McMaster men's curling kicked off their season this past November with many invitationals ahead as they look to win big
The McMaster University men's curling season officially started in Guelph on Nov. 11. The Marauders faced three teams in the University of Guelph invitational in their first competition of the season. In their first game they faced off against Wilfrid Laurier University, the 2022-2023 Ontario University Athletics champions.
This challenge at the start of the season was not the only hardship this team has had to endure so far, with many key players leaving the team in their last offseason.
The team's only two returning players this year are Scott McLellan and Daniel Van Veghel. The graduation of Troy Stoner and Thomas Szasz would leave major gaps in the team that the current roster would have to fill.
It's mostly a new team [this year]. A lot of turnover especially in the back end, so you got to just kind of rebuild the entire team. We had a lot of new players.
Benjamin Winchester, second-year player, Marauders men's curling team
With these changes in roster, the team was left to rebuild mostly from scratch, leading to many of the current challenges they're facing this year.
“We didn’t have the greatest start, score wise, but it's been a steady improvement,” said Winchester.
Coming into this season, the team also welcomed in a new head coach. The team's previous head coach was Lori Eddey, an experienced curler who spent time at the national level as a player.
Eddey was replaced this season by Byron Scott, who spent the last seven years coaching at the University of Guelph before leaving to coach the current McMaster team.
Thus far, Scott has proven to be a great fit for the current Marauders' curling team. He consistently emphasizes mindful habits for the current players, who seem to resonate with them quite well.
“[Scott] is big into sports psychology, so he’ll mention a lot of the time pre-game what to be thinking and he’s tried to instill good habits in us. Instead of getting down if we miss a shot, [Scott says to] think "clean slate and just stay steady,"” said Winchester.
Despite some changes to the team dynamic this season, the Marauders have been able to learn and adapt to both each other and their new head coach. They've learned to play off of one another and have been able to see better results.
“We’ve gotten our communication down now. That was one of the big things with a new team; you don’t know how everyone communicates, with hand signals or other little things," said Winchester.
We’ve gotten our communication down now. That was one of the big things with a new team, you don’t know how everyone communicates, with hand signals or other little things.
Benjamin Winchester, second-year player, Marauders men's curling team
This season, the Marauders will hope to capture an OUA title after just falling short of the finals last year. Their loss to Queen's University ended in a 9-2 score.
“Personally, I’d like us to win [an OUA] quarterfinal game. That’s always been the goal... Always a bit more than that, but a quarterfinal game win would be nice,” said Winchester.
Scott and the team's newcomers will hope to make a big name for themselves as the season comes its peak.
In their final game of the season, McMaster football loses by just three points to the University of Toronto, wiping away their playoff hopes
The last game of the Marauder football season came down to a harsh ultimatum. They would either beat the University of Toronto and land a spot in the playoffs or they would lose and have the season come to an immediate halt. With home field advantage on their side, the Marauders suited up to take on the Varsity Blues on an unusually warm day of October.
With both teams facing a similar ultimatum, the stakes were high. A Toronto win meant the Varsity Blues make the playoffs while McMaster would be eliminated. Meanwhile a McMaster win would lead to a tie in the standings for the final playoff spot between Toronto and McMaster.
The Marauders made good on their first drive of the game as Andreas Dueck threw a 15 yard pass which Nicholas Adair converted to a touchdown.
The Varsity Blues went on to convert three field goals, bringing their point total to nine just before the half. A field goal for McMaster’s kicker Micheal Horvat would bring the half time score to nine to 10, in the way of McMaster. Going into the second half with just the one-point lead, the Marauders needed to produce something more to bring them to the postseason.
They ended up doing just the opposite. The second half of play saw McMaster produce zero points, while the Varsity Blues converted two safeties to bring the final score to 13-10. Just like that, with no points coming from touchdowns, the Toronto side secured a postseason berth.
