Sports

Sports SPORTS EDITOR VACANT sports@thecord.ca

Golden Hawks’ Homecoming defeat

NATASHA GIANNANTONIO SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR

The Laurier Golden Hawks men’s football team continued their season in a Homecoming matchup against the Ottawa Gee-Gees. The Hawks got on the board early, but were not able to keep the Gee-Gees at bay on Saturday Sept. 24.

The Hawks came into the game with two wins and one loss, a week after the blow-out 32-1 win against the York Lions. There was much anticipation coming into this game as third ranked Ottawa rolled into town looking to extend their two game win streak and mellow the Homecoming festivities.

The last time the Gee-Gees played Laurier was in 2019 in Ottawa, where the Hawks lost 25-22. Their loss on Homecoming reflected the previous defeat: leading until the fourth quarter, and a great comeback effort demonstrated by the home team.

With a loud University Stadium housing approximately 2,746 fans, the Hawks started strong with Dawson Hodge scoring a 40 yard field goal 2:17 into the game, and adding a rouge point mere minutes later to make it 4-0. However, the Gee-Gees’ defensive line remained solid, shutting down hand-off rushing plays. Coach Michael Faulds explained the team’s position facing the visitors, “We respect this opponent. Ottawa is an all out defensive battle.”

Laurier quarterback Taylor Elgersma connected on a touchdown pass to put the Hawks up 10-1 in the second quarter with Hodge converting the extra point.

The third quarter started with a scary injury, hushing the stadium.

“We are concerned for the Ottawa player and hope he’s alright. We just told the guys you know, it’s going to be a 30 minute break and then when you know he’s in the ambulance and safe on his way to the hospital that we were going to warm it up.” Faulds said in response to the injury of Ottawa’s Sam St-Jean.

When play resumed, Ottawa avoided multiple tackles to score, cutting the deficit to 11-8. The pressure rose for the Hawks to close out the game. On the next Ottawa possession, a 44 yard field goal tied the game at 11.

A pass interference flag hit the turf nearing the end of the fourth quarter giving Ottawa a first down in which the team would convert for the score.

After timeouts taken by both teams, the Hawks came out strong, scoring an extremely late touchdown at 29 seconds from an Elgersma pass to Quentin Scott. Fans tensed as the game became leveled once again with the score of 18-18.

Faulds gave his team credit, saying, “I was proud of how our guys bounced back offensively with that last drive when we were down 8-11. So that showed a lot of heart and a lot of desire.”

In the dying seconds against the odds, Ottawa kicker Campbell Fair made an impressive and heartbreaking 55 yard field goal to win the game 21-18. An unfortunate outcome for a hard fought game by the Hawks.

After the game Faulds broke it down.

“It’s a tough way to lose anytime you lose with a 55 yard field goal at the end of time … But at 2-2 we got to pick ourselves up. We’ve got half the season remaining.”

ABIGAIL HECKBERT/CORD PHOTOGRAPHY

Construction continues on Alumni Field

YASMEEN ALMOMANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Alumni Field, located between the science building and the Athletic Complex on the Waterloo campus, has been under construction since the summer.

“It is a complete overhaul of the previous field,” Kate McCrae Bristol, acting director of Athletics and Recreation, said.

“The footprint is significantly larger than previous, and it’s baked into the Campus Master Plan, which has a goal of creating more pedestrian friendly walkways in throughout the core of campus.”

The previous field was not regulation size for any of the sports played on campus, so the new Alumni Field is an opportunity for Laurier to have a FIFA-regulated size soccer pitch.

“It will be large enough to allow us to meet all our recreational and intramural needs for all of our students,” McCrae Bristol said

Furthermore, the field is set to have spectator areas with seating for students and will be an open space for community events.

“It gives us the opportunity to host other types of events on the space because we’ll have the proper infrastructure to be able to do that sort of thing,” she said.

The new scoreboard currently being installed will be large enough to be seen from all over the field.

During the process of the new field being set up, the Science Building parking lot has lost a few rows of parking spaces, which has sparked irritation among students.

“I certainly understand that losing parking spaces can be a frustration for students, staff and faculty. I think in this particular situation, we’ve actually removed very few,” McCrae Bristol said. “...It really is about fitting into the campus wide master plan, which is aiming to make the interior of campus a pedestrian safe and pedestrian friendly zone.”

The Alumni Field is meant to be a welcoming space in the middle of campus for students to go to, and McCrae Bristol emphasized the importance of safety around the field.

“There are considerations around putting that type of facility in the middle of a campus or surrounded with parking around safety and vehicle safety of people walking to and from the field, balls flying, equipment being traced in and out, that were also part of considerations around what’s safest for our students and vehicle owners who are parked right beside the facility,” she explained.

The goal is for the field to be open in November, but this could be pushed back due to the supply chain shortages post-COVID-19.

“We’ll wait until the absolute safest moment to be able to open it without sacrificing some of the other infrastructure pieces, so it may look ready, but we’re going to make sure it’s totally ready for use with no issues,” McCrae Bristol said.

McCrae Bristol said the field is an exciting opportunity for students to have access to a new facility to care for their wellness, while their navigation of campus is safe and pleasant.

SADIYA TEEPLE/CORD PHOTOGRAPHY