Gone with the wind
photo by Alex Smyth
Painful to watch: Mike Cornell (44) looks on as a McMaster player breaks through Ottawa’s defence during their playoff game on Oct. 31.
Ottawa’s 6-2 season ends abruptly with home playoff loss
VICTORY WAS ALMOST within the grasp of fifth-year linebacker Mike Cornell.
With the Gee-Gees men’s football team trailing 20-15 to the McMaster Marauders in the dying minutes of an Ontario University Athletics quarter-final playoff game, Ottawa was almost 40 yards from the end zone and on their third down. After faking a field goal, third-year quarterback Brad Sinopoli was looking for a target to pass to and found Cornell in the clear—only to see what might have been a game-winning touchdown pass slip between Cornell’s fingers.
McMaster (6-2) went on to score a touchdown on the resulting possession, winning 27-15 and eliminating the Gees from the playoffs in front of a sparse crowd at Frank Clair Stadium on Oct. 31.
“He missed the ball by inches—it’s little things like that, they either go your way or they don’t,” said Sinopoli after the game. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way, and that’s just the way it is.”
The game did not start badly for Ottawa. While they struggled to complete drives, they still scored two field goals in the opening quarter, thanks to second-year kicker Matt Falvo. The Marauders countered with a touchdown, giving them a slim 7-6 lead after 15 minutes.
In the second quarter, the Gees added another field goal but couldn’t stop a McMaster touchdown, and trailed 14-9 at the half.
Following a tightly contested, scoreless third quarter, it looked like the Gees had caught a break. After a long, determined, downfield drive, Sinopoli hit fourth-year receiver Matt Bolduc with a 10-yard pass for a touchdown. Though Ottawa’s attempt at a two-point conversion failed, they earned a 15-14 lead.
However, just over two minutes later, the Marauders responded in kind with a third touchdown. Though they were also unable to complete a two-point conversion, they still held a 20-15 lead—ultimately all they needed to win the game.
“When you play [in] a playoff game, it’s do or die, and you’ve got to play like it’s do or die—and I don’t think we played that way,” said Gee-Gees head coach Denis Piché following the game. “I can’t explain it right now; it’s not easy. At the end of the day, we played a very good football team, and I think [McMaster] is going to play a few more football games. To beat Mac, we had to play better.”
Piché felt that part of the problem was the Gees not playing like they wanted the victory badly enough.
“I think we did lack desperation. Football is an emotional game, and you’ve got to be able to channel that emotion and play to win as opposed to play to not lose,” he said. “I’m not sure we knew the difference today, and there’s no excuse.”
Sinopoli, however, disagreed with his coach’s assessment.
“I’m out there looking at the eyes of the guys in the huddles, and if anyone tells me that we didn’t want it, I don’t believe it,” he said. “We wanted it just as bad [as McMaster]. Trust me.”
Regardless of the reason for the loss, the Gee-Gees now have little to do but start looking ahead and once again prepare for a new season.
“It’s going to be hard watching film [of the game], but it’s the only thing we can do,” said Piché. “This is still a very young team, [that has] hopefully learned a lesson.”
