HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Fans will have to play by the rules at 2025 Panda Game

By Martin Cleary

The 56th Panda football game between the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and the Carleton University Ravens will unfold Sunday at high noon on the TD Place gridiron.

The hard-nosed players have been studying their playbooks and applying their talents over the past two months. And there have been rewards along the way during the OUA regular season.

The Gee-Gees enter this year’s edition of the Panda Game, which started in 1955, with a 3-2 record and ranked 10th in the country. The Ravens are battling for a playoff berth and sit at 2-3, following a 55-28 home loss to the University of Guelph Gryphons on Saturday.

Ottawa had a bye this past weekend and remained tied for fourth place in the OUA with the University of Windsor Lancers.

A Panda game win is critical for the Gee-Gees as they try to strengthen their hold on a playoff spot, while the Ravens, who are tied for sixth place, will be aiming to make the OUA post-season.

Ottawa won the 2024 Panda Game by a 35-32 margin over Carleton to stretch its winning streak to six and improve its overall record in the series to 38-17.

While the student-athletes on both sides will have another four days to prepare for the annual rivalry for local bragging rights, the 20,000-plus fans expected to fill the Lansdowne Park stadium also need to do their homework as well.

Panda Games in the distant past have been lively affairs with student drinking before, during and after the match, various items catapulted from the north side to the south side and the reverse and plenty of cursing aimed at the opposing team.

The more recent games have seen the fans dial down their antics, celebrate the game and take in organized post-game parties.

But to be a good spectator and fully enjoy the game, there is a fans’ handbook that must be studied before entering the stadium. Here are the guidelines fans are asked to follow for everyone’s safety and enjoyment or face ejection from the game without refund and possible legal action.

· TD Place Panda policies stipulate no bags, no umbrellas, no re-entry, zero tolerance for intoxication or bad behaviour and one drink purchase per person using a cashless system.

· Fans must respect everyone involved in the game, whether in the stands or on the field.

· Fans shall be treated in a professional and courteous manner.

· Fighting, threatening or verbal harassment is banned.

· Offensive or obscene remarks or gestures also are prohibited.

· Fans must not throw any objects at any time.

· Drinking alcohol must be done in a responsible manner.

· Fans must not bring alcohol into the stadium and can only purchase it at the venue. Alcohol must not be provided to a minor.

· Fans must sit in their ticketed seat and retain their ticket to show proof of seat purchase, if necessary.

· Fans should not interfere or disrupt the game or other restricted venue areas.

· Any form of smoking is banned.

· Fans must comply with all operational and emergency response procedures.

· TD Place reserves the right to restrict prohibited items from entering the stadium and fans are subject to inspection by pat-down and/or metal detecting equipment.

· All bags will be inspected before entering the stadium.

WOMEN’S MASTERS EIGHT RACE A HEAD OF THE RIDEAU HIGHLIGHT

The Blue Ribbon event of any rowing regatta is the eights race, where eight athletes and one coxswain use their unison and power to quickly and impressively move through the water.

There were 15 races in the eights category from novice to varsity to lightweight to men’s to women’s to masters at Sunday’s 51st Head of the Rideau.

Unlike traditional rowing competitions where multiple crews will go to a start line to race each other down a course, rowers in the Head of the Rideau go one at a time and race the clock to determine the final standings.

One particular eight race made a notable impression as the host Ottawa Rowing Club entered two crews in Event 24 for the women’s masters AA-C eight.

When the two equally balanced crews left at their scheduled times, they had no idea how they were doing against each other or the boats from Montreal and Lachine.

When the two Ottawa Rowing Club women’s masters eight crews finished, it was almost a dead heat as they were separated by 0.98 seconds.

The crew of Catherine Cheung, Rachel Inch, Madelaine Thiel, Emma Doucet, Dana Reid, Joanie Turcot, Michele Chadwick, Allison Eades and coxswain Caitlin McMann completed the course near Mooney’s Bay in 22 minutes, 27.94 seconds.

The second-place time of 22:28.92 belonged to Pamela Peacock, Laura Gordon, Melanie Coulson, Melanie Ecklund, Isabelle Teolis, Katherine Belisle, Maureen McEvoy, Karin Germann and coxswain Beatrice Courtney-Cheung.

McGill University, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary in rowing, won the Head of the Rideau team title for the first time. Varya Kataria of Ottawa was the coxswain for McGill’s winning women’s varsity eight team.

Carleton University won the women’s Kandahar Trophy.