It a difficult pill for the team to swallow not only because of the lost playoff hopes, but also because the Marauders would snap a 26 year winning streak. This became the first time since Sep. 21, 1996 that McMaster lost to the Varsity Blues.
It's difficult to pin the McMaster loss on any single factor but taking a look at their season as a whole, it has been very lackluster. Their two wins came against teams sitting at the bottom of the barrel, those being Guelph and Waterloo. Their only other win came against the York Lions, after which an ineligible player stripped the win away from the team, forcing them to forfeit their 39-one victory.
The forfeited game had major implications to the Marauder season. This additional win would have put them in better standing and would have added a majorly needed win to the teams tally. Ultimately, their final game against Toronto highlighted some of the issues the team faced all season.
Their lack of offensive efficiency costed them gravely. The Marauders failed to advance up the field this game discernibly. In some cases, the offensive line broke down rather quickly. In others, McMaster’s quarterback failed to connect with his receivers. It seems that offensively McMaster struggles to find consistency.
Defensively, the Marauders seem quite sound. With no touchdowns coming from the Varsity Blues, they seem to be in fine form. The Marauders look as though they must put in lots of work in the offseason to bring themselves back to the level they once were at. This is the team’s first time since 1997 missing playoffs in an eight-game season (excluding the shortened 2021 season).
If they hope to become the team they once were, they may need to take a closer look at their offense. With Dueck leaving McMaster after this season, the team will need to replace his quarterback position.
More wins come with more points, which is exactly what the Marauders will be hoping for in their season ahead as they hunt for a return to the playoffs for the first time since winning the provincial championship in the 2019-2020 season.
In four games this season the team has won three, two of which came in blowout form
In a four game season where every game matters, McMaster’s women’s rugby team has been making the most out of their opportunities. After starting the season with two wins and a loss, the team looks ready to take on whatever challenges lie ahead.
Upon returning to play for the first time since early 2020, the Marauders started their season on Sept. 13, with an exhibition match against the York Lions. There appeared to be no rust despite all the time off, as they took a huge victory with a final score of 31 to seven. With all cylinders firing, the team began their season on Sept. 24 against the Guelph Gryphons, which would be their only hiccup thus far.
Homecoming for the Marauders didn’t go so well, as they fell to the Gryphons in disappointing fashion. The final score wound up being 46 to 17 and it seemed like everything had fallen apart for the team. It would take significant time and effort to get back on track and prepare for the games ahead. Fortunately, the stars would align.
Not only was the team motivated to get back on track as they now had something to prove, but they were coming up against a team they knew they could beat: the York Lions.
In their second matchup against Lions, the first of the regular season, the Marauders would make an absolute statement. The previous 24 point lead wasn’t enough, as they would take the victory with a final score of 53 to five — a 48 point spread. In the final [regular season] home game, they were sure to leave a great taste in the mouths of their supporters.
The Marauders dominated the game right out of the gate, holding the Lions to only one secured try in the match, which came after 71 minutes. The long list of scorers for the Marauders by the end of the game would include Vanessa Webb, Tia Svoboda, Ila Bett, Malaya Mizal, Stacey Warner, Katie McLeod and Brie Clarke, compared to that of the Lions, featuring only Miyah Samson.
Beyond the impressive victory against the Lions, McMaster would continue their run, beating the Brock Badgers on Oct. 16. Although a much tighter match than that against the Lions, the Marauders still maintained a respectable lead, winning with a final score of 19 to 12. This win would advance their record to two wins and one loss in the season as they head into their final match.
The last matchup of the season comes on the road and will take place in Kingston, Ontario, home of Queen’s University. The Marauders will take on the Gaels with a desire to redeem themselves. The Gaels are arguably the favourite heading into the match, having beaten the Marauders eight times in 13 tries over the last ten years. Members of the team from the 2019 season likely remember the 100 to zero loss in the last game against the Gaels, but after a strong start to the 2021 season, they could look to turn the tables.
