You’d better watch out, you better not pout because provincial and national championships are coming to town. Whether in the water or on the gridiron, these games will provide treats for weather-and essay-weary students who just can’t wait to be on holidays.
The Ontario University Athletics (OUA) waterpolo final four gets going on Saturday afternoon at McMaster University. The Blues are ranked first in the men’s draw and fourth on the women’s side.
Toronto’s first test on the men’s side will come from the fourth-ranked Queen’s Golden Gaels. The Blues easily handled the Golden Gaels in their two regular season meetings this season, scoring 16-8 and 14-5 victories, respectively.
The other semifinal pits McMaster against Carleton against eachother.
Vladimir Tasevski feasted on the defence and goaltending of Queen’s this year, tallying eight times in the two meetings between the schools. Sean Mcghie and Max Pottier, meanwhile, added four goals each against the Gaels this year.
The biggest test for the men’s team will be the second-ranked McMaster Marauders, who will have home-pool advantage at the OUA championships. Both teams finished with identical 8-1-1 records in the regular season, and the Blues went 1-0-1 against the Marauders in the regular season.
Toronto is the defending OUA champion and are favourites to win the final on Sunday.
The women’s team, meanwhile, will be underdogs this weekend in Hamilton. They went 2-6-0 in the regular season and enter the championships as the fourth seed.
McMaster is the heavey favourite to win the women’s crown, having won three of the last four titles. They also went a perfect 8-0 this year, defeating the Blues 13-2 and 8-0, respectively, in their two matches thus far.
These two teams will clash in the first semifinal match of the tournament Saturday. York and Carleton will meet in the other semifinal.
Toronto must score many goals and contain the offence of the Marauders if they want to see the OUA final. Their defence stepped up to the challenge in the team’s two wins in the regular season, as the group gave up just one goal in those two games.
The other big championship being decided soon is the Vanier Cup, the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) football championship, which will also be decided in Hamilton. This year the Saskatchewan Huskies will go into battle against the Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks at Ivor Wynn Stadium on December 3.
The Huskies and Golden Hawks have never played against each other before. Saskatchewan has the edge in experience, as they took on the Laval Rouge et Or in last year’s Vanier Cup. Of course, they lost that game. To reach the big dance the Huskies had to knock off the two-time defending champion Rouge et Or, while the Golden Hawks steamrolled over the Acadia Axemen to make it to the CIS final. The former was a suspense-filled 29-27 match and the latter was a 31-10 blowout.
The Vanier Cup will see star quarterbacks Steve Bilan and Ryan Pyear oppose each other for the first time. The game is sure to be much more exciting than last year’s mistake-filled snoozefest that saw a grand total of eight points scored.
