The McGill Redmen introduced their fans to the new-look Molson Stadium in style with a comfortable 4-0 win over the Sherbrooke Vert et Or Friday night. The Redmen produced a solid, if unspectacular, display to overcome a nervous opening and earn the win, taking three points.

Both sides struggled to get into a passing rhythm in the first half, but the Redmen were better able to capitalize on their opportunities. Goals in the 19th and 30th minute—both assisted by man of the match, Yohann Capolungo—effectively ended the contest. Sherbrooke showed little ambition or ability to compete with the Redmen as the game went forward. McGill, meanwhile, looked increasingly comfortable, and barring one or two lapses in concentration sent the fans home happy. They polished off the night with two insurance goals in the 83rd and 89th minutes.

The early exchanges of the match were full of tackling, as both teams struggled to gain a foothold in the midfield. Sherbrooke may have just shaded for the opening 15 minutes, but they were almost completely reliant on the hopeful long ball. McGill, on the other hand, looked to build with short, quick passing.

The Redmen started to look like the better team in the 19th minute. Seizing a loose ball just outside of the area, Yohann Capolungo unleashed a fierce 20-yard drive. Sherbrooke keeper Benjamin Marquis could only parry it straight to the onrushing Cory Marcon, who coolly punched in the chance.

Although down 1-0, Sherbrooke almost scored an equalizer minutes later. McGill keeper Jean-Lou Gosselin, a spectator to that point, flapped at a cross and was relieved to see the ball fly off of the crossbar.

A flurry of activity starting in the 26th minute ended with McGill doubling their lead. Capolungo hit the bar with another long-range effort after a well played corner. A few minutes later, a lapse in defensive concentration gave Sherbrooke another opportunity to score. A hopeful poke forward from the Sherbrooke midfield found its way too easily through the McGill backline, leading to a partial break. The Vert et Or, however, could only muster a weak shot that Gosselin easily captured.

Stung out of complacency, McGill struck two minutes later with the match’s best move. The imposing Jeremy Hurdle won the ball at midfield and wasted no time in playing it into Capolungo’s path behind the Sherbrooke defense. Capolungo outpaced the fullback before drilling the ball across the goal for freshman striker Sebastian Munro, who tapped it in.

McGill ended the first half on a high note, and continued to perform in the second. Facing an opponent content to sit in their own half and hoist long balls forward, McGill was never threatened. The backline, which was excellent throughout, easily dealt with Sherbrooke’s barrage of high balls, its only form of attack. The last two goals, both involving the impressive William Hoyle, were icing on the cake.

Even though the match was routine, the Redmen will need to be in better shape for their upcoming matches, including one with No.1-ranked Laval next week.

“I’m happy with the result,” said Head Coach David Simon. “[but]I wouldn’t say I’m happy with the performance. This team has a lot of potential and can do far better than they did, mostly in terms of being consistent. Against Laval, if we’re not consistent for 90 minutes, we’re going to have problems.”

Match star Yohann Capolungo echoed his sentiments.

“It was not the best game, the way of playing, but it’s going to get better and better. It’s a good start.”

Coming off an impressive pre-season (6-1-1), the McGill Martlets’ 5-1 victory Friday over the Sherbrooke Vert et Or showed nothing but promise.

The first goal of the match came from veteran striker Alexandra Morin-Boucher in the 10th minute of play. Assisted by a long drive from freshman forward Stephanie Avery, she shot a low strike across to the left corner of the net. Ten minutes later, she struck again with a pass from rookie midfielder Hannah Rivkin.

In the 23rd minute, Sherbrooke was awarded a penalty kick on a disputed shirt-pulling call. Vert et Or veteran striker Adréanne Gagne, put the ball just out of the rookie goalkeeper Valerie Labbé’s reach, putting the score to 2-1.

McGill controlled Sherbrooke for much of the first half, but after some halftime lineup alterations the Vert et Or’s defensive line solidified. The improvements, however, were not enough to stop Morin-Boucher from completing her hat trick in the 58th minute.

The Martlets’s goal streak continued as rookie midfielder Meghan Bourque buried a shot behind Sherbrooke keeper Marie-Michelle Coulombe.

In the final minute of the second half prior to injury time, rookie striker Bianca Cordileone scored the Martlets’s fifth goal after her substitution for Morin-Boucher. Seven freshman players got playing time, and they showed plenty of potential.

