Stingers roundup

John Austen

Stingers thrill by edging McGill in OT

Don't look now, but suddenly the Concordia Stingers are one of the hottest football teams in the country.

After losing their first two games of the season, the Stingers have reeled off three straight victories, including a shocking triumph over St. Mary's, the defending Canadian university
champions.

Concordia's latest win came last Saturday afternoon, when they needed overtime to dispose of the McGill Redmen 29-26 at Concordia Stadium.

A 41-yard field goal by Warren Kean gave the Stingers the win before almost 2,000 fans in the 36th annual Shaughnessy Cup Game. The Redmen rallied from a 26-10 deficit to tie the score and send the game into extra time.

Stinger quarterback Scott Syvret, a product of the John Abbott Islanders, completed 15 of 32 passes for 252 yards. Another former Islander, running back Mark Kang, rushed 10 times for 101 yards. Juan Scott had five catches for 84 yards.

The Shaughnessy Cup is named for the legendary Frank Shaughnessy Sr. who is symbolic of university football supremacy in Montreal.
The football innovator, who coached both at Loyola College and McGill, is credited with introducing the forward pass to Canadian university football. Shaughnessy has been inducted into both the Loyola/Concordia (1967) and McGill (1997) sports halls of fame.
A week earlier in Halifax, the Stingers shocked perhaps everyone but themselves with a 29-10 win over the previously No. 1 ranked St. Mary's Huskies.

Syvret put on a spectacular air show, helping his team overcome a shaky start that saw the Stingers give up 10 points and three turnovers in the first quarter. By halftime the score was 10-10 thanks to a 12-yard TD pass from Syvret to Scott and a 42-yard field goal from Kean.
The game remained deadlocked until the fourth quarter when the Stingers went to work. Concordia forced a Saint Mary's safety, and Kean connected on another field goal. Syvret found Scott on a 36-yard play for a touchdown, and finally Stingers linebacker David Hemmings recovered a fumble for a major.

Syvret completed 26 of 49 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns. He was named player of the game by the Halifax media.

NCAA cagers to battle at Con U

There will be a lot of excitement at Concordia Gym this weekend when NCAA basketball teams hit town to take part in October Hoops Madness.

The South Carolina Gamecocks, who made it to the final 64 last season, will join Virginia and the New Hampshire Wildcats at the event. Lethbridge (Alta.), RMC (Kingston, Ont.) and the host Stingers will round out the event.

Games get under way tomorrow and will continue until the following weekend.

Syvret, Poirier are tops

Scott Syvret of the football team and Melanie Poirier of the women's soccer team have been named the Sir Winston Churchill Pub athletes of the week for the period ending Sept. 26.
Syvret, a second-year quarterback, completed 26 of 49 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns in the Stingers' win over Saint Mary's. Syvret led Concordia back from a 10-0 first quarter deficit. He was also named player of the game by the Halifax media. He was also been named offensive player of the week by the Quebec university football conference. The 21-year-old native of Kirkland is a Marketing major.
Poirier, a second-year mid-fielder with the Stingers, was named the outstanding player in both her games last week. She was instrumental in helping Concordia earn a 1-0 victory over the Montreal Carabins. The top three teams in the eight-team conference make the playoffs.
She was also named player of the game in a recent 3-0 loss to the McGill Martlets. The Laval native is studying Athletic Therapy at Concordia.