Here is the list of the Head of the Rideau champions involving clubs with Ottawa connections:

OTTAWA ROWING CLUB

· Olivia MacNeil – women’s rec double short course

· Grayson Gray – men’s single

· Andrei Vovk – men’s lightweight single

· Robert Park – men’s masters single DE

· Jack Coulson and Oskar Roy – men’s U19 double

· Hugo McMullen, Mason Gauthier, Dominic Pantalony, Michael Yue, Ruben Deme-Lindberg, Will Pollett, Markus Neuspiel, Errol Borden and coxswain Callum Lucano – men’s U19 eight

· Benjamin Koskowich, Grayson Gray, Rob Marland, Mathieu Gosselin, Craig Law, Andrei Vovk, Robert Park, Wade Schnurr and coxswain Gabrielle Takaoka – men’s masters eight

· Madelaine Thiel, Emma Doucet, Natalie Pallisco, Isabelle Teolis and coxswain Jeremy Courtney – women’s master four with coxswain AA-C

· Oskar Roy – men’s U17 single short course

· Mathieu Gosselin and Wade Schnurr – men’s double

· Michele Chadwick and Charlotte Trusler – women’s masters double

· Jack Coulson – men’s U19 single

· Grayson Gray, Andrei Vovk, Robert Park and Matthew Rafter – men’s quad

· Sandy Schlieman, Katalin Kapocsne Haas, Lisa Emond and Charlotte Brooks – women’s masters quad D+ short course

CARLETON UNIVERSITY

· Rosemary O’Brien – women’s varsity lightweight single

· Andrew VanDrie, Zachary Nicholson, Simon Price, Grayson Rebinczak, Nicholas Parsons, Juan Pablo Cassereau Hinojosa, Guilherme de Figueiredo Melo, Callum Kaiser and coxswain Benjamin Hopper – men’s novice eight short course

· Hayley Murray and Ainsley Salmon – women’s varsity double

· Andrew VanDrie, Zachary Nicholson, Simon Price, Grayson Rebinczak and coxswain Benjamin Hopper – men’s four

· Magnus Abdelnour and Cameron Burston – men’s junior varsity double

· Megan Elekes, Hayley Murray, Klaudija Eliza Krisjane, Anna Vrbaski and coxswain Charlotte Mercer – women’s varsity four plus coxswain

UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA

· Sophia Boscariol, Rowan Sweeney, Grace Hill, Amelia Dunlop and coxswain Ameli Kishkimbayeva – mixed rec four plus coxswain short course

· Kyle Lamprechit, David Jefic, Philip Kravchenko, Westley Martin-Root and coxswain Christina Steinbachs – men’s varsity four plus coxswain

· Matthew Rafter, William Darby, Matthew Schroeder, Nathan Rumble and coxswain Morgan Green – men’s lightweight varsity four plus coxswain

· Max Zimmerman, Jack Wilson, Xavier Mara, Gavin Pratt and coxswain Rebecca Cocchetto – men’s junior varsity four plus coxswain

· Isabelle Mirfield, Madelyn Brown, Chloe Racine, Ruby Muhl, Isabelle Leduc, Elyse Cole, Michelle Pilon, Marli Sanders-Beaudry and coxswain Janie Ouellette – women’s novice eight

ELMWOOD SCHOOL

· Poppy Klotz and Madeleine Turner – women’s U19 double

· Bridgette Schwartz, Annabelle Nehme, Poppy Klotz, Madeleine Turner and coxswain Clarissa Lauzon – women’s U19 four plus coxswain

RACHEL HOMAN, COLLINDA JOSEPH EXPERIENCE GRAND SLAM WINS

The Grand Slam of Curling opened its season in London and there were two reasons to celebrate from an Ottawa perspective.

Rachel Homan and Emma Miskew made personal history as the Ottawa Curling Club team, which is completed by Tracy Fleury and Sarah Wilkes, went undefeated over seven games to capture the women’s championship.

In the inaugural Grand Slam of Curling wheelchair curling invitational, Collinda Joseph of Stittsville helped Canada Red defeat Great Britain 7-2 in the final.

The Canada Red squad of Mark Ideson, Jon Thurston, Ina Forrest and Joseph scored points in each of the first six ends before Great Britain counted two in the seventh to end the match one end early.

Canada Red qualified for the final by compiling a 5-1 round-robin record.

In the women’s draw, the Team Homan victory gave Homan and Miskew their 18th Grand Slam win, which extended their women’s record for most Grand Slam titles and tied Kevin Martin for the all-time individual record.

“Really special and really cool,” Homan said via GSOC. “We’ve curled together for so many years, and to be able to put a team together that is all driving in the same direction and working hard, it’s really fun to be able to do that with your best friend.”

After posting a 4-0 record in the round robin to earn $16,000, Team Homan turned back Momoha Tabata of Japan 6-4 in the quarterfinals, Isabella Wrana of Sweden 7-5 in the semifinals and Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland 6-4 in the final for a $20,000 playoff pay cheque.

In the final, which finished early after seven ends, Tirinzoni led 3-2 after four ends. But Homan took charge with two in the fifth end with a draw and stole two in the sixth end.

Homan and Tirinzoni have met 40 times in their careers over 20 years and the former holds a 30-10 edge in the win column.

15 LOCAL ATHLETES REACH RBC TRAINING GROUND NATIONALS

Fifteen athletes from Ottawa, Gatineau, Almonte and Carleton Place have made the grade to compete in the RBC Training Ground national finals Nov. 1 in Vancouver.

The finals will be contested by the top 100 athletes, who were selected from more than 2,500 participants from 20 qualifying events across Canada. The top 100 will be tested for their speed, strength, endurance and power and the highest-scoring 30 will receive funding and support from a national sport organization to pursue an Olympic dream.