“I know what to expect from them,” said Head Coach Marc Mounicot, “I know their qualities, they were recruited because of those qualities. I think they did pretty well … and I’m quite positive about the future.”

Although the game was controlled by the Martlets’ offence, the win would not have been possible without the impermeable defence line. Led by team captain and star Katherine Green, there was not much the Vert et Or could do to break through.

The dauntless and quick-thinking freshman keeper Labbé ended the game with four phenomenal saves, only faltering on the penalty kick in the first half. Despite her lack of experience, Labbé should be a valuable pillar for the team.

Green, who has been enduring a recurring knee injury, was carried off the field after a collision in McGill’s penalty box. The plan is for Green to rest for the remainder of the weekend to recover.

“We are going to have to have some of the younger girls step up and command the play from the back,” said Green. “As well [as] the new keeper, Val. [She] is a great keeper, [and] is going to have to lead the team and see the field and see the play.”

The Martlets concluded their 2009 season as the second overall team in the QSSF, narrowly beating out the third-place Vert et Or by one point. This season, with the addition of 12 new recruits and the return of seasoned veterans, the Martlets will set out to outdo the Vert et Or for the top spot in the Quebec league.

The varsity lacrosse Redmen delivered a walloping 12-3 victory over the University of Toronto’s Varsity Blues at Forbes Field Sunday.

The Blues started things off quickly, taking early leads. But once the game settled down and the refs eased up on their whistles, McGill was able to control possession and the game. The Redmen scored four unanswered goals for a 7-3 halftime lead, and cemented the win by outscoring Toronto 5-0 in the second half.

A lot of credit for the lopsided score goes to McGill goalie Guy Fox, who made some timely and spectacular saves.

Like his goalie, Head Coach Tim Murdoch is determined to keep expectations under control and take the games as they come. “Right now we’re 2-0 and on top of the East along with Bishop’s and Carleton. We talked about championships last year a lot; this year we’re just going to talk about beating Bishop’s in Lennoxville [to] knock them off and go 3-0and we’ll look ahead from there.”

It is probably too early to tell what the future holds for this team; it has many new parts and success will depend on how they gel. But Murdoch is optimistic, voicing “really, really high hopes for the rest of the season.”

The game against Toronto gave him reason to hope, not least in the offensive power of senior Noah Miller’s four goals. When asked about his top goal-scorer, coach Murdoch praised him effusively. “[Noah Miller] is a good example of an excellent athlete, a strong student and someone that brings a lot to the table on the field and in the classroom,” he said. “He’s a leader, and unfortunately he’s a senior so we only have him for this season.”

A blend of youth and experience should make this an exciting year, but the players and coaches are not caught up in it. The only thing on any of their minds is playing Bishop’s next week at Lennoxville and getting the win.

“We’ve got to carry [this momentum] into next week. We’ve got to take it day-by-day and our next challenge is Bishop’s on Thursday,” said Fox.

–Sam Hunter

John Kelsey

The Redmen started Friday night’s game off with a bang, as J.T. Thompson returned the opening kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown. Concordia’s Kris Pickering, however, returned the favour with a 62-yard punt return touchdown with under three minutes to go in the fourth quarter, giving his team the comeback victory by a score of 34-29.

Controlling the game for the first three quarters, the Redmen led 18-10 at the half and 24-13 at the end of the third. Concordia, however, outscored McGill 21-5 in the fourth to take the 42nd annual Shaughnessy Cup.

Thompson’s touchdown was the first-ever score for a McGill player on an opening kickoff. His 223 yards on four kickoff returns broke a 26-year-old Quebec conference record for single-game kickoff return yardage. But individual accolades don’t mean much to Thompson.

“To be honest, I’d rather take away all the individual performances that I had in order to get the W,” he said after the game. Thompson gave due respect to Concordia’s gritty comeback, but believes the Redmen deserve better luck after dropping two tight contests in consecutive weeks.

“We lose in overtime one week, and then this week it comes down to the last second, so the football gods just hate us right now,” he said.

Whoever you want to blame, you couldn’t have pinned it on the crowd. With an announced attendance of 5,346, the Fill the Stadium game was a rousing success. Red Thunder had a large and loud contingent in attendance, along with the McGill Kendo team (notable for their enormous homemade Lego heads) and a variety of other varsity clubs. Additionally, McGill had its own “green man”—an enthusiastic fan in a skintight electric-green bodysuit—dancing up a storm on the sidelines.

