Fair’s winning kick; Provost’s new record; two RSEQ rugby championships; Men’s basketball’s 16-game winning streak
The 2023-24 Gee-Gees seasons were once again filled with ups, downs, and everything in between. Starting in August, here are the biggest storylines and events in chronological order.
It was a team that looked good on paper — and then suddenly didn’t. Running it back after a 6-2 regular season and OUA semi-final loss in 2022 were fifth-year running back Amlicar Polk, fifth-year linebacker Max Charbonneau, fifth-year kicker Campbell Fair, and fourth-year quarterback Ben Maracle.
But midway through the first quarter at their 2023 season opener on August 27 at TD Place, Maracle tripped and fell with a first down just steps away and remained on the ground for quite some time. The Tyendinaga native got up favouring his right leg, but stayed in the game and returned under centre for the team’s next offensive drive.
This time, it went from bad to worse. Almost immediately after receiving the snap, he fell awkwardly, and after receiving medical attention, again got up favouring his right leg. After completing 4 passes on 4 attempts, including a touchdown pass, Maracle was out of the game.
The Gee-Gees would limp to a 4-4 record and ultimately lose to Queen’s for a second straight year in the playoffs, this time in the OUA quarterfinal — sans Polk, who was injured Oct. 14 in a win against McMaster.
October 1: Campbell Fair once again the hero at Panda Game
In 2021, outgoing Gees kicker Campbell Fair kicked a game-winning field goal in the last minute of the Panda game. And in 2023, Fair was once again called on to win the game for the Gees, this time from 55 yards — which would tie the longest of his career — and with four seconds left on the clock. And he nailed it.
Before the kick, the Ravens had iced the fifth-year kicker with a timeout, but the scoreboard mistakenly counted down to zero, and Ravens fans poured onto the field. The kick secured an 18-16 win for the Gees, led by third-string quarterback Josh Janssen, who finished with 251 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions on 18-of-28 passing.
When asked about his plans for the upcoming year (considering he took training camp with the Canadian Football League’s Stampeders and was also signed by the RoughRiders last summer), Fair was hopeful. “CFL has been my goal my whole university career. I’m just going to keep going until I get my shot.”
October 14: Cassandra Provost breaks her own school record for goals in a season in win over TMU
After setting the school record for goals in a season with 18 — in just 12 games — in 2022, Cass Provost was back for more in 2023. After scoring five goals the weekend of Sep. 10 against the U of T and TMU, six the weekend of Oct. 1 against Trent and RMC, and five the weekend of Oct. 8 against Carleton and RMC, Provost needed just three goals in the final four games of the season to eclipse her record from the previous season.
And it didn’t take long for the 5’8” striker to do just that, as she potted four in the very next game, when the Gee-Gees welcomed the TMU Bold to Matt Anthony Field. The Gee-Gees limited the Bold to zero shots on goal, while putting 12 on target the other way, with eight coming from Provost.
The 2022 U SPORTS Player of the Year would lose out on top honours in the country for a second year in a row, but would still come away with the 2023 OUA East Player of the Year.
As for the Gees, they would go on to crush Queen’s in the OUA finals 5-1 behind two goals from first-year Gee Jenna Matsukubo. Matsukubo transferred back to her hometown Gees after the 2022 season from the opposing Gaels.
“[Johnson] was saying he’s never won a final by that many goals [over] the 30 years that he’s been here,” said the speedy winger at the time. The team would go on to be upset in the U SPORTS championships after a heartbreaking loss in the quarterfinals to UBC.
October 21: Women’s rugby wins seventh RSEQ Championship
In a sixth-straight matchup against the Laval Rouge et Or in the RSEQ championship, the Gee-Gees women’s rugby came away with glory once again. After losing to the Rouge et Or at Matt Anthony Field in their season opener on Sep. 2, the Gees got revenge with a 27-12 victory.
