Latest news with #RSEQ
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ravens lean on experience with eyes on three-peat at U Sports women's Final 8
Jacqueline Urban and the Carleton Ravens look to use their experiences of the past two seasons in their favour to three-peat at the U Sports women's basketball Final 8. The two-time defending national champions enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed after falling short of three-peating with a loss to Ottawa in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) title game on Saturday. The Ravens finished 22-0 in the regular season. "I think without the past two years that we've had, this year wouldn't have been the same," Urban said. "We're able to use those experiences and we know we've been in big moments before, so we know what it takes to get there and what it takes to be successful in those moments. "Definitely gives us a level of confidence and for us to be steady and help those who are younger and maybe haven't been in these moments before." Carleton will open its title defence against RSEQ champion Bishop's Gaiters on Thursday in Vancouver. The No. 1 seed Saskatchewan Huskies will face the No. 8 Alberta Pandas, the No. 2 Ottawa Gee-Gees take on No. 7 Laval Rouge Et Or and the No. 4 Saint Mary's Huskies are set to go up against the host and No. 5 UBC Thunderbirds. The Ravens, who earned their second undefeated regular season in program history this season, look to use the loss to Ottawa as motivation and a means to enter the Final 8 with a chip on their shoulders. "I think we're all really eager now," Urban said. "We haven't experienced the big loss during the season. And so having this, knowing that feeling, sitting with it for a little bit, we don't want to feel like that, and for it to be a season-ending feeling." Carleton entered the year with some questions after losing star senior Kali Pocrnic to graduation after last season. "(Kali) was a very dominant and important player for us and she's now playing overseas in Europe," Sinclair said. "It took us a bit of time to figure that out early in pre-season, but we have pretty competitive and motivated players who found a way to figure that out and were able to go on a pretty good run in a tough conference in the OUA. "Going into the tournament, we're always going to be confident in our preparation, but we're definitely going to have to reset after a loss last night in the OUA final." Sinclair was quick to point out, however, that it wasn't the Pocrnic show with a team full of "scrubs." The Ravens boast plenty of talent to go with experience, with Urban and Kyana-Jade Poulin being first- and second-team OUA all-stars, in addition to Nathalie Francis who made the all-rookie team. A driving factor for the Ravens' success, though, has been the work and the culture. Urban said there are "super high standards" set by coaches, with the team starting to prepare for the season at the beginning of July. Sinclair, who was named OUA coach of the year for the third straight season, has seemed to settle in since taking over the women's program in 2020. Two of the three national titles in program history have come under her tutelage. She credits mentors she's had such as Kathy Shields, the winningest coach in U Sports women's basketball, and former Carleton men's coach Dave Smart, who won 13 national titles in 19 years. "I learned from being around people like Kathy and Dave, you have to try to bring in good people and develop them into great basketball players," Sinclair said. "And have a culture of accountability (and) self accountability. And just putting team above self. "That is what I think has led to us having success the last two years at the end is, we had fifth-year players who were selfless. They were great basketball players, but they were even better people. That's what's important to me. And we spend a lot of time on the basketball court getting better, but if you're not a team-first mentality and the hardest worker and accountable, then it doesn't work." This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2025. Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press
CBC
31-01-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Lives of U Sports women's hockey players intertwined from Quebec to Italy
