There’s an old cliché in sports: “You have to play 60 minutes to win.” McGill found out the hard way on Saturday that there’s still a lot of truth in that expression. Despite going into halftime with an 11 point lead, the Redmen failed to pull off what would have been a huge upset against the top ranked team in the country, losing to the Laval Rouge et Or 43-27 in front of 1,749 spectators at Molson Stadium.

McGill was dominant in the first two quarters, amassing 303 yards of offence to Laval’s 147. But the second half was a completely different story. The Rouge et Or exploited the McGill defence, scoring on all but two of their second half possessions.

“I told them they have to play 60 minutes and we didn’t do that,” said Head Coach Chuck McMann. “They were intense in the first half but we lacked a bit of that in the second half. I told the guys I was proud of how they played and that if we start playing like that the whole game, we’re going to start winning”.

Coming out with guns blazingThe Redmen came out like they had something to prove. Coming off an embarrassing 27-16 loss last week at Bishop’s and going up against a team that had beaten them in 13 of their 18 meetings, few would have given McGill a chance in this one.

But a quick start on offence and a motivated showing on defence made it clear that this was not going to be a cake walk for Laval. Quarterback Matt Connell led the Redmen into the end zone on their first two possessions with drives of 57 and 107 yards respectively, while the defence pressured Laval Quarterback Benoit Groulx, forcing an interception and causing two sacks.

“I think we should have won,” Connell said. “I think we outplayed the number one team in the country, so I hope people actually start realizing that we’re a team that can play. Hopefully we can come out and play like we played in the first half the rest of the season”.

McGill’s offence proved potent, if not one dimensional, in this affair. Connell went 38 of 53 for 426 yards with two touchdowns and an interception-setting new school records for most passing attempts and completions in a game. It was also only the third time a McGill quarterback has thrown for over 400 yards, with Connell holding all three of those marks.

That didn’t leave much work for star running back Michael Samman who carried the ball just five times for five yards, giving him 15 yards on 11 carries on the season.

“We watched tape all week and were well prepared,” Connell said. “We knew what we wanted to do, we have a great group of receivers; we wanted to hit the underneath stuff and let the receivers make a play”

That’s just what they did. The receiving corps was led by slotback Greg Heatherington, catching eight passes for 172 yards, including a 57-yard bomb for his only touchdown of the game. Not to be outdone, Erik Galas racked up a career high 12 receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown of his own.

Upset dashed by ugly third quarterWhatever magic the Redmen had in the opening half, they lost it on their way back from the locker room. On their first play from scrimmage of the half, Connell threw the ball right at two Rouge et Or defenders giving Laval the ball at the McGill 22 yard line. It was a sign of things to come. Laval would go on to score on every one of their third quarter possessions. In 15 minutes, McGill would see their 11 point lead evaporate into a six point deficit.

“I don’t think we played badly in the second half, they just came out stronger,” said linebacker David Riendeau. “They’re a team that’s known for closing out games well. We have to be better in coverage, we were too loose and they burned us on it”.

Coverage was only the beginning of the defence’s troubles. Groulx led the charge for his squad completing 21 of his 26 pass attempts for 316 yards, with two touchdowns. But McGill also failed to stop the run for a second consecutive game as running back Pierre-Luc Yao ran for 128 yards on just 11 carries.

To pile on the Redmen’s woes, they may also have lost the services of defensive leader Jean-Nicholas Carrière. The third year linebacker had to be helped off the field in the third quarter with an apparent knee injury and was seen on crutches after the game.

McGill will look to notch their first win of the season next week at home against Mount Allison. It’s certainly a game they should win as the Mounties didn’t win a single game last season.