Following the game, all-stars and major award winners were announced. Ngozi Mosindi, Ketsia Kamba, Tylo Borsboom, and Emma Wade all grabbed a spot on the First-Team All-Stars, a list of the top 15 players in RSEQ. Sarah White, Leigha Stiles, Rachel Steel and Deborah Oyetoran all claimed Second-Team All-Star honours.
The Gees would ultimately fail to medal at nationals — even as the first-ranked team coming in — after being upset by the Victoria Vikes in their opening match. The Gees were without 2022 RSEQ Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Star Mercedes Cole, who was selected to represent Jamaica at the 2023 Pan-Am Games, taking place in Chile at the same time.
Borsboom, Kamba, and Mosindi would be named as First Team All-Canadians before the tournament.
Nov. 4: Men’s rugby wins first RSEQ Championship
In 2022, the men’s rugby team came devastatingly close to winning their first-ever conference championship, as they lost by just a single try and conversion to McGill in the RSEQ final. But the team didn’t let glory slip out of their grasp two years in a row.
Playing against the previously undefeated ETS Piranhas at their field in Montreal, the Gees were facing a two-point deficit with the clock winding down. But a Piranha committed a foul, leaving Glenn Roy with a penalty kick just 20 yards from the try zone. The Gees would lock it down and come away with a 19-18 win.
Armstrong touched on what the win meant for the program, who only joined the conference in 2018. “It’s hard to put into words what it means. A few years ago, we got to a point where we could compete with the big teams of the league — but beating them in the playoffs is another story. For all the guys that came close before, but didn’t quite make it atop the mountain, well, this is for them, us, and the next generation. That banner will hang at [the U of O] forever.”
The Gees would move on to the Canadian University Men’s Championship in British Columbia, but would ultimately lose to Memorial University in the quarterfinals. The men’s team will host the 2024 edition of the tournament, and will gain automatic entry as hosts.
Dec. 6 : Women’s basketball serve Carleton with only loss of entire season
The Gee-Gees, who hadn’t lost a game since their opener in Guelph, welcomed the defending national champions to Montpetit in early December: the undefeated Carleton Ravens.
The Gees took a 40-24 lead into half, led by 14 points and two threes from outgoing Gee Ariane Saumure. Saumure would finish with a game-high 21, and backcourt partner Natsuki Szczokin poured in 15 points and five assists of her own. The Gees and Ravens would enter Christmas break tied atop the OUA East division.
After three losses in the second half of the season — including a tight one to the Ravens at the Capital Hoops Classic — the Gees would be forced to play a play-in game to advance to the quarterfinals, even though they finished tied for the second best record in the league.
After welcoming and dispatching Laurentian by a score of 79-49, the team would then travel to Waterloo, who finished with a worse record than the Gees. A tight win would see the Gees then visit the Raven’s Nest, where their season ended with a lopsided loss.
The Gees had three members recognized by the OUA as part of the 2023-24 All-Stars and Major Award winners. Szczokin was named to the First Team, Saumure to the Third Team, while forward Victoria Brideau was named to the All-Rookie team.
Dec. 6: Double-digit comeback propels men over reigning national champions Carleton
After being crowned #1 in the nation after an undefeated preseason and impressive season opener, the Gee-Gees men’s basketball team enjoyed a perfect first half of the season. But after 14 straight wins in all forms of competition, that perfect season was put in jeopardy.
Down as much as 17 points late in the first half, the Gee-Gees would fight and claw their way back throughout the second half. Fifth-year guard Kevin Otoo would finish with a game high 23 points in front of a sold-out crowd, which he gave credit to postgame.
“I love when the crowd gets into it, it gives me energy. It gives my team energy. It gives us hope to know that we have a fan base behind us [who knows] that we can do something special this year.”
With the clock ticking down, and the Ravens’ lead at just one point, second-year Gee Jacques-Mélaine Guemeta decided to call game. He took a handoff from Brock Newton outside the three-point line and pulled up for a jumper at the left elbow. Montpetit exploded when it swished through the netting and without a timeout, the Ravens would be unable to get a decent look on the other end.
The Gees would ultimately lose to St. FX during a tournament game over the holiday break, and then lose their perfect record with a one-point loss to the Queen’s Gaels in their first game out of the break.
