X-Women rugby ranked No. 1 in Canada

CIS TOP TEN TUESDAY (#6)
Reigning champ McGill opens at No. 1 in women's hockey

OTTAWA (CIS) – The reigning champion McGill University Martlets top the first national rankings of the 2014-15 CIS women's hockey season.

McGill opens at No. 1 for the second consecutive campaign and for the seventh time in the past nine years, six months after capturing the fourth CIS banner in program history thanks to a thrilling double-overtime win over their archrivals, the Montreal Carabins, in the national championship game in Fredericton.

The Martlets are off to a solid start once again this fall with four wins and an OT loss in five pre-season contests against university opponents, including a 2-0-1 record versus CIS rivals and a 2-0 mark against NCAA teams. They are set to face four more NCAA squads over the next two weeks before they host Montreal on Oct. 24 to kick off their RSEQ schedule.

Rounding out the first women's hockey coaches' poll of the campaign are the second-ranked Carabins, No. 3 Queen's, No. 4 Alberta (2-0), No. 5 UBC (1-0-1), No. 6 Guelph, No. 7 Laurier (2-0), No. 8 Saskatchewan (1-1), No. 9 Moncton and No. 10 Calgary (1-0-1).

In other CIS sports, Guelph (women's & men's cross country), Alberta (men's hockey), Trinity Western (women's soccer) and UBC (men's soccer) hold on to their No. 1 status this week.

In women's rugby, the St. Francis Xavier X-Women (5-0) climb to the top for the first time this fall, replacing the defending CIS champ Alberta Pandas, who had led the first five polls of the season. McMaster (4-0-1) also moves ahead of Alberta (3-1), which drops to third place in the new Top 10. 

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
(points) / (previous ranking) 

1. Guelph 100 points / (1)
2. Western 82 / (2)
3. Trinity Western 79 / (4)
4. Toronto 77 / (3)
5. Victoria 49 / (5)
6. Queen's 43 / (7)
7. McMaster 37 / (6)
8. Laval 22 / (8)
9. McGill 15 / (9)
10. Alberta 12 / (NR)

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
(points) / (previous ranking) 

1. Guelph 100 points / (1)
2. Laval 86 / (2)
3. McMaster 82 / (3)
4. Windsor 72 / (4)
5. Victoria 54 / (6)
6. Lakehead 38 / (5)
7. Calgary 30 / (NR)
8. Trinity Western 28 / (8)
9. Queen's 22 / (7)
10. Regina 17 / (9) 

WOMEN'S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / (previous ranking) 

1. McGill (0-0-0) / (-)
2. Montreal (0-0-0) / (-)
3. Queen's (0-0-0) / (-)
4. Alberta (2-0-0) / (-)
5. UBC (1-0-1) / (-)
6. Guelph (0-0-0) / (-)
7. Wilfrid Laurier (2-0-0) / (-)
8. Saskatchewan (1-1-0) / (-)
9. Moncton (0-0-0) / (-)
10. Calgary (1-0-1) / (-) 

MEN'S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous ranking) 

1. Alberta (3-1-0) / 157 points (14) / (1)
2. UNB (0-0-0) / 124 (1) / (3)
3. Saskatchewan (4-0-0) / 121 / (4)
4. Acadia (0-0-0) / 111 / (5)
5. Mount Royal (4-0-0) / 82 / (NR)
6. UQTR (1-0-0) / 68 (1) / (6)
7. Calgary (2-2-0) / 59 / (2)
8. Carleton (1-0-0) / 57 / (7)
9. McGill (0-0-0) / 35 / (8)
10. Saint Mary's (0-0-0) / 20 / (9) 

Other teams receiving votes: Waterloo (18), StFX (12), Western (9), Concordia (3), Laurentian (3), Manitoba (1).

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

1. StFX (5-0) / 160 points (8) / (2)
2. McMaster (4-0-1) / 159 (4) / (3)
3. Alberta (3-1) / 141 (5) / (1)
4. Queen's (4-1) / 136 (1) / (4)
5. Guelph (3-0-2) / 106 / (5)
6. Ottawa (6-0) / 95 / (6)
7. Calgary (3-1) / 84 / (9)
8. Laval (5-1) / 43 / (10)
9. Concordia (4-2) / 31 / (7)
10. Acadia (3-2) / 28 / (8) 

Other teams receiving votes: Waterloo (23), UBC (2).

