CIS TOP TEN TUESDAY (#8)
Three changes at the top
OTTAWA (CIS) – There are a number of changes at the top in this week’s CIS national rankings as the Trinity Western Spartans, in women’s volleyball, Alberta Golden Bears, in men’s volleyball, and UNB Varsity Reds, in men’s hockey, all move up one spot to reach No. 1 status.
In other CIS sports, St. Francis Xavier (women’s rugby), Ottawa (women’s soccer), York (men’s soccer), Calgary (women’s hockey) and Guelph (women’s & men’s cross country) all hold on to the pole position.
In women’s volleyball, the Spartans went a perfect 4-0 last weekend at the West Coast Classic pre-season tournament, including a four-set win over the reigning five-time CIS champion UBC Thunderbirds, who fall to No. 2 in this week’s coaches’ poll. The top two teams in the country meet again this weekend as they kick off conference play with a two-game head-to-head series, at UBC on Friday and at Trinity Western on Saturday.
In men’s volleyball, the Golden Bears kept a 2-1 record in pre-season action at the Dino Cup in Calgary, including a four-set victory against defending two-time national champion Trinity Western, which drops to second place in the new Top 10. Alberta opens Canada West play at home this weekend with a Friday-Saturday doubleheader versus No. 7 Saskatchewan.
In men’s hockey, the Varsity Reds (3-1-0) climb back to the top thanks to a pair of road wins against Saint Mary’s, 4-0, and fifth-ranked StFX, 4-2, combined to back-to-back losses by former No. 1 Alberta at Saskatchewan, 2-1 and 4-3. The Huskies (5-1-0) move up two spots to No. 2 following the two-game sweep over their archrivals from Edmonton, while the Bears (3-3-0) fall to No. 4.
In women’s rugby, top-ranked StFX (8-0) closed out the regular season with a 64-0 win over Acadia to finish league play with a mind-boggling 657-3 overall point differential. The X-Women host the AUS championship this weekend in Antigonish, N.S., and will then host the CIS championship from Nov. 1-4. In addition to StFX, three teams have already qualified for the CIS national tournament, including No. 3 Alberta, which claimed the Canada West title last weekend, as well as No. 2 Guelph and No. 4 Queen’s, who will face off in the OUA final on Saturday.
In women’s soccer, top-ranked Ottawa battled No. 7 Queen’s to a 0-0 draw last Friday to finish the regular season with an undefeated 14-0-2 record and a remarkable 54-1 overall goal differential. The Gee-Gees open the playoffs at home on Sunday with an OUA East semifinal against an opponent still to be determined.
In men’s soccer, No. 1 York tied fourth-ranked McMaster 1-1 and beat Waterloo, 7-0, and Laurier, 2-0, to end conference play with a superb 14-0-2 mark. The Lions kick off the post-season on home turf on Sunday with an OUA West semifinal versus a rival still to be determined.
In women’s hockey, reigning CIS champion Calgary (5-0-1) holds on to the No. 1 position despite a surprising 4-3 overtime loss on home ice to Regina (3-3-0), on Saturday. Regina goaltender Jennifer Schmidt stole the show in the upset win as the Cougars were outshot 47-20. The Dinos still racked up three out of a possible four points over the weekend as they had won the two-game set opener 3-0 on Friday.
