C/O McMaster Sports
After completing the season with eight wins and four losses, the women’s volleyball team is playoff bound
After completing their season on Mar. 2 with a sweep of the Windsor Lancers, the McMaster Marauders women’s volleyball team has started to look ahead to their next challenge: the playoffs.
If the win against the Lancers was a sign of things to come, then opposing teams will have lots to worry about in their Marauders matchups, and the team made easy work of their final regular season game. The three sets came with final scores of 25-6, 25-8 and 25-14 with Sullie Sundara, Jessie Nairn, Ellie Hatashita and Emma McKinnon leading the way.
“We worked really hard as a team this year and I’m really proud of us for how far we’ve come. Second in the West, that’s a big deal. We’ve had to overcome a lot of adversity this year and we’ve really pushed through that. [We have] really worked hard to get where we are,” said McKinnon.
The team is very anxious to get their playoff journey started and they’ve got their eyes on the prize as they continue to prepare for their first big game.
“We’re all preparing, watching videos [and] practicing. We’re all in a good mindset for [the] playoffs . . . Our general goal is to go to nationals. If we do what we can — if we play our game — I think that’s entirely possible,” explained McKinnon.
“We’re all preparing, watching videos [and] practicing. We’re all in a good mindset for [the] playoffs . . . Our general goal is to go to nationals. If we do what we can — if we play our game — I think that’s entirely possible."
Emma McKinnon, Women's Volleyball Team
On Mar. 12 the Marauders will take on the Western Mustangs, the fourth seed in the West who finished with seven wins and five losses. The game will take place at home in Burridge Gym, where students can attend free of charge.
C/O Yoohyun Park
After heading into the break strong, both the men’s and women’s volleyball teams look well prepared, hitting the ground running
After another stunning call by the Ontario provincial government to deem the Ontario University Athletics an amateur league (non-elite), many wondered what the future would hold for university athletes.
The winter break was a lot of time off for many athletes, but when you factor in the additional month as a result of the lockdown, the rust really starts to come in play. Despite a hot start, McMaster's volleyball teams were amongst those who were feared to be affected by this, only having one week to practice before abruptly resuming their regular season schedule.
“Obviously it's a big challenge, but all the teams are in the same boat. Dave has built a really good program, and all the pieces are in place. We’ve been working really hard this week, we’ll work hard next week, and hopefully we’ll be able to pick up right where we left off,” said Jordan Pereira, a member of the men’s team.
Both the men’s and women’s team were able to get going in a hurry as a result of that hard work. Both Marauders teams downed the Western Mustangs in a pair of matchups bringing the men’s season record to a perfect seven wins and zero losses, while the women’s record improved to a strong five wins and two losses.
With five games remaining in the schedule, the men’s team looks to finish strong with big aspirations on their mind.
“Every year our goals stay the same; to secure as much home court advantage in the playoffs as we can and put ourselves in the position to win an OUA title and put ourselves in the best possible spot to win a national title,” said Pereira.
Both teams play their next games on Feb. 17 against the Windsor Lancers, in Windsor.
On Nov. 9, the McMaster Marauders beat the Western Mustangs 29-15. This marks the eighth Yates Cup win in school history and will hopefully lead to the fifth Vanier Cup appearance for McMaster, although the Marauders will have to get through the University of Calgary Dinos first.
Although it was a big win for the school, we wish a speedy and full recovery for Mustangs’ quarterback Chris Merchant, who left the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury. Merchant was the league’s Most Valuable Player this year and had a phenomenal season leading Western to an undefeated regular season.
The game was won in old school football fashion, with a strong run game and even better defensive play. With 37 rushing attempts for 123 yards, the Marauders were able to dominate time of possession at 34 minutes and 30 seconds out of a total game time of 60 minutes. In addition to their successful run game, the team upheld the old saying “defence wins championships”. The Marauders’ defence held Western’s high flying offence to just nine yards in the second quarter. The Marauders also had two safeties, six sacks, two recovered fumbles, two interceptions and a blocked punt.
In addition to their successful run game, the team upheld the old saying “defence wins championships”. The Marauders’ defence held Western’s high flying offence to just nine yards in the second quarter. The Marauders also had two safeties, six sacks, two recovered fumbles, two interceptions and a blocked punt.
Stunning stat at the #YatesCup: @WesternMustangs had 9 yards of offence in the second quarter. #HamOnt #OUA @McMasterSports
— Scott Radley (@radleyatthespec) November 9, 2019
No game can be perfect. In particular, the Marauders had three turnovers in the first quarter. Retaining possession of the ball will be a key factor in the Mitchell Bowl, the game they play this Saturday Nov. 16 which is the precursor to the Vanier Cup, where they play the Calgary Dinos. The Marauders won’t be able to get away with that many turnovers in one quarter on the higher stage. Calgary’s defence has been a force all season and they held the University of Saskatchewan Huskies to just four points in the Hardy Cup, the final game of the Canada West division.