WOMEN'S SOCCER
(regular season record) / votes / (previous ranking) 

1. Trinity Western (7-0-1) / 50 points / (1)
2. Ottawa (11-1-0) / 41 / (2)
3. Laval (9-1-0) / 37 / (3)
4. Victoria (7-0-1) / 34 / (6)
5. York (10-1-2) / 29 / (4)
6. UOIT (9-0-2) / 25 / (9)
7. Wilfrid Laurier (9-1-2) / 19 / (8)
8. Western (10-1-1) / 18 / (7)
9. Montreal (6-1-3) / 12 / (5)
10. UNB (6-1-2) / 6 / (10)

Other teams receiving votes: Fraser Valley (2), Acadia (1), Calgary (1).

1. UBC (8-0-0) / 60 points / (1)
2. York (12-0-1) / 54 / (2)
3. UNB (8-0-1) / 46 / (3)
4. Ryerson (10-1-0) / 41 / (T4)
5. Saskatchewan (7-0-1) / 39 / (T4)
6. Victoria (6-1-1) / 26 / (6)
7. Laval (5-0-4) / 25 / (8)
8. UQAM (5-1-2) / 15 / (10)
9. McMaster (8-2-2) / 8 / (NR)
T10. Cape Breton (6-2-1) / 6 / (NR)
T10. Queen's (7-2-4) / 6 / (NR) 

FRC – CIS Football Top 10 (#6)
McMaster upsets Western, moves past Mustangs in rankings 

OTTAWA (CIS) – The Laval Rouge et Or top the CIS football national rankings for the sixth time in as many media polls this season following a 32-16 home win over the No. 9 Concordia Stingers in a battle for first place in the RSEQ conference. 

For the sixth consecutive week, the reigning two-time Vanier Cup champions received all 30 first-place votes and a perfect 300 points from the Football Reporters of Canada panel. 

The Canada West-leading Calgary Dinos (4-1) remain comfortably in second spot for the sixth week in a row with 267 points, after a 59-7 domination of Regina.

In another Top-10 battle for first place this past weekend, that one in Ontario, McMaster (6-0) handed Western (4-1) its first loss to an OUA opponent in almost two years, 32-29 in London, resulting in the Marauders moving past the Mustangs in third place in the new national poll. 

Positions five through nine remain unchanged this week, including the No. 5 Montreal Carabins (4-1), No. 6 Guelph Gryphons (4-1), No. 7 Saskatchewan Huskies (4-1), No. 8 Mount Allison Mounties (5-0) and No. 9 Concordia (4-1), while the upstart Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (4-1) crack the Top 10 for the first time this fall, replacing Manitoba at No. 10. 

As expected, top-ranked Laval received a stiff challenge Sunday afternoon from the Stingers, who are enjoying a superb season after going 0-8 a year ago. In the end, the Rouge et Or defence was simply too good, keeping the visitors out of the end zone until the final two minutes of the contest, and the Vanier Cup champs extended a pair of remarkable CIS-record streaks with their 23^rd straight win overall dating back to 2012 and their 68^th consecutive victory on home turf since 2004. 

The previous day in London, McMaster came from behind four times to defeat Western thanks in part to all-Canadian kicker Tyler Crapigna, who booted three field goals to set a new OUA career record with 79, three shy of the CIS mark held by former Sherbrooke standout William Dion. The Mustangs hadn't lost to an OUA rival in 14 games overall, dating back to a 42-28 setback at the hands of the Marauders in the 2012 conference semifinals.

Other results from Top-10 teams this past weekend included No. 5 Montreal 22, Sherbrooke 16 (at Montreal); No. 6 Guelph 24, Windsor 9 (at Windsor); No. 7 Saskatchewan 31, UBC 25 (at Saskatchewan); No. 8 Mount Allison 38, Saint Mary's 0 (at Saint Mary's); No. 10 Laurier 27, York 10 (at Laurier).

Only eight contests are on the CIS schedule on Thanksgiving weekend, with Laval, Calgary, McMaster and Saskatchewan among the teams enjoying a bye. 

The reduced schedule is highlighted by a pair of Top-10 confrontations, including No. 10 Laurier at No. 4 Western Thursday at 7 p.m. (Rogers TV, Rogers Sports + & OUA.TV), as well as No. 5 Montreal at No. 9 Concordia Saturday at 1 p.m. (Radio-Canada TV, ici.radio-canada.ca &StretchTV).

NOTES: The 50^th TELUS Vanier Cup Tour makes its seventh stop of the campaign on Thursday night at TD Stadium in London for the Top-10 clash between Laurier and Western... For all the information on the 50^th TELUS Vanier Cup (including ticket info) visit vaniercup.com. 

