October 25, 2009
NEXT STOP FOR GEE-GEES; OUA FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS
OTTAWA - Win and you move on, lose and you're done.
It's been all about winning for the uOttawa Gee-Gees football team lately as they closed out the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a 24-9 victory over the visiting Windsor Lancers in front of 1,116 fans at Frank Clair Stadium.
On a damp and dreary day uOttawa played well enough to knock off a very determined Windsor squad who had an outside chance of securing a date in the post-season.
But the Gee-Gees squashed that idea with their fifth consecutive win of the season in a contest that was plagued by fumbles and interceptions due to the inclement conditions.
As a result uOttawa (6-2) secure fourth spot in the OUA standings setting up a quarter-final showdown with the fifth place McMaster Marauders (6-2) next Saturday at Frank Clair Stadium.
Queen's (7-1) finished atop the OUA with Laurier (6-2) ending up in second place followed by No.3 Western (6-2), No. 4 uOttawa (6-2), No.5 McMaster and No.6 Guelph Gryphons (3-5).
"We didn't excel today but we played well enough to win," said Denis Piché, Gee-Gees head coach.
"We treated today's game like it was the playoffs. Our plan is to keep building and keep getting smarter. All these things will be important as we prepare for next week against Mac."
Despite a less than a stellar first quarter that saw uOttawa fail to execute offensively, the Gee-Gees managed to ring up 24 points by the end of regulation time.
Brad Sinopoli had another outstanding performance leading the Gee-Gees offence to 435 yards in total offence.
Sinopoli ran for two touchdowns (his sixth and seventh of the season) and completed 12-of-26 passes for 188 yards and one interception.
"It was cold and wet out there today but we fought through the weather and won the game," the Gee-Gees pivot said.
"It feels good to be playing that playoff game at home, the whole team is really happy about that. It's going to come down to who executes and comes up with the big plays in next week's game. That's going to be the difference."
Ottawa's defence came up big once again limiting the Windsor offence to just 140 total yards.
After falling behind 3-0 to Windsor in the first quarter, the Gee-Gees struck for two second quarter touchdowns to jump ahead 14-3.
uOttawa first major came after a Gee-Gees interception put the ball on their 46-yard line. On the next play Sinopoli hooked up with receiver Steven Hughes for a 60-yard pass completion before being tackled inside Windsor's five yard line.
From there Jordan Wilson-Ross ran it across the goal line to give the Gee-Gees a 7-3 lead.
Minutes later Sinopoli picked up his first TD of the afternoon with an exciting 30 yard dash to the end zone making the score 14-3 uOttawa.
A 23-yard field goal by Windsor kicker, Joe Colella six minutes into the second half cut into the Gee-Gees lead 14-6 but Sinopoli put the Garnet and Grey ahead 21-6 with a 29-yard gallop a couple of minutes later.
uOttawa rounded out the score with a team rouge and a safety.
The Gee-Gees are 3-2 in the playoffs versus McMaster. The last time these two teams met in the post-season Mac defeated uOttawa 30-22 in the 2001 Yates Cup.
Game time next Saturday is 1 p.m.
Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees
It's been all about winning for the uOttawa Gee-Gees football team lately as they closed out the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a 24-9 victory over the visiting Windsor Lancers in front of 1,116 fans at Frank Clair Stadium.
On a damp and dreary day uOttawa played well enough to knock off a very determined Windsor squad who had an outside chance of securing a date in the post-season.
But the Gee-Gees squashed that idea with their fifth consecutive win of the season in a contest that was plagued by fumbles and interceptions due to the inclement conditions.
As a result uOttawa (6-2) secure fourth spot in the OUA standings setting up a quarter-final showdown with the fifth place McMaster Marauders (6-2) next Saturday at Frank Clair Stadium.
Queen's (7-1) finished atop the OUA with Laurier (6-2) ending up in second place followed by No.3 Western (6-2), No. 4 uOttawa (6-2), No.5 McMaster and No.6 Guelph Gryphons (3-5).
"We didn't excel today but we played well enough to win," said Denis Piché, Gee-Gees head coach.
"We treated today's game like it was the playoffs. Our plan is to keep building and keep getting smarter. All these things will be important as we prepare for next week against Mac."
Despite a less than a stellar first quarter that saw uOttawa fail to execute offensively, the Gee-Gees managed to ring up 24 points by the end of regulation time.
Brad Sinopoli had another outstanding performance leading the Gee-Gees offence to 435 yards in total offence.
Sinopoli ran for two touchdowns (his sixth and seventh of the season) and completed 12-of-26 passes for 188 yards and one interception.
"It was cold and wet out there today but we fought through the weather and won the game," the Gee-Gees pivot said.
"It feels good to be playing that playoff game at home, the whole team is really happy about that. It's going to come down to who executes and comes up with the big plays in next week's game. That's going to be the difference."
Ottawa's defence came up big once again limiting the Windsor offence to just 140 total yards.
After falling behind 3-0 to Windsor in the first quarter, the Gee-Gees struck for two second quarter touchdowns to jump ahead 14-3.
uOttawa first major came after a Gee-Gees interception put the ball on their 46-yard line. On the next play Sinopoli hooked up with receiver Steven Hughes for a 60-yard pass completion before being tackled inside Windsor's five yard line.
From there Jordan Wilson-Ross ran it across the goal line to give the Gee-Gees a 7-3 lead.
Minutes later Sinopoli picked up his first TD of the afternoon with an exciting 30 yard dash to the end zone making the score 14-3 uOttawa.
A 23-yard field goal by Windsor kicker, Joe Colella six minutes into the second half cut into the Gee-Gees lead 14-6 but Sinopoli put the Garnet and Grey ahead 21-6 with a 29-yard gallop a couple of minutes later.
uOttawa rounded out the score with a team rouge and a safety.
The Gee-Gees are 3-2 in the playoffs versus McMaster. The last time these two teams met in the post-season Mac defeated uOttawa 30-22 in the 2001 Yates Cup.
Game time next Saturday is 1 p.m.
Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees
