X-Women rugby open season ranked No. 1 in CIS

CIS TOP TEN TUESDAY (#1)
Reigning champs open at No. 1 in soccer and rugby

OTTAWA (CIS) – A trio of reigning champions tops the inaugural national rankings of the 2013 season in Canadian Interuniversity Sport soccer and rugby.

In women's soccer, the Trinity Western Spartans open at No. 1, ahead of Queen's, Victoria, Ottawa, Dalhousie, Montreal, Sherbrooke, Wilfrid Laurier, Cape Breton and UBC.

Trinity Western edged Queen's on kicks in the 2012 CIS final to capture the Gladys Bean Memorial Trophy for the third time in five years, and the fourth time in school history. The Spartans, who show a 1-1 pre-season record following a 2-0 win over Saskatchewan (Aug. 26) and a 3-1 loss to Western Washington of the NCAA (Aug. 31), kick off their Canada West schedule on Saturday when they visit their archrivals from UBC.

League play started in the OUA this past weekend with second-ranked Queen's beating RMC 1-0, No. 4 Ottawa defeating Ryerson 2-0 and Toronto 3-1, and No. 8 Wilfrid Laurier settling for a scoreless tie against McMaster before doubling Waterloo 2-0.

In men's soccer, the UBC Thunderbirds open the new campaign ahead of York, Alberta, Carleton, Montreal, UNB, Queen's, Laval, Cape Breton and Western.

UBC added to its own CIS record last fall, claiming the 12th Sam Davidson Memorial Trophy in program history thanks to a 1-0 shutout of Cape Breton in the national championship match. The T-Birds, who dominated UBC Okanagan 4-1 (Aug. 26) and NCAA foe Simon Fraser 3-0 (Aug. 31) in pre-season action, travel to Victoria on Friday for their Canada West opener.

In OUA action last weekend, No. 2 York beat Windsor 2-1 and Brock 8-0, No. 4 Carleton blanked Toronto 1-0 and tied Ryerson 2-2, while No. 10 Western outscored Waterloo 4-0 and battled Windsor to a 1-1 draw.

In women's rugby, the St. Francis Xavier X-Women top the first ranking, with Guelph, Alberta, Queen's, Concordia, Laval, Calgary, Lethbridge, McGill and Acadia following in order.

StFX won its second Monilex Trophy in three years and its third overall last November thanks to a convincing 37-0 CIS gold-medal victory over Guelph. The X-Women dominated McGill 29-0 in their lone pre-season match on Sunday and kick off their AUS schedule at home against Acadia, on Friday.

Conference action got started in Quebec over the long weekend. The only Top-10 team to take the field, No. 6 Laval, picked up a 32-10 win over Montreal.

WOMEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record)

1. Trinity Western (0-0)
2. Queen's (1-0)
3. Victoria (0-0)
4. Ottawa (2-0)
5. Dalhousie (0-0)
6. Montreal (0-0)
7. Sherbrooke (0-0)
8. Wilfrid Laurier (1-0-1)
9. Cape Breton (0-0)
10. UBC (0-0)

MEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record)

1. UBC (0-0)
2. York (2-0)
3. Alberta (0-0)
4. Carleton (1-0-1)
5. Montreal (0-0)
6. UNB (0-0)
7. Queen's (0-0)
8. Laval (0-0)
9. Cape Breton (0-0)
10. Western (1-0-1)

WOMEN'S RUGBY
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes)

1. StFX (0-0) / 82 points (7)
2. Guelph (0-0) / 72 (1)
3. Alberta (0-0) / 62
4. Queen's (0-0) / 52 (1)
5. Concordia (0-0) / 46
6. Laval (1-0) / 38
7. Calgary (0-0) / 27
8. Lethbridge (0-0) / 24
9. McGill (0-0) / 19
10. Acadia (0-0) / 11

Other teams receiving votes: Western (8), Waterloo (3), McMaster (3).

FRC – CIS Football Top 10 (#2)
Vanier Cup champ Laval remains at No. 1

OTTAWA (CIS) – Reigning Vanier Cup champion Laval tops the Football Reporters of Canada – CIS rankings for the second time in as many polls this season. The Rouge et Or (1-0) were a unanimous choice for the second straight week, this time garnering 30 first-place votes and a perfect 300 points from the national panel.

