Stingers roundup

John Austen

Football squad in third place

Don't look now but the Stingers football team has won four straight games. After coming out of the gate flat, losing their first two league contests, the mighty Stingers have been unbeatable.

Concordia easily dispatched the Bishop's Gaiters 34-10 last Saturday in Lennoxville and have leapfrogged over the McGill Redmen into third place in the standings. The undefeated Montreal Carabins (6-0) are in first, followed by the Laval Rouge et Or (5-1).

Quarterback Scott Syvret, Juan Scott, Mike Renaud and Mark Kang scored the touchdowns against Bishop's. Syvret completed 20 of 36 passes for 247 yards. Concordia led 26-1 at halftime.

The Stingers will be severely tested in their final two league games. They travel to U of M on Sunday (Oct. 24) and return home to face Laval on Oct. 30 at Concordia Stadium.

Lawton's Stingers dump McGill

The Stingers women's hockey team started its season off with a bang, beating the McGill Martlets 6-4 last Friday night at Concordia's Ed Meagher Arena. Roxanne Dupuis, Jodi Gosse and Dominique Rancour scored twice each for the winners.

The Stingers look to all-Canadian goaltender Cecilia Anderson and all-Canadian centre Rancour to lead the team, which finished in first place in the Quebec conference last season with a 13-1-3 record.

Anderson was named the CIS rookie of the year last season. A native of V‰ddo, Sweden, she posted a 11-1-3 record in 15 regular season games, leading the Quebec conference and placing in the top five in the country with a goals-against average of 0.93, a save percentage of .965 and five shutouts.

Overall, she played in 26 games for the Stingers, including a 7-2 victory over the touring Chinese national team, a contest in which she turned away 40 of 42 shots.

Rancour was the QSSF's leading scorer with 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points in 17 games. This fourth-year forward is a two-time QSSF all-star and was Quebec's Rookie of the Year in 2002.

Rookies to watch who will help set the course for the Stingers include Sandy Roy, a skilled defender from CEGEP Limilou, and right wing Esther Lataures, who played in the WNHL last season.

Despite a strong regular season campaign in 2003-04, the Stingers stumbled in the playoffs, losing the conference championship in two straight games to the Ottawa Gee-Gees.

"We want to get the championship back and get to the nationals," said head coach Les Lawton, who has 14 Quebec titles and two national championships to his credit. "We realize we have a lot of quality teams in our league and we have to be prepared to play them tough come playoff time."

Stinger cagers shine at Bison tourney

Strong performances from veteran guards Graziella Charles and Pascale Morin helped the Concordia Stingers finish second in a strong field at the University of Manitoba's Garbonzo's Invitational Women's Basketball Tournament last Sunday in Winnipeg.

With 20 points and five rebounds from Morin, the Stingers defeated the CIS's No. 3-ranked Bisons 79-74 on the final day of action. Charles chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Concordia also defeated the Western Mustangs 58-56 on Saturday. Charles scored 13 points to lead the Stingers.

Last Friday, the Stingers lost 89-80 to the No. 4-ranked Winnipeg Wesmen. With a 2-1 win-loss record, Concordia finished second in the tournament. With a perfect 3-0 record, Winnipeg went on to win the championship.

Both Charles and Morin were named to the tournament all-star team.

Langlos, Rancour top athletes

Dominique Rancour of the women's hockey team and Phil Langlois of the men's basketball team have been named the Sir Winston Churchill Pub athletes of the week for the period ending Oct. 11.