In cross-country running, Guelph leads both the women’s and men’s rankings for the fifth straight week. The Gryphons have captured the last seven national team banners in women’s competition and have won six consecutive men’s championships, both CIS record streaks.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
(points) / (previous rankings)
1. Guelph 100.0 points / (1)
2. McMaster 90 / (2)
3. Victoria 78 / (3)
4. McGill 68.7 / (4)
5. Western 60 / (5)
6. Toronto 49.3 / (6)
7. Calgary 31.3 / (7)
8. Queen’s 28.7 / (8)
9. StFX 17.3 / (9)
10. Dalhousie 14 / (10)
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
(points) / (previous rankings)
1. Guelph 100.0 points / (1)
2. Victoria 85.3 / (2)
3. Windsor 82.0 / (3)
4. Laval 62.7 / (4)
5. Queen’s 62 / (5)
6. McMaster 48 / (6)
7. Regina 43.3 / (7)
8. StFX 28.7 / (8)
9. Calgary 19.3 / (9)
10. Western 7.3 / (10)
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / (previous rankings)
1. Calgary (5-0-1) / (1)
2. McGill (2-0-0) / (2)
3. Montreal (3-0-0) / (3)
4. Alberta (6-0-0) / (4)
5. StFX (3-0-0) / (5)
6. Queen’s (5-0-1) / (7)
7. Wilfrid Laurier (5-1-0) / (8)
8. Guelph (4-2-0) / (6)
9. St. Thomas (3-0-0) / (10)
10. Western (3-1-1) / (9)
Also receiving votes: Toronto.
MEN’S HOCKEY
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)
1. UNB (3-1-0) / 160 points (12) / (2)
2. Saskatchewan (5-1-0) / 154 (4) / (4)
3. UQTR (4-1-0) / 128 (1) / (3)
4. Alberta (3-3-0) / 94 / (1)
5. StFX (3-1-0) / 84 / (7)
6. Moncton (2-1-1) / 72 / (5)
7. Acadia (3-1-0) / 66 (1) / (NR)
8. Lakehead (4-1-1) / 50 / (10)
9. Calgary (4-2-0) / 45 / (8)
10. UBC (4-1-1) / 15 / (NR)
Also receiving votes: Toronto (14), Western (13), Manitoba (12), Ottawa (9), Waterloo (7), Windsor (7), Carleton (4), Regina (1).
WOMEN’S RUGBY
(regular season / playoff record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)
1. StFX (8-0) / 104 points (7) / (1)
2. Guelph (6-0 / 2-0) / 91 (3) / (2)
3. Alberta (4-0 / 2-0) / 71 / (4)
4. Queen’s (6-0 / 2-0) / 70 / (3)
5. Laval (7-0 / 1-0) / 60 / (5)
6. Calgary (3-1 / 1-1) / 45 / (6)
7. Lethbridge (2-2 / 1-1) / 37 / (8)
8. Concordia (6-1 / 1-0) / 36 / (7)
9. Waterloo (5-1 / 1-1) / 24 / (10)
10. McGill (5-2 / 0-1) / 13 / (9)
Other teams receiving votes: McMaster (8), Acadia (3), Ottawa (1), UPEI (1).
WOMEN’S SOCCER
(regular season record) / votes / (previous rankings)
1. Ottawa (14-0-2) / 50 points / (1)
2. Trinity Western (11-1-0) / 44 / (3)
3. Montreal (10-2-0) / 37 / (2)
4. Cape Breton (9-0-2) / 36 / (4)
5. Victoria (9-2-1) / 29 / (5)
6. Wilfrid Laurier (11-2-3) / 23 / (6)
7. Queen’s (11-2-3) / 18 / (9)
8. UBC (8-2-2) / 14 / (7)
9. Sherbrooke (9-3-0) / 8 / (NR)
10. Alberta (7-2-3) / 6 / (10)
Other teams receiving votes: McGill (5), McMaster (3), Dalhousie (2).