I guess I’m unpatriotic. Though, born and raised in Canada-and a lifelong fan of the gridiron game-I have never made a secret of my disdain for this country’s knock-off brand of football or its ramshackle convening body, the Canadian Football League. What mystifies me most about the CFL isn’t its poor management, weak talent pool, inferiority complex or laughable quality of play. These things I understand. I am confounded by the fact that, in spite of all these problems, people actually enjoy this stuff. Believe it or not, the CFL has many fans. Though watching this tripe in minus-28 degree weather doesn’t appeal to my sensibilities, I know people who squirm with excitement just at the thought. May the Lord have mercy on their souls.After my attempts at letting sanity prevail, invariably the intransigent lover of single points and cumbersomely large pigskins will ask me whether I’ve ever actually watched a full game-surreptitiously assuming that I’ll instantly fall in love with this Canuck junk once I do. Mostly out of protest, but partially because of my short attention span, I’ve always responded sheepishly that, despite my best efforts, I had never seen an entire match. I have now rendered that argument null and void. I viewed every last excruciating moment of Friday night’s snowy mid-September match-up between the Calgary Stampeders and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Some things I noticed: 1. There is actually a CFL player named Tom Canada. It’s not too good to be true. He plays defensive end for the Blue Bombers. I like to think that his parents uncovered a World War II-era propaganda comic at the exact moment of their son’s naming.  Except for the fact that was born in Iowa!2. You know that curious play where the kicking team can get a single point even if it screws up? Apparently, they don’t call them “rouges” anymore. What a shame; it truly incorporated the unique bilingualism of Canada. Sadly, Francophones can no longer fête their favourite team scoring a “red”.  3. Bluebomber’s cornerback Robert Bean picked off a pass in the end zone and was pushed out of bounds. How come that’s not worth a point? Consistency people, please. 4. Announcers Chris Cuthbert and Glen Suitor were acting like a couple of codgers over last week’s touchdown celebration by the Stampeders. TSN replayed the clip and it was quite possibly the most amusing thing a CFL broadcast has ever known. Receiver Elijah Thurman teamed up with the other wideouts and used the track that surrounds Commonwealth Stadium’s football field to run a mock 4 x 100 relay, with the football as the baton. It was brilliant. Personalities are what keep us watching: Everybody knows Warren Sapp despite the fact most NFL teams have a better defensive tackle. Market the entertainment, folks. 5. The CFL promises scoring and wide-open play. On a night when one team scored 43 points, the pace was lethargic-I can only imagine what a low-scoring contest must be like! All that punting seems to be the culprit; the three-down format requires frequent changes of possession- it’s not the teams’ faults.6. Wait, maybe it is their fault! I noted three times in the first half where Winnipeg ran the ball on first and second down, then punted. Infuriating!7. The quality of play is remarkably lousy. Passes routinely sailed yards away from their targets and there were several big gains that were only permitted by shoddy tackling, including one where Bombers defenders missed Stamps RB Joffrey Reynolds six times before bringing him down.8. Though the score was 43-9 after two late scores by the Stamps, some 30,000 hardy fans were still sitting in the stadium, despite the blustery winds and sub-zero temperatures. This was oddly reassuring; Instead of concluding that the sport must be worth braving these conditions, I was more convinced than ever that there was something wrong with them and not me.  Either way, I did it. I actually made it through all four harrowing quarters. Should someone engage in the CFL versus NFL debate again, I can now defend my contempt for the CFL with a little more credibility. More than ever, I have little doubt in my ability to settle the dispute once and for all. Unless, of course, my opponent pulls out the ultimate trump card: What else is there to do in Calgary, Winnipeg or Regina on a Friday night?

Aside from its claims of Canadian superiority, McGill loves to boast about its international flavour. It is a magnet for many foreign students who wish to study in the West, or more specifically, in Canada. However, the international character has typically been confined to the lecture halls and seldom seen on the soccer pitch.

Hannah Rishworth is the only player on the McGill Martlets soccer team who hails from outside North America. Not only does she provide a unique worldly perspective to the already powerful Martlets side, but she also adds something even more valuable and rare: international experience.

While most of her fellow students were enjoying their last moments of summer freedom, Rishworth-a native of Auckland, New Zealand-spent this past August in Moscow representing her country at the FIFA Women’s Under-20 World Cup. Although the Kiwis did not advance past the initial group stages, the experience of playing for her country and participating in the top-flight competition was a treasured moment in her soccer career, as well as her life.

“FIFA really treats the women like they treat the men in the competition,” Rishworth said. “We stayed in five-star hotels in Moscow and we had police escorts driving us around. It was really cool. But no one really expected us to make the World Cup, and we were an underdog team. We put in a lot of hard work and the whole team stepped up.”

It is this international experience, along with her sense of hard work and attitude of winning that makes Rishworth such an important addition to an already talented Martlets squad. When he recruited her, Head Coach Marc Mounicot quickly noticed Rishworth’s skill and knew she would be a valuable a piece of the Martlet program.

“You always have to recognize the players with international experience,” Mounicot said. “You never see these types of girls at McGill who have played at the World Cup. For me, this experience is priceless.”

New Zealand to CanadaBorn and raised in Auckland, Rishworth spurned New Zealand’s premier sport-rugby-and found her passion on the soccer pitch early in life. Quickly, she developed into a tenacious central defender with a keen ability to make the solid defensive plays.

“My strength is in understanding and reading the game,” Rishworth said. “I’m not a flashy player and I’m not the fastest person out there but I think I’m very consistent and dependable back there. Those are the qualities you need in a defender.”

Although she lived and played soccer in Ottawa earlier in her life, being in Canada at McGill has been a new experience for her. Only here on exchange for a semester, Rishworth will have a short stay in Montreal. Coming out of high school in Auckland, she considered going on exchange to an American university for soccer, although she eventually settled on Canada and the academic-athletic synthesis of the McGill Martlet program, where she could play a pivotal role as one of the team’s central defenders. She clearly picked the right time to join the system – the Martlets have an extremely potent squad this year and their focus is undoubtedly on capturing an elusive national championship.

“I’ve always said that I’d like to see this team [McGill] play my Under-20 team,” Rishworth said. “I think that it would be a really good game. We have a strong side and we’re very similar.”

Down but not outUnfortunately for Rishworth, the sports gods have thrown her a cruel twist of fate. Last week, the star defender severely damaged ligaments in her foot when making a slide tackle during practice. Although no bones were broken, the injury will threaten her season with the Martlets. While she will be fully healed in about three months, because she is only at McGill for a semester, her career here may be over as soon as it began.

“She is a very humble person with great skills and I’m just so upset that she may be out for the majority of the season,” Mounicot said.

Even though the injury has derailed Rishworth’s contribution to McGill, the international flavour and experience she provides will still be crucial intangibles necessary to any championship run. Relegated to cheerleader for the time being, hopefully McGill will have one last chance to see Rishworth’s talent before she hops a plane back to Oceania-in the national championships.