The Ottawa athletes selected were Grace Dingwall, Brielle Durham, Matthew Freitag, Maxim Froeschl, Chloe Martineau, Ryan Naroditsky, Henrik Neuspiel, George Nor, Cole Norman and Jiggy Schonfeld.

Qualifying from Gatineau were Pradjie Sarah Baptiste, Lea De Broeck and Julianne Pare. Eastern Ontario will be represented by Lachlan Faraday of Carleton Place and Abbigail Haines of Almonte.

LAURY MILETTE SHARES IN CELEBRATIONS FOR CANADA’S FIRST ROAD CYCLING WORLD CHAMPION

Laury Milette did not finish the women’s elite race at the 2025 UCI Road Cycling World Championships in Rwanda, but she was nonetheless part of Canadian cycling history. The 23-year-old Ottawa Bicycle Club product from Gatineau was a support rider for Sherbrooke’s Magdeleine Vallieres, who became the first-ever Canadian to win an elite road race at the world championships.

“We all believed in her and she delivered the goods,” Milette said in French via SportCom. “It was a beautiful moment, very emotional.”

Jazmine Lavergne, also an OBC product from Gatineau, was 25th out of 50 entrants in the U23 women’s individual time trial event, finishing five minutes, 15.66 seconds back of the winning time of 30:56.16.

The 22-year-old also did not finish the U23 women’s road race, while Canadian teammate Isabella Holmgren placed sixth.

GEE-GEES, RAVENS UNTOUCHABLE IN WOMEN’S OUA SOCCER

The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees recorded back-to-back-shutout wins in OUA women’s soccer, downing Toronto Metropolitan University Bold 5-0 and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 2-0.

Elianne Gerva, Vivian Johnson, Maya Smith, Gracie Somers and Madison Clark scored for Ottawa against the Bold, while Juliann Lacasse earned her first of two shutouts. Sabrina Mangiaracina counted both goals against the Varsity Blues for her Gee-Gees, who are now in fifth place in the OUA East with a 6-3-1 record.

The Carleton University Ravens scored two goals in the second half en route to a 3-0 decision over the Trent University Excalibur and then outplayed Royal Military College Paladins 5-0.

Mikayla Moser, Ava Mills and Alexa Shwery were the Ravens’ goal scorers against Trent. Sydney Atwell had a two-goal game against the Paladins, while singles came from Kiera Prince, Lauren Illman and Moser.

Carleton, now 7-2-1, moved into first place in the OUA East.

The third-place Carleton men’s soccer team remained undefeated (5-0-4), after a 3-3 draw with Trent and a 2-1 win over RMC.

Caden Tomy, Adrijan Vranjkovic and Nicholas Gagon had the Carleton goals against Trent. Tomy and Mohammed Bouzidi gave the Ravens their narrow victory over the Paladins.

In RSEQ women’s rugby, the Gee-Gees dominated McGill University Redbirds 130-0, while the Ravens defeated Bishop’s University Gaiters 29-12.

The 4-1 Gee-Gees scored 22 trys from eight players against winless McGill, including seven from Erica Osei, five from Grace Dingwall and three from Tian Wiens. Claire Bennett added eight converts.

Sierra Hasse scored four trys for Carleton and Claire Vandesande added one try. Zoe Nield kicked two converts.

END NOTES

· Ottawa’s Elizabeth Vroom placed fourth in the women’s 6 km race in 22 minutes, 39.20 seconds at the Capital XC Challenge and helped Queen’s University to a second-place team finish. University of Ottawa’s Zoe Gardiner, a first-year medical student via transfer from McGill University, was ninth in 23:05.7. Hillcrest High School senior Charlie Mortimer placed seventh in the men’s university race at Mooney’s Bay in 19:06.5. Ben Pascali of the University of Ottawa was 17th in 19:25.50.

· Ottawa’s Stephanie Ryall of Mile2Marathon did not finish the women’s short trail race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Spain, but her Canadian team placed ninth in the team standings. Gatineau’s Claudine Soucie was 33rd and her team sixth in the senior women’s mountain classic event.

· As a centre-back defender, Vanessa Gilles of Ottawa certainly knows how to score goals. In her first four Bundesliga matches with Bayern Munich FC, she has counted three goals, including two game-winning markers. She is tied for third in the league for goals scored, but is No. 1 when it comes to passing accuracy with a 90.5 percentage from a leading 332 passes.

· Katherine Medland Spence of the Nepean Skating Club was ninth in the short program, 10th in the freeskate and 10th overall with 151.57 points at the Nebelhorn Trophy Challenge figure skating meet in Oberstdorf, Germany. Former Gloucester Skating Club member Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary finished fifth overall based on a fifth in the short program and a sixth in the freeskate for 178.44 points.

· Canada’s women’s rugby team fell 33-13 to host England in the Women’s Rugby World Cup final played before a record crowd of 81,885 fans in London. University of Ottawa Gee-Gees products Maya Montiel and Claire Gallagher played 20 minutes apiece in Canada’s first two matches against Fiji and Wales, but did not make Canada’s match day roster later in the Aug. 22-Sept. 27 tournament.

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