MEN’S SOCCER
(regular season record) / votes / (previous rankings)
1. York (14-0-2) / 59 points / (1)
2. UBC (11-0-1) / 55 / (2)
3. Saint Mary’s (7-1-3) / 43 / (4)
4. McMaster (12-1-3) / 39 / (5)
5. Alberta (7-2-4) / 36 / (3)
6. Queen’s (11-1-2) / 29 / (6)
7. Trinity Western (9-1-2) / 22 / (8)
8. Laval (6-0-3) / 19 / (7)
9. Montreal (8-2-0) / 15 / (10)
10. Carleton (10-2-2) / 12 / (9)
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / votes / (previous rankings)
1. Trinity Western (0-0) / 60 points / (2)
2. UBC (0-0) / 56 / (1)
3. Alberta (0-0) / 52 / (3)
4. Laval (0-0) / 46 / (4)
5. Manitoba (0-0) / 43 / (T5)
6. Ottawa (2-0) / 40 / (7)
7. Dalhousie (0-0) / 32 / (9)
8. Toronto (0-1) / 30.5 / (T5)
9. Sherbrooke (0-0) / 29 / (10)
10. Calgary (0-0) / 28 / (8)
Next highest: Saint Mary’s (20), York (12.5), Winnipeg (10), Brandon (9), Montreal (5).
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
(regular season record) / votes (first-place votes) / (previous rankings)
1. Alberta (0-0) / 259 points (19) / (2)
2. Trinity Western (0-0) / 250 (8) / (1)
3. McMaster (1-0) / 192 (1) / (4)
4. Laval (0-0) / 184 / (5)
5. Manitoba (0-0) / 183 / (3)
6. Brandon (0-0) / 143 / (6)
7. Saskatchewan (0-0) / 102 / (9)
8. Calgary (0-0) / 72 / (7)
9. UBC (0-0) / 55 / (10)
10. UNB (0-0) / 50 / (8)
CIS Men’s Hockey Top 10 (#3)
UNB back at No. 1, Saskatchewan sweeps Alberta in Top-10 battle
OTTAWA (CIS) – The University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds return to the No. 1 position in the third CIS men’s hockey poll of the season, thanks to a pair of road wins against top AUS opponents combined to a two-game sweep from the Saskatchewan Huskies over the Alberta Golden Bears.
The V-Reds, who had opened the campaign at No. 1 before dropping to second place behind Alberta last week, received 12 first-place votes and 160 points from the 17-member media panel in the new Top 10.
The other first-place nods went to Saskatchewan (4), which moves up two spots to a season-high No. 2 following its impressive sweep of Alberta, and to the UQTR Patriotes (1), who remain in third place for the third straight week. The Bears drop to No. 4 following the back-to-back losses to their Canada West archrivals.
Rounding out the new media poll are No. 5 St. Francis Xavier (3-1-0), up two positions; No. 6 Moncton (2-1-1), down one; No. 7 Acadia (3-1-0), unranked a week ago; No. 8 Lakehead (4-1-1), up a pair; No. 9 Calgary (4-2-0), down one spot; and No. 10 UBC (4-1-1), ranked nationally for the first time since October of 2009.
Top-ranked UNB improved to 3-1-0 in league play over the past weekend thanks to a 4-0 shutout win at Saint Mary’s and a 4-2 road victory over No. 5 StFX. The reigning AUS champions hit the road again this week for matchups against No. 7 Acadia on Friday and Dalhousie on Saturday.
In Canada West, the highly-anticipated doubleheader between Alberta (3-3-0) and Saskatchewan (5-1-0) lived up to the billing with the Huskies claiming a pair of one-goal decisions on home ice, 2-1 and 4-3. The Golden Bears outshot their rivals in both contests, 30-16 on Friday and 34-20 on Saturday, but Huskie netminder Ryan Holfeld had the last laugh on both occasions.
In the OUA, third-ranked UQTR (4-1-0) doubled Concordia 6-3 in its lone outing of the past week.
In addition to Friday’s clash between UNB and Acadia, Top-10 battles to keep an eye on this week include Saskatchewan at UBC on Friday and Saturday, as well as StFX visiting Moncton on Saturday.
