CIS TOP TEN TUESDAY (#4)
York climbs back to No. 1 in men's soccer
OTTAWA (CIS) – For the fourth time in as many weekly national polls this season, there is a new top-ranked team in Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's soccer as the York Lions return to the position they briefly held two weeks ago.
Meanwhile in women's soccer and women's rugby, the Ottawa Gee-Gees and Guelph Gryphons maintain their No. 1 spot in the new coaches' polls.
In men's soccer, UBC (Sept. 3), York (Sept. 10), Carleton (Sept. 17) and now York again have successively claimed No. 1 status so far this fall.
Carleton entered the past weekend with a sparkling 4-0-1 record but settled for a single point during a road trip to Sudbury and North Bay, losing 2-1 to Laurentian (4-1-2) before fighting Nipissing (2-4-1) to a scoreless draw. The Ravens drop all the way to No. 6 in the new Top 10.
Meanwhile, the Lions, who were ranked second in the country a week ago, dominated Waterloo 4-0 and Laurier 7-0. The new national leaders visit Western (3-2-2) and Brock (0-5-3) this week.
In women's soccer, Ottawa improved to 6-0-2 thanks to a pair of road victories, 7-1 over Nipissing (1-4-3) and 1-0 against Laurentian (4-2-2). The Gee-Gees face the same two opponents this coming weekend, this time on home turf.
Two teams make major leaps in the new poll to round out the leading trio. Laval (6-0-0), the only program in the country with an unblemished league mark, moves up five spots to No. 2, while No. 3 Alberta (5-0-1) was unranked last Tuesday.
In women's rugby, Guelph (3-0) crushed Laurier 110-0 for its third straight win of the campaign. The 2012 CIS finalists should face a stiffer test on Saturday when they host McMaster (2-1).
The past weekend marked the start of the regular season in Canada West. Second-ranked Alberta opened with an impressive 62-17 win over No. 9 Calgary.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Ottawa (6-0-2) / 50 points / (1)
2. Laval (6-0-0) / 44 / (7)
3. Alberta (5-0-1) / 34 / (NR)
4. UBC (2-0-3) / 25 / (6)
5. Queen's (4-1-3) / 24 / (2)
6. Montreal (4-1-1) / 23 / (5)
7. Trinity Western (1-1-3) / 20 / (3)
8. Western (4-0-3) / 18 / (NR)
9. Sherbrooke (4-1-1) / 11 / (8)
10. Victoria (3-2-0) / 10 / (4)
Other teams receiving votes: Wilfrid Laurier (8), Dalhousie (7), Guelph (1).
MEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record) / (votes) / (previous rankings)
1. York (7-1-0) / 57 points / (2)
2. UBC (5-1-0) / 55 / (3)
3. Montreal (4-0-1) / 50 / (4)
4. Alberta (4-0-1) / 40 / (5)
5. Ryerson (6-0-1) / 28 / (10)
T6. Carleton (4-1-2) / 27 / (1)
T6. McMaster (6-1-1) / 27 / (T7)
8. Guelph (5-1-2) / 18 / (6)
9. UNB (3-1-2) / 15 / (T7)
10. Moncton (3-0-2) / 5 / (NR)
WOMEN'S RUGBY
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Guelph (3-0) / 149 points (8) / (1)
2. Alberta (1-0) / 141 (5) / (2)
3. Queen's (3-0) / 108 (1) / (3)
4. Concordia (4-0) / 105 / (4)
5. Acadia (3-0) / 91 (1) / (5)
6. StFX (3-1) / 79 / (6)
7. McGill (3-1) / 49 / (7)
8. Ottawa (4-0) / 26 / (10)
9. Calgary (0-1) / 24 / (8)
10. Western (2-1) / 22 / (NR)
Other teams receiving votes: Lethbridge (14), Victoria (12), McMaster (11), Laval (4), Waterloo (1).
FRC – CIS Football Top 10 (#5)
Laval edges No. 4 Montreal to remain atop rankings
OTTAWA (CIS) – The Laval Rouge et Or top the Football Reporters of Canada – CIS rankings for the fifth time in as many polls this season. The reigning Vanier Cup champions survived their stiffest test of the young campaign this past weekend to remain the only undefeated team in the RSEQ conference at the midway mark of the regular schedule.
For the second week in a row, Laval (4-0) received 21 of 30 first-place votes and 290 points from the FRC panel, with the remaining first-place nods going to the second-ranked Western Mustangs (5-0). Western tallied 275 points in the new poll, up from 267 last Tuesday.
Rounding out the new Top 10 are the No. 3 Queen's Gaels (4-0), No. 4 Montreal Carabins (3-1), No. 5 Calgary Dinos (4-0 ), No. 6 Guelph Gryphons (4-0), No. 7 Saskatchewan Huskies (3-1), No. 8 Bishop's Gaiters (3-1), No. 9 McMaster Marauders (2-3) and No. 10 Manitoba Bisons (2-2).
