was under voluntary quarantine as a result of the virus.
Conference staff was diligent in monitoring attendees, providing assistance and advice to ill guests.
All who were symptom-free were separated from those who were ill. Meanwhile, many delegates travelling from great distances were forced to reschedule their flights – a process that proved to be a frustrating process for many.
Among those ill were four of the seven delegates from The Silhouette, including Executive Editor Brian Decker, who pleaded with Westjet on behalf of his staff to waive the expensive rebooking fee for the flight home, while coping with the flu himself. The Sil editors were scheduled to return to Hamilton on Jan. 15, but returned instead on Jan.16.
The exact cause of the flu has not been determined. While reports at first questioned the food served on the evening of Jan.14, it has since been said that a delegate brought the illness into the hotel prior to dinner.