Monika Fabian, co-founder of Red Thunder, was happy with the turnout. “The audience always spurs the athletes so I’m glad we were here,” she said. “We gave them all [we had] and they did the best they could.”

Mike Bird, the team’s operations manager and video coordinator, noticed and appreciated the crowd’s enthusiasm.

“Love the crowd support,” he said. “[It] was awesome to see it. Big, right at the opening kickoff they got into the game and they never got out of it, so it was really enjoyable for our guys for sure.”

While the crowd was energetic for the whole game, the players flagged at a couple of crucial moments. With less than five minutes to go, and a single-touchdown lead, the Redmen stopped a Concordia drive at the McGill 25-yard line. One play later, Taylor Kuprowski fumbled the ball at the McGill 27. Concordia recovered in prime field position and scored a minute later to even the score at 27 apiece.

After a two and out by McGill, the punt came to Pickering, who returned for the score to give Concordia its first lead.

McGill marched back down the field, using a wide variety of receivers, including Canadian Interuniversity Sport receptions leader Charles-Antoine Sinotte, freshman Justene Edwards, and veteran Taylor Kuprowski to move the ball downfield.

The offence picked up quick yardage and forced Concordia into costly fouls while making its way to the Concordia 1-yard line, But Concordia’s last-minute goal-line stand stopped them from getting any further. QB Ryne Bondy’s final pass was tipped and picked off by Concordia CB Kyle Smith as the game’s last seconds ran down.

Despite the loss, the team is staying positive. “[We’re going to have] the confidence that we can be winning games and that it’s just a matter of playing the full 60 minutes and winning the game at the end,” Bird said.

For his part, Thompson knows that although the Redmen should have won this game, it means nothing going forward.

“‘Coulda,’ ‘shoulda,’ ‘woulda’ [are] not going to cut it in football,” he said. “You’ve just got to come out and take care of business. So we just [have to] reboot and come back hard against Montreal and try to get a win.”

The Redmen are at the University of Montreal next Friday and return home to play Sherbrooke for Homecoming on October 2.

Last week, police officers searched the offices of the Toronto Blue Jays and confiscated documents in connection with the perjury case against Roger Clemens. While baseball fans are asking whether he took steroids, what they should be asking is, “Who cares?”

In case you “misremembered,” Clemens’ case began when his name was mentioned in the Mitchell Report in December 2007. That report was the result of former U.S. Senator George Mitchell’s 21-month investigation into the use of steroids in Major League Baseball. Clemens denied the report’s allegations under oath before Congress, but was recently indicted on six counts of perjury.

Instead of reaching a bargain and ending this foolishness, Clemens defiantly pleaded not guilty in an effort to clear his name. Perhaps he did not take steroids, but there’s a plethora of evidence against him. The Rocket thinks that winning the case would prove once and for all that he stayed true to the integrity of the game.

Sorry, Roger, but the damage has already been done. Everyone, especially this columnist, is fed up with you. The result of this case does not matter. Your continued association with steroids has irreparably tarnished your name and legacy. All you have done now is delay an inevitable outcome.

But Roger isn’t the only one to blame. It is completely unnecessary for the U.S. judicial system to be involved in the steroid mess. Why do we need players testifying before Congress in the first place? Why is the government intent on spending millions of dollars on these cases when this money could be used in more important matters?

More than anything, though, the blame falls on one man: MLB commissioner Bud Selig. Selig and his associates should have dealt with the whole steroids issue in-house. Rather, the commissioner sat back and watched his sport come back to life on Mark McGwire’s enhanced forearms after the disastrous 1994 players’ strike. Players began hitting home runs at alarming rates and more fans started coming out to the ballpark.

As rumours of steroid use surfaced, it was never the government’s responsibility to police MLB. It was Selig’s job to oversee his league, and he failed. If he hadn’t turned a blind eye to an issue that he knew about all too well, he wouldn’t be stuck in his own mess.

The MLB is a frustrating league to love. Every time we get to marvel at new young talents like Jason Heyward, cases like Clemens’ remind us of the embarrassing past that hangs over the sport. Clemens’ decision to continue his battle in court is adding insult to injury.

Clemens was a remarkable player on the field, but his off-the-field antics have left a sour taste in the mouths of sports fans. I do not care about the outcome of Clemens’ trial. I simply want this issue to be over so I can follow the game I used to love.