The University of Calgary will undoubtedly be a tough opponent, as they boast an undefeated home record this season. The game will be played at McMahon Stadium, on the Dinos’ home turf. The odds are certainly stacked against us as no Ontario University Athletics team has won a bowl game out West since 1968.
The odds are certainly stacked against us as no Ontario University Athletics team has won a bowl game out West since 1968.
If the maroon and grey beat the Dinos, then it will mark their first Vanier Cup appearance since 2014, where they lost by only one point to the University of Montreal Carabins. If the Marauders win against Calgary, then they will play the winners of the Uteck Bowl, which will be either the University of Acadia Axemen or the University of Montreal Carabins. The Uteck Bowl and Mitchell Bowl are essentially the semi-finals leading up to the Vanier Cup, where the top teams from the different conferences will take turns hosting and visiting.
The Marauders have prospered under head coach Stefan Ptaszek. He has been the head coach for the team in their past three out of four Vanier Cup appearances. In other words, Ptaszek has been influential in three-quarters of the Marauders’ Vanier Cup appearances. Not only is Ptaszek a prolific coach, but he was also an outstanding player. Ptaszek remains the current all-time leader in receiving yards for the University of Laurier Golden Hawks and played in the Canadian National Football league from 1995-2000, as a player, and from 2016-2017 as an offensive coordinator and receivers coach.
On Nov. 16 we play the Dinos for a Vanier Cup bid, where two of the best defences in Canada will battle for a place in the history books.
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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 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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The McMaster men’s baseball team season has been off to a fairly good start. Sitting in fourth place in the Ontario University Athletics standings, the Marauders have a 7-3 record without even playing at home yet.
The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks delivered the Marauders’ first loss of the campaign, while the team’s other losses came in back-to-back games against the Brock University Badgers. Yet, the next weekend, they bounced back to kick off a 4-0 winning streak. This is not easy to do as home field advantage can often weigh in on the outcome of a match; despite this, the Marauders talent has shone through.
“With this being our first game at home, it's kind of an anomaly, because usually we play an 18-game season and our home and away games are split between. But this year, it just so happened that we played all our away games in the beginning,” said former player Kenny Noguchi, who now works as the team’s social media manager.
[spacer height="20px"]With only home games remaining for the rest of the team’s season, this puts the Marauders in a good position to get the support they need to finish off strong. Also, a new stadium closer to school helps too.
“We used to play at Bernie Arbour Stadium which was up the mountain,” said Noguchi. “But now it's at Volunteer Park in Dundas, so it's a lot more accessible for students which is awesome.”
Although the team is not a U Sports team, Noguchi believes it is still just as important for McMaster students to support them like they do others.
“All sports here on campus are equally important from everything to squash to baseball to badminton,” said Noguchi. “All athletes are working very hard to represent our school in the best way we can, so to get some more support from the fans would be awesome.”
This weekend’s matches against the University of Guelph Gryphons and the University of Western Ontario Mustangs are the first games at home for the Marauders.
Catch them this Saturday and Sunday at Volunteer Park.
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The McMaster Marauders traveled to Western University last Saturday to take on the Mustangs. The match showcased a clash of the two remaining undefeated teams in the OUA, ranking third (Western) and fourth (McMaster) in the CIS.
The first half featured a see-saw affair. Western jumped out to an 11-5 lead after the first quarter, but McMaster scored a touchdown and a field goal in the second to narrow the gap. Western led 17-15 by halftime.
McMaster's second quarter field goal was the 78th of kicker Tyler Crapigna's career, breaking the OUA record for most career field goals. The previous record of 77 was held by now Winnipeg Blue Bomber Lirim Hajrullahu. Crapigna added another tally in the fourth quarter to set the new record at 79.
Western stretched their lead to seven points before Marauders quarterback Marshall Ferguson found wide receiver Declan Cross for a two-yard touchdown pass. The Mustangs regained their lead early in the fourth quarter with a touchdown by wide receiver Shaquille Johnson and carried a four-point advantage into the final three minutes of the game.
Disaster struck for Western late in the fourth. Marauders defensive back Zachary Ismael picked off an errant pass from Western quarterback Will Finch, thus handing possession back to McMaster. The ensuing drive saw Ferguson systematically march the Marauders' offense down the field, capped off by a last-minute touchdown to wide receiver Max Cameron to secure the win.
The victory pushes McMaster's record to 6-0 on the year, whereas Western drops to 4-1. Ferguson collected 351 yards, tossing for three touchdowns. Running back Wayne Moore picked up 55 rushing yards and Cameron caught for 97 yards including the game-winning touchdown.
If McMaster can win-out the season - and with games against Laurier and Ottawa, that is a real possibility - Mac should be poised for a run through the playoffs while Western and Guelph may meet in semi-final action.