McMaster’s 5:30 a.m. athletes: the rowing team
C/o Yoohyun Park
Meet a McMaster sports team who finds themselves with very minimal media share — the rowing team. They were founded in 2002 and are composed of varsity, junior varsity and novice teams. The rowing team attends numerous regattas, the most recent one being the invitational regatta hosted by the University of Guelph.
With the lack of media attention comes a few problems for the team, the largest one being a lack of incoming members. Jacob Bresolin is the captain of the men’s rowing team.
“Definitely without having a lot of media coverage and not much attention, it’s hard to keep numbers up and keep people interested in rowing. And definitely it’s a big turn off when you tell them that we have to wake up at 4:30 in the morning,” said Bresolin.
Sarah Oresnik, the captain of the women's rowing team, further echoed this message, conveying the difficulty of member recruitment, especially through the pandemic.
“With COVID, we’ve had a couple of years of students graduating, so we lost a lot of our varsity members, and we didn’t have novice teams for at least a year,” said Oresnik.
The novice teams are made up of those who have an interest in rowing but have never rowed either competitively, or even at all.
“The way novice works is it’s for people who have never rowed before and have never rowed a race in their life before, and we train them for a year and teach them how to row a race. And then if they come back for another year, they have the chance to be on the JV or varsity team straight out of novice,” explained Bresolin
While joining the team may be easier, having the will to stay on it is much harder.
“I think keeping your cool and staying in time are the hardest parts about it,” said Bresolin. “And basically staying focused and keeping yourself from getting frustrated when things don’t go right. Especially when you’re in a boat with a lot of people, there’s a lot of factors that you can’t control.”
Oresnik agreed and explained her mentality regarding the sport.
“When you get frustrated, [you have to] focus even more, keep your head in the boat, follow the swing of the person in front of you,” said Oresnik.
However, according to Bresolin, these hardships build great relationships.
“Being at practice is another way that we actually build our team spirit and our team bond, just by rowing together every morning. The struggle builds friendships,” commented Bresolin.
"Being at practice is another way that we actually build our team spirit and our team bond, just by rowing together every morning. The struggle builds friendships."
Oresnik agreed, “Yeah, you’re all going through the same experiences, and it really brings you together.”
The rowing team’s next race is the weekend of the second of October, and will be hosted by Brock University in St. Catharines. In preparation for the event, the team will be heading to Trent University for an exhibitional race on Oct. 2.
“This weekend, we are heading up to Trent University to row a bit of a longer race, it’s called a head race. It’s about five kilometers down the Trent course. . . It cuts through the campus, so it’s a really cool race. There’s a lot of energy at this regatta, so it should be a fun time,” explained Bresolin.
J.J. Bardoel
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Silhouette Intern
Compass Information Centre has recently announced that bus route Northlink 8 Guelph–Hamilton, frequently used by students, will cease to operate on Friday, Dec. 20, 2013.
Aboutown had been running the route in affiliation with Compass since August 2010, however due to the influx of fuel and insurance costs and decreasing presence for inter-city operations, the route was forced to be pulled. “We receive no subsidization from any government source for inter-city and mass transits,” said Jeff Sich, Northlink Coordinator.
Any signage regarding the route has quickly been removed at Compass in the hopes that students will help inform the community. “The timing is not good for the students, because they are all on exams obviously,” said Debbie Good, Compass Manager. “We just want to make sure that students are not expecting that service to be there.”
Along with the Guelph-Hamilton route, all other inter-city routes through Aboutown will also cease on the same day. Students still looking for transportation in the area will still be able to use GO Transit and Greyhounds, which both run at comparable prices to the Aboutown route.
“We have received a couple of emails regarding the cancellation that was announced on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013,” said Sich. “We anticipate more in the New Year. All are disappointed with the announcement.”
Full refunds for customers who purchased tickets for future use will be available at Compass until Jan. 17, 2014.