Rounding out the second Top 10 of the fall are the Queen's Gaels (2-0), who stay put at No. 2; the No. 3 Montreal Carabins (1-0), up two positions; No. 4 Western Mustangs (2-0), also staying put; No. 5 Calgary Dinos (1-0), down a pair; No. 6 McMaster Marauders (1-1) and No. 7 Guelph Gryphons (2-0), both holding on to their previous spot; No. 8 Saskatchewan Huskies (1-0) and No. 9 Manitoba Bisons (1-0), both up one; as well as the No. 10 Bishop's Gaiters (1-0), unranked a week ago.

Top-ranked Laval kicked off its conference schedule with a 32-8 win against McGill Saturday night in Quebec City, extending its CIS-record streak to 59 consecutive victories on home turf since 2004 (regular season & playoffs). The Rouge et Or hit the road this week to face the Sherbrooke Vert & Or, a team they beat 40-17 in last year's RSEQ final. The contest is televised nationally on Radio-Canada, Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.

Sherbrooke (0-1) was ranked eighth in the inaugural FRC poll last week but was upset 28-27 by Bishop's in its season opener, on Sunday.

In the feature match-up of Labour Day weekend, Monday in Kingston, No. 2 Queen's used three defensive touchdowns to edge two-time OUA champ McMaster 31-24, snapping the Marauders' 19-game win streak against league competition, dating back to 2011.

Other Week 2 results from Top-10 teams included Montreal 48, Concordia 3 (at Concordia); Western 71, Carleton 4 (at Western); Calgary 41, UBC 31 (at UBC); Guelph 24, Windsor 23 (at Guelph); Saskatchewan 40, Regina 33 (at Saskatchewan); Manitoba 65, Alberta 41 (at Manitoba); Bishop's 28, Sherbrooke 27 (at Bishop's).

In addition to Saturday's Laval-Sherbrooke duel, three more Top-10 confrontations are on the schedule this coming weekend, including Bishop's at Montreal (Friday night), Western at McMaster (Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, Sportsnet 360) and Saskatchewan at Manitoba (Saturday, 5 p.m. CT, SHAW TV).

NOTES: Week 3 marks the start of the AUS regular season... The Mount Allison at StFX contest is live on Eastlink TV, Saturday at 7 p.m. AT... Manitoba drew a school-record crowd of 10,199 for its first game at Investors Group Field last Friday night.

FRC – CIS FOOTBALL TOP 10 (#2)

                                                Pts (1st place)  Last week
1. Laval (1-0)               300 (30)           1
2. Queen's (2-0)          251                  2
3. Montreal (1-0)         209                  5
4. Western (2-0)           203                  4
5. Calgary (1-0)           178                  3
6. McMaster (1-1)        134                  6
7. Guelph (2-0)            111                  7
8. Saskatchewan (1-0) 106                  9
9. Manitoba (1-0)         91                    10
10. Bishop's (1-0)        25                    NR

Other teams receiving votes: Acadia (15), Sherbrooke (15), Windsor (4), Regina (1), UBC (1).

WEEK 3 SCHEDULE (all times local)

NOTE 1: Click HERE for the complete 2013 regular season schedule.

September 6 
19:00   Acadia (0-0) at Saint Mary's (0-0) (live webcast)
19:00   Concordia (0-1) at McGill (0-1) (live webcast)
19:00   Bishop's (1-0) at Montreal (1-0)
19:00   Calgary (1-0) at Regina (0-1) (live webcast)

September 7
13:00   Western (2-0) at McMaster (1-1) (Sportsnet 360)
13:00   Toronto (1-1) at Ottawa (1-1) (live webcast)
13:00   Laval (1-0) at Sherbrooke (0-1) (Radio-Canada TV & live webcast)
13:00   Windsor (1-1) at Queen's (2-0) (live webcast)
13:00   Laurier (0-2) at York (0-1)
13:00   Waterloo (0-2) at Carleton (0-1) (Rogers TV Ottawa)
17:00   Saskatchewan (1-0) at Manitoba (1-0) (SHAW TV & live webcast)
17:00   UBC (0-1) at Alberta (0-1) (live webcast)
19:00   Mount Allison (0-0) at StFX (0-0) (Eastlink TV & live webcast)