CIS TOP TEN TUESDAY (#1)
Montreal, UBC, Alberta open at No. 1 in soccer and rugby
In women's soccer, the Montreal Carabins received 44 points in the inaugural coaches' poll to edge the reigning two-time national champion Trinity Western Spartans (39) in the voting. Alberta (37), Western (32) and Cape Breton (30) round out the top five.
The Spartans beat the Carabins 1-0 in last year's CIS final to claim their record-tying fifth Gladys Bean Memorial Trophy. Montreal (vs. UQAM) and Trinity Western (vs. Fraser Valley) both open conference play at home on Friday.
In men's soccer, the UBC Thunderbirds were a logical choice to debut at No. 1 after winning their second straight CIS title and adding to their own all-time record last fall with a 13th Sam Davidson Memorial Trophy triumph. Rounding out the top five in the first poll of 2014 are last year's national finalists, the Laval Rouge et Or, as well as UNB, York and Montreal.
The T-Birds kick off their title defence at Victoria on Friday night.
In women's rugby, the Alberta Pandas open at No. 1 after claiming their record sixth CIS banner a year ago, their first since 2003. The Guelph Gryphons, last season's CIS silver medallists, are ranked No. 2, followed by Queen's, StFX and McGill.
Alberta has to wait two more weeks to play its first conference match of 2014 (Sept. 20 at Lethbridge).
WOMEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record) / votes / (previous ranking)
1. Montreal (0-0-0) / 44 points / (-)
2. Trinity Western (0-0-0) / 39 / (-)
3. Alberta (0-0-0) / 37 / (-)
4. Western (2-0-0) / 32 / (-)
5. Cape Breton (0-0-0) / 30 / (-)
6. Wilfrid Laurier (2-0-0) / 20 / (-)
7. Victoria (0-0-0) / 18 / (-)
8. Laval (0-0-0) / 15 / (-)
9. Ottawa (1-1-0) / 11 / (-)
10. UBC (0-0-0) / 9 / (-)
(regular season record) / (previous ranking)
1. UBC (0-0-0) / (-)
2. Laval (0-0-0) / (-)
3. UNB (0-0-0) / (-)
4. York (1-0-1) / (-)
5. Montreal (0-0-0) (-)
6. Saskatchewan (0-0-0) / (-)
7. Ryerson (2-0-0) / (-)
8. Saint Mary's (0-0-0) / (-)
9. Victoria (0-0-0) / (-)
10. McMaster (0-0-1) / (-)
WOMEN'S RUGBY
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous ranking)
1. Alberta (0-0) / 146 points (13) / (-)
2. Guelph (0-0) / 122 (1) / (-)
3. Queen's (0-0) / 116 / (-)
4. StFX (0-0) / 78 / (-)
5. McGill (1-0) / 68 / (-)
6. Concordia (0-0) / 67 / (-)
7. Acadia (0-0) / 57 / (-)
8. Calgary (0-0) / 51 / (-)
9. McMaster (0-0) / 34 / (-)
10. Laval (1-0) / 22 / (-)
FRC – CIS Football Top 10 (#1)
Reigning Vanier Cup champion Laval opens season at No. 1
OTTAWA (CIS) – For the second consecutive season and the eighth time in 10 years, the Laval Rouge et Or top the first national ranking of the CIS football season.
Following in order in the inaugural Top 10 are the second-ranked Calgary Dinos (260 points), No. 3 Western Mustangs (250), No. 4 Montreal Carabins (164), No. 5 McMaster Marauders (144), No. 6 Manitoba Bisons (140), No. 7 UBC Thunderbirds (80), No. 8 Guelph Gryphons (60), No. 9 Queen's Gaels (56) and No. 10 Saskatchewan Huskies (56).
In a rematch of last year's Vanier Cup final, Laval hosted Calgary in pre-season action last Saturday in Quebec City and once again came out on top, this time by a 35-23 score in front of 10,210 fans at TELUS-UL Stadium. The Rouge et Or face a serious test on Saturday night when they open their RSEQ schedule at home against archrival Montreal, which they edged 14-11 in last fall's Dunsmore Cup final.
The Dinos also open conference play at home, on Friday, against Alberta.
The regular season got under way on Labour Day in the OUA with McMaster coming back to edge Guelph 34-27 in overtime, Queen's defeating Windsor 39-30, Ottawa dominating York 51-7, Laurier cruising to a 53-17 victory over Toronto, and Carleton outscoring Waterloo 33-14 for its first win since returning to CIS football a year ago.
Reigning OUA champion Western enjoyed a bye week and kicks off its Yates Cup title defence Saturday at York.
Defending AUS titlist Mount Allison opens at home against Acadia, also on Saturday.
NOTES: Laval has claimed a CIS-record 11 straight conference titles and has won 65 straight games at home overall since 2004, another CIS mark... Calgary has captured a record six consecutive Canada West banners... The 50th TELUS Vanier Cup Tour kicks off on Saturday with stops in Montreal in the afternoon (Bishop's at Concordia) and Quebec City at night (Montreal at Laval)... For all the information on the 50th TELUS Vanier Cup (including ticket info) visit vaniercup.com
FRC – CIS FOOTBALL TOP 10 (#1)
1. Laval (0-0) 300 (30) -
2. Calgary (0-0) 260 -
3. Western (0-0) 250 -
4. Montreal (0-0) 164 -
5. McMaster (1-0) 144 -
6. Manitoba (0-0) 140 -
7. UBC (0-0) 80 -
8. Guelph (0-1) 60 -
9. Queen's (1-0) 56 * -
10. Saskatchewan (0-0) 56 -
Other teams receiving votes: Acadia (36), Sherbrooke (26), Mount Allison (20), Laurier (16), Bishop's (14), Ottawa (12), Regina (6), Windsor (2), Carleton (1).
August 23
McGill 35, Toronto 33 (at Toronto)
August 24
Concordia 25, Queen's 18 (at Queen's)
Carleton 53, York 11 (at Carleton)
Montreal 38, Guelph 10 (at Montreal)
Regina 40, Alberta 28 (at Regina)
August 30
Laval 35, Calgary 23 (at Laval)
Sherbrooke 21, Bishop's 8 (at Sherbrooke)
Mount Allison 18, StFX 8 (at Mount Allison)
Acadia 34, Saint Mary's 5 (at Acadia)
2014 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE & RESULTS: WEEKS 1 & 2 (all times local)
September 1
Queen's 39, Windsor 30 (at Windsor)
Carleton 33, Waterloo 14 (at Waterloo)
Ottawa 51, York 7 (at Ottawa)
McMaster 34, Guelph 27 OT (at McMaster)
Laurier 53, Toronto 17 (at Toronto)
September 5
17:30 Alberta at Calgary (CanadaWest.TV)
19:00 StFX at Saint Mary's (AUStv.ca)
19:00 Manitoba at Saskatchewan (Shaw TV & CanadaWest.TV)
19:00 UBC at Regina (CanadaWest.TV)
September 6
13:00 Toronto at Guelph (OUA.TV)
13:00 Ottawa at Queen's (OUA.TV)
13:00 McMaster at Waterloo (OUA.TV)
13:00 Western at York (OUA.TV)
13:00 Laurier at Windsor (TVCogeco & OUA.TV)
13:00 Bishop's at Concordia (Radio-Canada & ici.radio-canada.ca& StretchTV)
14:00 Acadia at Mount Allison (Eastlink TV & AUStv.ca)
16:00 McGill at Sherbrooke
19:00 Montreal at Laval (ici.radio-canada.ca Quebec)