CIS MEN’S HOCKEY TOP 10 (#3)
Voting is based on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, with a 1st 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 rankings)
1. UNB (3-1-0) / 160 points (12) / (2)
2. Saskatchewan (5-1-0) / 154 (4) / (4)
3. UQTR (4-1-0) / 128 (1) / (3)
4. Alberta (3-3-0) / 94 / (1)
5. StFX (3-1-0) / 84 / (7)
6. Moncton (2-1-1) / 72 / (5)
7. Acadia (3-1-0) / 66 (1) / (NR)
8. Lakehead (4-1-1) / 50 / (10)
9. Calgary (4-2-0) / 45 / (8)
10. UBC (4-1-1) / 15 / (NR)
Also receiving votes: Toronto (14), Western (13), Manitoba (12), Ottawa (9), Waterloo (7), Windsor (7), Carleton (4), Regina (1).
FRC – CIS Football Top 10 (#9)
No. 1 McMaster wraps up unblemished regular season
OTTAWA (CIS) – The reigning Vanier Cup champion McMaster Marauders top the Football Reporters of Canada – CIS rankings for the ninth time in as many polls this season, a few days after wrapping up conference play with a perfect 8-0 record for the first time since 2003.
After receiving 29 first-place votes from the 30-member FRC panel in each of the last five polls, the Marauders were a unanimous No. 1 selection this week, following the Calgary Dinos’ first loss of the campaign. Calgary (6-1) drops to No. 3 in the new Top 10 behind the Laval Rouge et Or (7-1), who climb back to No. 2 for the first time since the Sept. 4 rankings (poll #2).
The Montreal Carabins (7-1) remain in fourth place, only one point back of Calgary in the voting (225 vs. 224). The No. 5 Guelph Gryphons (7-1) and No. 6 Queen’s Gaels (6-2) also stay put.
The Regina Rams (5-2) and Western Mustangs (5-3) swap positions at No. 7 and No. 8, while the Acadia Axemen (6-1) and Manitoba Bisons (4-3) hold on to the ninth and tenth spots, respectively.
Top-ranked McMaster, the only remaining undefeated team in the country, crushed visiting Laurier (3-5) 43-0 in its regular season finale on Saturday to extend its overall winning streak to 18 straight games dating back to Week 3 of the 2011 schedule, one shy of the all-time CIS mark set by Laval from 2004 to 2005. The defending national champs, who have a bye this week in the first round of the OUA playoffs, will get a chance to tie the prestigious record on Nov. 3 when they host a conference semifinal.
No. 2 Laval dominated Bishop’s (3-5) 57-7 Sunday in Quebec City to claim its 55th consecutive victory on home turf since 2004, also a CIS mark. Last year’s CIS finalists can clinch first place in the RSEQ standings with a win at Concordia (1-7) on Saturday.
The No. 3 Dinos saw their hopes of a perfect conference season go up in smoke last Friday night when they fell 12-9 at Regina. Despite the loss, Calgary secured first place in Canada West thanks to a positive head-to-head point differential in two contests against the Rams this fall. The reigning four-time CWUAA champions close out league play on Saturday with a home title versus No. 10 Manitoba.
All other Top-10 teams were victorious this past weekend, including No. 4 Montreal 44-0 vs. McGill (2-6); No. 5 Guelph 39-18 vs. York (2-6); No. 6 Queen’s 35-7 vs. Toronto (2-6); No. 7 Regina defeating Calgary; No. 8 Western 32-29 vs. Ottawa (2-6); No. 9 Acadia 12-5 vs. Saint Mary’s (2-5); No. 10 Manitoba 37-31 vs. UBC (2-5).
The OUA playoffs get under way on Saturday with a pair of quarter-final matchups that will see Queen’s host Laurier (3-5) in Kingston, and Western welcome Windsor (3-5) in London.
Fifth-ranked Guelph is the second OUA team that earned a bye in the first round of the post-season. The Gryphons’ 7-1 conference record – including seven straight wins to close out the schedule - is the best in program history.
The coming weekend marks the end of league play in the three other CIS conferences.