Jan. 19: Men win 17th edition of Capital Hoops behind 20 points from Brock Newton
Time after time this season, Brock Newton has showed up on big stages. Whether it be personal scoring runs that sometimes hit the double digits, big blocks, or just clutch shots, the third-year does it all. Newton scored a game-high 20 points at this year’s Capital Hoops event, which the Gees took 71-61.
In a rarity for the Ravens, they ended up missing the U SPORTS Final 8 all together after an uncharacteristic down year. But Newton and the Gees would earn a berth at the championships — although it came in a unique fashion after a loss in the OUA quarterfinals.
The Gees were awarded the tournament’s lone at-large berth by the tournament seeding committee, thanks to their dominant regular season. The Gee-Gees held the number-one spot in the U SPORTS national rankings for the majority of the year, and closed out the regular season with a third-place finish.
At the national championships, the Gee-Gees proved that their selection was warranted with a 91-83 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers in the bronze medal game on March. 10 at Laval University’s Amphithéâtre Desjardins.
The win secured back-to-back bronze medal wins at the tournament for the Gee-Gees, and their fifth medal all-time at the event. Newton would be honoured with a berth on the Second Team All-Canadians before the event tipped off.
Feb. 17: Men’s hockey wins first playoff series in four seasons with 8-0 win over OTU
Led by a blazing hot powerplay and stellar goaltending from the always-sharp Franky Lapenna, the Gee-Gees men’s hockey team cruised to a dominant series win over the OTU Ridgebacks in mid-February.
Grandmaître talked about how important securing the shutout was for the team. “As you get into the third period, and you feel like you’re ahead of the score quite a bit, I think the focus was shifted to keeping a shutout for [Lapenna]. (…) he’s saved us a lot, a couple games this year, so it was really important for us to clamp it down for him to get the shutout.”
Lapenna was coming off saving 46-of-47 shots the previous game, a 5-1 win in Oshawa. The first-year Gee earned both the OUA East’s Goaltender and Rookie of the Year awards after leading U SPORTS in save percentage (.942) and finishing second in the country in goals against average (1.72).
The Gees would ultimately fall at the hands of the UQTR Patriotes in the following series, who finished off a threepeat of OUA Queen’s Cup wins in March, and fell in the national championship game to the undefeated UNB Reds.
Feb 24: Women’s hockey lone team to defeat national champion Concordia Stingers
The Gee-Gees handed the Stingers their first loss of the season in Game Two of the team’s RSEQ semifinal series, backed by a 58-save performance from former Gee Aurélie Dubuc.
Dubuc, who took the 2023-24 season off to focus on school, was called in as an emergency backup for the series after starter Mahika Sarrazin was injured. Gees co-coach Greg Bowles called Dubuc, who played to a 2.13 goals against average and .926 save percentage last season with the Gees, a perfect candidate to join the Gees after Sarrazin went down.
“We had no choice but to tap into any number of potential eligible goalies, and to have one that was the least disruptive to our chemistry and our team environment was to bring back somebody that had played for us before. To have her quickly knock the rust off and be that good in Game Two just speaks to her ability.”
The Stingers would ultimately regain form and wallop the Gees 13-0 in Game Three, but the damage was done. After an 8-17 season filled with turmoil — which included losing former head coach Stefanie McKeough to the PWHL ranks just six weeks after she was appointed — the Gees could look back on an accomplishment no other team in the league could boast. The Stingers would ultimately claim their second national championship in three seasons on March 18.
Bowles talked postgame about what made the 8-17 Gees the team to finally beat Concordia. “I think we matched up well, our strengths complimented their weaknesses,” said Bowles.
“I think the biggest difference between the first and second game, was in the first game, it was almost a sideshow, we got so nervous about being up. In the second game, we were no longer surprised. We were doing it, and we had the confidence to say, ‘this isn’t by fluke, this is where we’re meant to be, let’s finish this dang thing’.”
With files from Tyler Beauchesne
