By Mat LaBranche
Ottawa natives Erin van Gulik and Ashley Strike lived through some lean years in their early days as Ottawa Gee-Gees, but the pair of local fifth-year seniors feasted on the Concordia Stingers in a 65-7 thumping to conclude their university rugby careers with a national bronze medal on Nov. 8 in Kingston.
“When I first started out with this program, we were a team with many talented athletes but we found ourselves unable to execute in the big games against the top teams in the league,” recalls van Gulik, a first-team All-Canadian alongside teammate Irene Patrinos and Simone Savary (second team).
“It is pretty incredible for the girls in their fourth or fifth years to finally see this team fulfilling that potential,” continues the Gloucester High School grad, identifying the Gee-Gees’ first-ever win over Laval as a key turning point in her third year after nothing but blowout losses earlier. “It definitely makes the success we’re experiencing now that much more rewarding, to have seen how far this team has come first-hand. I feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to be a part of this transition.”
The Gee-Gees had decent 2-4 and 4-3 seasons in the seniors’ first two years under the direction of long-time coach and program founder Sue Chaulk. And then Jennifer Boyd arrived on the scene as new head coach and took the team to a whole new level. Strike says the local rugby guru had a pivotal influence on her and her teammates.
“When Jen became our coach, she changed the dynamics and environment of the rugby program, and developed it into the successful team it is today,” details the Merivale High School grad who was game MVP in her team’s Quebec league championship victory. “She has made me not only a better rugby player, but a better human being. I would say everyone on the team feels the same.
“We all feel like a family and being a part of the process from a developing team to a successful team is the most rewarding feeling someone can have.”
Boyd, named Quebec conference coach of the year for the second year in a row, is proud of the strides the program has made in recent years – exemplified by the team’s perfect 18-0 record in league play in 2014 and 2015.
“The Gee-Gees are not recognizable from when I first arrived,” Boyd underlines. “We talked about changing the culture of the program, from the rugby players to other athletes, to our sports services staff and event staff. The girls commit 12 months to the program and we wanted people to recognize the work they were putting in, because winning is a product of culture.”
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“With strong leadership, like we have had the past few seasons with some senior players and strong coaching staff, we have managed to turn things around. We have created a culture of team first. We are family.”
Boyd had “mixed emotions” about her team’s bronze medal finish since they’d lost a 14-8 semi-final to eventual-champion McMaster.
“We were so close to playing in the championship,” underlines the daytime Ashbury College math teacher. “But after the initial disappointment in the semi-final loss, we recognized our accomplishments to date this season. We knew we could not base our progress over the past three years on one game.
“We played tremendously in the bronze game the next day and are very proud of winning the first CIS medal for the program.”
Rookie QB from Ottawa leads UBC to Vanier Cup
Championship game MVP Michael O’Connor of Ottawa threw for 389 yards and became just the second starting quarterback in Canadian university football history to lead their team to a national title in their rookie season.
O’Connor’s University of British Columbia Thunderbirds downed the Montréal Carabins 26-23 with a field goal on the last play of the game to win the Vanier Cup on Nov. 28 in Quebec City.
“We worked all year to get to this moment and to win it like we did, wow, it’s amazing,” the former Orleans Bengals player said in a Canadian Interuniversity Sport media release. “Give our receivers a lot of credit. They were making catches left and right. To win the Vanier Cup and still make a lot of mistakes shows how much potential we have and how bright of a future we have.”
Football all-star honours
One player from each of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and Carleton Ravens football teams were chosen as first-team All-Canadians – Ottawa native and Ravens return-man Tunde Adeleke and Gee-Gees receiver Ian Stewart.
A trio of local players earned Atlantic conference awards – St. Francis-Xavier X-Men running back Ashton Dickson was player-of-the-year, Acadia linebacker Drew Morris was the outstanding defensive player and a second-team All-Canadian and Acadia defensive-back Will Wojcik was the Atlantic nominee for the national Russ Jackson Award recognizing academic achievement, football skill and citizenship.
Ravens regain water polo crown
The Carleton Ravens men’s water polo team dethroned the defending-champion Toronto Varsity Blues in spectacular fashion at the Nov. 27-29 Ontario championships in Hamilton, scoring three unanswered goals to overcome a 7-4 deficit in regulation before prevailing 3-2 in a shootout.
“I can definitely say that it was one of the best games I have ever seen,” Carleton coach Michel Roy said in a Ravens news story.
Locally-brewed players were the star performers in the big game. Capital Wave club coach Rodrigo Rojas scored twice in regulation and twice more including the winner in the six-round shootout, while Ottawa Titans products Dusan Boskovic, with three regulation goals and another in the shootout, and goalie Yorek Hurrelmann, with four shootout saves, also came up with big games in the final.
Earlier, the Ravens knocked out the eventual bronze-medallist University of Ottawa Gee-Gees men 9-7 in the semi-final round. The Gee-Gees women beat Carleton 7-4 to claim bronze in their provincials.
Thunder collect hardware
The Algonquin Thunder men’s soccer team claimed a national bronze medal at the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association championships Nov. 11-14 at Champlain College on Montreal’s south shore.
The Thunder won 3 of 4 matches at the tournament, falling only to champion Humber 1-0 in their second game. Algonquin players Isaac Johnson and Alex Asmis were selected as tournament all-stars.
The Thunder women’s soccer team went a perfect 15-0 in conference play to win the Ontario title and lost their only matches of the season in penalty kicks en route to a 5th-place finish at their Nov. 11-14 nationals in Peterborough.
Algonquin’s Sylvie Avedissian was named a CCAA All-Canadian and national tournament all-star.
The Algonquin men’s rugby team lost a 24-22 overtime contest to Georgian College in the Ontario semi-finals before walloping host Conestogo 59-15 to win provincial bronze on Nov. 15.
Host ultimate sides meet
The Gee-Gees downed the Ravens 15-3 as the two local sides reached the final of the tier 2 women’s event at the Canadian University Ultimate Championships Oct. 16-18 in Ottawa.
Queen’s won the top-tier open title, while Toronto were women’s champions.
Awards abound for local university athletes
A pile of local university soccer players earned national distinctions this season. Chad Bush, who played for the Ottawa Fury, Gloucester Hornets and Cumberland Cobras locally, was the top goalkeeper in CIS men’s soccer as a first-team All-Canadian in his rookie season for the UBC Thunderbirds.
Past Fury player Justin Maheu of Gatineau was also a men’s soccer first-team All-Canadian and Atlantic conference MVP for the Cape Breton Capers. Gloucester Hornets-brewed Pilar Khoury of the OUA bronze medallist Gee-Gees women’s soccer team concluded her university career as a first-team women’s soccer All-Canadian.
Ottawa Fury and Nepean Hotspurs product Ciera Disipio, a midfielder for Cape Breton, was the Atlantic conference women’s soccer rookie-of-the-year.
And striker Bezick Evraire, a past Fury and Gloucester player, finished his career with the Dalhousie Tigers as a second-team All-Canadian.
Guelph’s Alexandra King of Ottawa was a first-team All-Canadian in women’s rugby, while former Bytown Storm triathlete Tristan Woodfine was a cross-country running second-team All-Canadian for the national silver medallist Guelph Gryphons.