FRC – CIS FOOTBALL TOP 10 (#9)
Pts (1st place) Last week
1. McMaster (8-0) 300 (30) 1
2. Laval (7-1) 266 3
3. Calgary (6-1) 225 2
4. Montreal (7-1) 224 4
5. Guelph (7-1) 169 5
6. Queen’s (6-2) 140 6
7. Regina (5-2) 139 8
8. Western (5-3) 89 7
9. Acadia (6-1) 39 9
10. Manitoba (4-3) 28 10
Other teams receiving votes: Sherbrooke (27), Saskatchewan (4).
No. 1 McMaster (8-0): Top 10 ranking: No change... Last week: 43-0 home win over Laurier (3-5)... This week: Bye in first round of OUA playoffs... Next game: Host lowest remaining seed for OUA semifinal on Nov. 3...
No. 2 Laval (7-1): Top 10 ranking: Up one position... Last week: 57-7 home win over Bishop’s (3-5)... This week: Visit Concordia (1-7) Saturday at 1 p.m. ET...
No. 3 Calgary (6-1): Top 10 ranking: Down one position... Last week: 12-9 loss at then-No. 8 Regina (5-2)... This week: Host No. 10 Manitoba (4-3) Saturday at 5 p.m. MT...
No. 4 Montreal (7-1): Top 10 ranking: No change... Last week: 44-0 home win over McGill (2-6)... This week: Visit Bishop’s (3-5) Saturday at 1 p.m. ET...
No. 5 Guelph (7-1): Top 10 ranking: No change... Last week: 39-18 win at York (2-6)... This week: Bye in first round of OUA playoffs... Next game: Host highest remaining seed for OUA semifinal on Nov. 3...
No. 6 Queen’s (6-2): Top 10 ranking: No change... Last week: 35-7 home win over Toronto (2-6)... This week: Host Laurier (3-5) for OUA quarter-final Saturday at 1 p.m. ET...
No. 7 Regina (5-2): Top 10 ranking: Up one position... Last week: 12-9 home win over then No. 2 Calgary (6-1)... This week: Host Alberta (0-7) Friday at 7 p.m. CT...
No. 8 Western (5-3): Top 10 ranking: Down one position... Last week: 32-29 win at Ottawa (2-6)... This week: Host Windsor (3-5) for OUA quarter-final Saturday at 1 p.m. ET...
No. 9 Acadia (6-1): Top 10 ranking: No change... Last week: 12-5 home win over Saint Mary’s (2-5)... This week: Visit Mount Allison (3-4) Saturday at 2 p.m. AT...
No. 10 Manitoba (4-3): Top 10 ranking: No change... Last week: 37-31 home win over UBC (2-5)... This week: Visit No. 3 Calgary (6-1) Saturday at 5 p.m. MT...
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE: WEEK 9 (all times local)
October 26
19:00 Alberta (0-7) at No. 7 Regina (5-2), Access7 Regina (TV) & CanadaWest.tv (web)
19:00 UBC (2-5) at Saskatchewan (4-3), Shaw (TV)
October 27
13:00 OUA quarter-final: Windsor (3-5) at No. 8 Western (5-3), theScore (TV & web)
13:00 OUA quarter-final: Laurier (3-5) at No. 6 Queen’s (6-2), Cogeco (TV – tape delayed)
13:00 No. 2 Laval (7-1) at Concordia (1-7), SSNCanada.ca (web)
13:00 No. 4 Montreal (7-1) at Bishop’s (3-5), Radio-Canada (TV & web) & SSNCanada.ca (web)
13:00 McGill (2-6) at Sherbrooke (5-3)
14:00 No. 9 Acadia (6-1) at Mount Allison (3-4), sportscanada.tv (web)
14:00 StFX (2-5) at Saint Mary’s (2-5), Eastlink (TV & web) & Bell Aliant (web)
17:00 No. 10 Manitoba (4-3) at No. 3 Calgary (6-1), CanadaWest.tv (web)