As long as they can remember, the hockey lives of Gabrielle Santerre and Emilie Lussier have been intertwined as rivals. However, earlier in January, the Quebec natives finally found themselves not only on the same team — but the same line. After playing against each other for years across different parts of the Quebec junior hockey system, and then again at university with Santerre representing Bishop's and Lussier at Concordia, they finally paired up as part of Team Canada at the World University Games in Torino, Italy. It was, in some ways, a quintessentially Canadian hockey tournament experience. Canada entered as massive favourites, won a couple blowouts and reached the gold-medal game. Despite outshooting their opposition 52-15, they lost the final 2-1 in overtime to the Czech Republic. And so Santerre and Lussier will once again go their separate ways, taking different lessons from Italy to apply to their teams during the stretch run of the U Sports season. First, though — almost as soon as they stepped foot back home — they had games to play. Naturally, against each other. Concordia won both by a combined 10-2 score. "It was so fun. And we knew that it was a big competition, and we knew when we're coming back, people are gonna just say, 'Oh, Lussier vs. Santerre' and stuff. But it's so fun to be with her," Lussier said. "We made such [a] friendship down there and we know we're gonna see each other again." Different roles At their respective schools, Santerre and Lussier play very different roles. Santerre, the 21-year-old from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., is coming off a freshman campaign last year in which she was named both player and rookie of the year, becoming the first U Sports athlete to pull off such a feat. On Tuesday, Santerre was also selected as a Top 8 Academic All-Canadian for the season. But Bishop's, despite Santerre's individual greatness, has struggled. The Gaiters lost in the RSEQ semifinals last year and sit 7-9 through 16 contests this season. Santerre drew inspiration from the underdog Czechs in Italy. "It gave me hope that we lost against a team that was less talented than us, but that's just the beauty of sport, everything can happen," she said. "There's things that you cannot control. I think that's the biggest piece that I've learned from that tournament." Lussier, the 22-year-old from Ste-Martine, Que., is a strong player in her own right — her 18 RSEQ goals last season were tied for second, one ahead of Santerre — but she is part of a larger machine at Concordia. The Stingers have won two of the past three U Sports championships, their only blemish a loss in the final two years ago. Lussier's coaches are international stars Julie Chu and Caroline Ouellette. Her teammate last year, Emmy Fecteau, became the first U Sports draftee to play a PWHL game earlier this season. And for good measure, the Stingers' title defence is currently off to a scorching 14-0 start. Concordia, then, is almost like the Team Canada of the RSEQ. "I would say the pressure is a pretty [big] thing here and experiencing it with the Maple Leaf, it's such a great honour," Lussier said. "But when I'm coming back here and having the same feeling of the pressure and stuff like that, it's great because we know every team wants to beat us and we know that we need to compete every game and be here every game." Playoffs loom Less than one month remains before the RSEQ playoffs begin Feb. 27. The top two teams from the four-school conference advance to the national championship, which takes place March 20-23 at the University of Waterloo, with live streaming coverage available on CBC Sports. Lussier and the Stingers' goal is to repeat as champions, though the motto is one game at a time. Santerre said she just hopes to get there, even as her sophomore season is proving a bit more difficult than her first go-round. "Teams have way more target on me, which is totally fine. I was expecting that," Santerre said. "I think it was a good challenge for me. … And I think I've earned that privilege of being targeted. So yeah, I'm learning through that. I think it's the first time I've gone through that kind of phase. … But I'm happy that I experienced it now, and hopefully I'll become a better player after this." In a little over a year, Santerre and Lussier will watch as Canada's senior national team looks to defend gold at its own Italy tournament at the Milan Olympics. "I think it's just something fun that we'll see the game and we're like, 'Oh my God, we were there a year ago,'" Santerre said. For now, their immediate futures lie in school, while in a few years their careers may take them to the PWHL — a league whose start coincided with their freshman year, and one that is already talking expansion, which would provide more opportunities to U Sports players hoping to go pro. "The PWHL is close in Montreal," Lussier noted. "For sure, it's something I'm looking forward to do. But yeah, I just want to get better and better. And we'll see in four years." Santerre too said the pro league remains a dream. "It's another motivation. It's something that we didn't have the chance to dream of when I was younger. So now that I do have the chance to see these girls play something like that I have it in mind for sure," she said. Perhaps if all goes right, the 2030 Olympics could beckon as another opportunity for the two players to suit up together. In the meantime, the 2027 World University Games — and a shot at redemption — is a much better bet. "I would love to be back on this team in two years. But I need to work hard and I need to prove to them I can be there too in two years," Lussier said. "And I want the gold back."