The Western Mustangs kept it close through the first three quarters, but the Maruarders pulled away for a 42-28 win Saturday night in the OUA semi-final game at Ron Joyce Stadium. Receiver Michael DiCroce, who returned from injury to play his first game this season, earned Player of the Game honours for McMaster, scoring two touchdowns, including a 103-yard score on a pass from QB Kyle Quinlan. Mac will host the Guelph Gryphons next Saturday for the 105th Yates Cup match. When the two teams met earlier this season, McMaster came out on top 50-9.
There’s a mystique about Western University. The hate thrown at Western is incomparable to any other university in Ontario, and possibly for good reason.
Chances are you’ve had an interaction with a Mustang, Western’s mascot, and those interactions probably were not very positive.
The London, Ont. university has gained a reputation for being cocky or snobby and there are certainly people who love going to Western for that very reason.
But is the school really that bad? I travelled to Western University to cover their Homecoming football match-up against the McMaster Marauders and I discovered that in reality, Western is not that much different than us.
My adventure on the campus began with a walk from a friend’s house through Western’s student housing area.
I knew the Western Homecoming parties would be something to experience, so I headed out early to soak in all the festivities.
Now, I am a huge Marauders fan, but I’m also supposed to be non-partisan while covering Mac athletics, so wearing Maroon and Grey is rather unprofessional.
And I’m not an idiot.
Wearing Mac colours would probably have only ended badly for me, so I chose to wear a black sweater.
I still stuck out in the sea of purple and white, but Western students only chastised me two times through my 20-minute walk, which was a pleasant surprise.
The stroll through the student housing area was not what I expected. It looked like a typical Homecoming event; lots of drinking, school spirit, and police cars.
By eleven o’clock, a good number of the students were pretty far into their drinks, evidenced by the red cups littered across every lawn and the near fights breaking out on the sidewalk.
I expected more from Western. As a school that was listed by Playboy Magazine as one of the top-10 party schools in North America, I thought there was going to be more of a spectacle from the Western student population, but McMaster offers the same Homecoming experience.
My first goal while arriving on campus was to find the real on-campus celebration but for whatever reason, there was no central party hosted by Western University.
There were speaker systems set up throughout the property, whether it was in front of their student centre or other parking lots littered throughout the spacious campus. It was difficult to get a vibe about how Mustangs celebrated their school, other than with dancing and day drinking.
I headed down to the football stadium to check out the facilities and get my credentials for the game and the atmosphere at the stadium amazed me. The grandstands at TD Waterhouse Stadium are unlike anything I’ve seen at a Canadian university.
After receiving my media pass, I took a walk through the main building at the stadium.
Walking through the hallways of the building, it’s easy to notice a much richer football history. The walls are lined with pictures, new and old, of former Mustangs donning Canadian Football League jerseys, or even in some cases, jerseys from the National Football League.
But football was not the only sport that gained the attention from the school and their alumni.
Before the kick-off, Western University inducted new members into the Mustang Hall of Fame and many of the alumni in the area stopped what they were doing to try and catch who was being honoured. They threw names of track athletes, swimmers and other sports around the way McMaster talks about Kyle Quinlan.
Hearing the names of athletes in rather B-list sports be thrown spoke to the pride Western instils in its students, both past and present.
As the game was about to begin, the buzz in TD Waterhouse Stadium was electric, with an official attendance of 10,900 ready to watch two CIS heavyweights battle.
It was easy to see that Western fans believed they would see their Mustangs defeat the No.1 team in Canada, and early on in the game, it looked like a realistic possibility.
When the Mustangs were winning, the only way to describe the atmosphere was NCAA-like. The line for the beer garden looked like it went on for miles, and it was hard to find someone who was not holding either a concession or a new piece of clothing from the Mustang fan wear tent.
But as the Marauders took control, the fan support wavered. The Western cheerleading squad gave their best effort to keep the fans into it, but the Marauders took the crowd out of the game with a number of deflating plays throughout the second quarter.
Although the game was a shellacking from the Marauders, the Western Mustang crowd did not waver.
Despite some of the pictures flying around Twitter and Facebook, McMaster did not out number the Western crowd. In the fourth quarter, some of the Western students left their seats, realizing the game was out of reach for the home team.
The journey home was easily the best part of the day. Watching the purple and white fans leave the stadium with their heads held low at their own Homecoming is one of the best feelings an OUA fan can have.
But I left the campus with a better sense of what Western students are really like. Yes, some of them are cocky and arrogant, but McMaster has those students too.
Are we really that different? I think McMaster students would like to think so. But I’m sceptical. I’ve got a newfound respect for those London, Ont. students. Western has tremendous support for their athletics programs, both before and after their time as a student.
I’m sure the “Wuck Festern” saying will live on forever, but all I’m saying is go to Western, and see what it’s like there. You might think twice.