The only change this week sees Bishop's and Manitoba switching positions.
In the marquee matchup of the past weekend, Sunday in Quebec City, Laval overcame a 9-4 halftime deficit to edge archrival Montreal 16-9 in front of a packed house of 16,210 at TELUS-Université Laval Stadium, which will be the site of the 49th Vanier Cup final on Nov. 23. With the victory, the Rouge et Or extended their CIS-record streak to a phenomenal 60 consecutive wins overall on home turf dating back to 2004.
The Laval defence, which has dominated CIS football for over a decade, pitched its second shutout of the season against Montreal as the Carabins scored their nine points on a safety and a touchdown off a missed field goal return. The Rouge et Or had blanked Sherbrooke 20-0 on Sept. 7 and have held their opponents to a CIS-best 31 points in four contests so far in 2013.
Two more Top-10 battles were on the Week 5 schedule.
At Calgary, the five-time reigning Canada West champion Dinos doubled Manitoba 48-24 thanks in large part to quarterback Andrew Buckley, who threw for 512 yards in only the third start of his university career.
At Guelph, the Gryphons took a 24-13 lead into the fourth quarter and held off a late charge by defending OUA champ McMaster to prevail 24-22. The game was a rematch of last year's OUA final, won 30-13 by the Marauders.
Other Week 5 results from Top-10 teams included Western 45, Laurier 24 (at Laurier); Queen's 36, Ottawa 21 (at Ottawa); Saskatchewan 39, Alberta 17 (at Saskatchewan); Bishop's 40, Concordia 18 (at Bishop's).
Two more Top-10 matchups are on the schedule this coming weekend, both on national television, Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
Top-ranked Laval visits No. 8 Bishop's (live on Radio-Canada), while No. 3 Queen's travels to London to take on No. 2 Western in a battle of undefeated OUA powerhouses (live on Sportsnet 360).
FRC – CIS FOOTBALL TOP 10 (#5)
Pts (1st place) Last week
1. Laval (4-0) 290 (21) 1
2. Western (5-0) 275 (9) 2
3. Queen's (4-0) 232 3
4. Montreal (3-1) 201 4
5. Calgary (4-0) 188 5
6. Guelph (4-0) 164 6
7. Saskatchewan (3-1) 113 7
8. Bishop's (3-1) 69 10
9. McMaster (2-3) 47 9
10. Manitoba (2-2) 35 8
Other teams receiving votes: Windsor (20), Acadia (5), Sherbrooke (4), UBC (2), StFX (2), McGill (1).
WEEK 5 RESULTS
Mount Allison 29, Saint Mary's 15 (at Mount Allison)
Acadia 40, StFX 11 (at StFX)
Sherbrooke 45, McGill 26 (at McGill)
Calgary 48, Manitoba 24 (at Calgary)
Saskatchewan 39, Alberta 17 (at Saskatchewan)
York 50, Carleton 34 (at Carleton)
Western 45, Laurier 24 (at Laurier)
Bishop's 40, Concordia 18 (at Bishop's)
Guelph 24, McMaster 22 (at Guelph)
Queen's 36, Ottawa 21 (at Ottawa)
Windsor 26, Toronto 11 (at Windsor)
UBC 37, Regina 27 (at Regina)
Laval 16, Montreal 9 (at Laval)
WEEK 6 SCHEDULE (all times local)
NOTE 1: Click HERE for the complete 2013 regular season schedule.
September 27
19:00 StFX (2-1) at Saint Mary's (1-2) (video webcast)
19:00 Carleton (0-4) at Toronto (1-4) (video webcast)
September 28
13:00 McGill (2-2) at Concordia (0-4) (video webcast)
13:00 No. 3 Queen's (4-0) at No. 2 Western (5-0) (Sportsnet 360)
13:00 No. 6 Guelph (4-0) at Waterloo (1-3) (video webcast)
13:00 No. 1 Laval (4-0) at No. 8 Bishop's (3-1) (Radio-Canada TV & video webcast)
13:00 Ottawa (2-3) at York (2-2) (video webcast)
13:00 Windsor (3-2) at Laurier (1-4) (Rogers TV Waterloo - tape delayed & video webcast)
13:00 Regina (1-3) at No. 10 Manitoba (2-2) (video webcast)
14:00 No. 7 Saskatchewan (3-1) at UBC (2-2) (SHAW TV & video webcast)
17:00 No. 5 Calgary (4-0) at Alberta (0-4) (video webcast)
19:00 Mount Allison (1-2) at Acadia (1-2) (Eastlink TV & video webcast)
September 29
13:00 Sherbrooke (1-3) at No. 4 Montreal (3-1)