FRC – CIS FOOTBALL TOP 10 (#6)

                                                Pts (1^st place)  Last week

1. Laval (5-0)               300 (30)           1
2. Calgary (4-1)           267                  2
3. McMaster (6-0)        243                  4
4. Western (4-1)           196                  3
5. Montreal (4-1)         167                  5
6. Guelph (4-1)            157                  6
7. Saskatchewan (4-1) 114                  7
8. Mt. Allison (5-0)      100                  8
9. Concordia (4-1)       72                    9
10. Laurier (4-1)          17                    NR 

Other teams receiving votes: Sherbrooke (8), Alberta (5), Windsor (5), Manitoba (1).

WEEK 6 RESULTS

October 5
Laval 32, Concordia 16 (at Laval) 

WEEK 7 SCHEDULE (all times local)
NOTE: Click HERE for the complete 2014 regular season schedule 

October 9
19:00   Bishop's (0-4) at McGill (0-4) (SSN Canada)
19:00   No. 10 Laurier (4-1) at No. 4 Western (4-1) (Rogers TV & Rogers Sports + & OUA.TV)

October 10
19:00   Ottawa (4-2) at Windsor (4-1) (TVCogeco & OUA.TV)         
19:00   Carleton (3-2) at No. 6 Guelph (4-1) (OUA.TV) 

October 11
13:00   Toronto (1-5) at Queen's (0-5) (OUA.TV)
13:00   No. 5 Montreal (4-1) at No. 9 Concordia (4-1) (Radio-Canada TV & ici.radio-canada.ca & StretchTV)
14:00   Saint Mary's (0-5) at No. 8 Mount Allison (5-0) (Eastlink TV & AUStv.ca)
14:00   StFX (3-2) at Acadia (1-4) (AUStv.ca) 

CIS Men's Hockey Top 10 (#2)
Alberta remains No. 1, lots of movement behind 

OTTAWA (CIS) – The reigning University Cup champion Alberta Golden Bears top the CIS men's hockey rankings for the second time in as many national polls this season.

After receiving only five of 16 first-place votes – and 132 points - in the inaugural poll last Tuesday, the Bears earned 14 first-place nods and 157 points from the media panel this week following a two-game sweep against Lethbridge that pushed their record to 3-1 after two weekends of Canada West action. 

Behind Alberta, the No. 6 UQTR Patriotes (1-0) are the only team to stay put in the new Top 10.

Rounding out the second rankings of the fall are the No. 2 UNB Varsity Reds (0-0 / up one position), No. 3 Saskatchewan Huskies (4-0 / up one), No. 4 Acadia Axemen (0-0 / up one), No. 5 Mount Royal Cougars (4-0 / previously unranked), No. 7 Calgary Dinos (2-2 / down five), No. 8 Carleton Ravens (1-0 / down one), No. 9 McGill Redmen (0-0 / down one) and No. 10 Saint Mary's Huskies (0-0 / down one).     

The Bears, who opened league play two weeks ago with a two-game split against UBC, were simply too much for Lethbridge this past weekend, dominating the visiting Pronghorns 10-0 and 7-3 in Edmonton. 

Meanwhile, Mount Royal cracks the national Top 10 for the first time since joining CIS in 2012-13 thanks to a two-game sweep (3-1, 2-1) of cross-town rival Calgary, which had opened the campaign at No. 2.

The past week also marked the start of conference play in the OUA, including nationally-ranked UQTR and Carleton kicking off their schedule with one-goal wins over Nipissing and Concordia, respectively.

The AUS joins the action this week. Second-ranked UNB opens against UPEI, while reigning conference champ Acadia faces Dalhousie, both on Saturday. 

CIS MEN'S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#2)

Voting is based on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, with a 1^st place vote worth 10 points. The CIS Men's Ice Hockey Top Ten Committee is made up of media members from across Canada. 

(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous ranking)

1. Alberta (3-1-0) / 157 points (14) / (1)
2. UNB (0-0-0) / 124 (1) / (3)
3. Saskatchewan (4-0-0) / 121 / (4)
4. Acadia (0-0-0) / 111 / (5)
5. Mount Royal (4-0-0) / 82 / (NR)
6. UQTR (1-0-0) / 68 (1) / (6)
7. Calgary (2-2-0) / 59 / (2)
8. Carleton (1-0-0) / 57 / (7)
9. McGill (0-0-0) / 35 / (8)
10. Saint Mary's (0-0-0) / 20 / (9)

Other teams receiving votes: Waterloo (18), StFX (12), Western (9), Concordia (3), Laurentian (3), Manitoba (1).