So welcome to Ryerson University, home of Eggy the Ram. That’s right, our mascot is a Ram.
Didn’t know that? Don’t sweat it. Your trusty friends at the Eyeopener are here to let you know the ins and outs of sports on campus. Here’s our quick guide.
Men’s Volleyball
To know Ryerson sports is to know Ryerson volleyball. Arguably our top team, men’s volleyball matches usually pack the stands with rabid Rams fans. Last year the Rams continued to rebuild and rejuvenate their program, surging ahead witha six-game winning streak that put them at 7-3 by the halfway point. Coach Mirek Porosa hasn’t missed a step, bringin in several promising recruits that should bump a few of last year’s guys off the roster. Making a great team better, Porosa should take his boys to the championship. But can they beat the York team that knocked them out in the fifth set last year?
Regular season: 16-4
Women’s Volleyball
This team won seven of their last eight regular season games last year and lost only one player to graduation. “A lot of the girls on the team this year have been on the team for four years now, so this is our year,” libero Anjela Wilson said. “We’re really looking forward to get in that OUA final.” Players should work on a more aggressive style with new coach Bob Chollette and make a strong run for the playoffs.
Regular season: 13-7
Men’s & Women’s Figure Skating
This is the year for Ryerson figure skaters. For the first time in four years, the Rams are a strong veteran team and three years of inconsistent coaching are finally going to be remedied with Lisa Boyer and Jackie Frank stepping in. The team placed in the middle of the pack at the OUA finals and collected several medalling performances at the three varsity competitions.
Women’s Soccer
Okay, so they didn’t have a goalie and it was a winless women’s soccer season, but a new stadium and coach, Peyvand Mossovat, give the squad a chance to improve this year. Among the team’s top recruits is Niki Degroot, a goalkeeper who played in the National Training Centre program. With only seven girls returning in the upcoming season, the pressure’s on rookies to step up in their first year, Mossovat said.
Regular season: 0-10
Men’s & Women’s Fencing
The Ram’s men’s foil teem ranked fourth in the championship finals, after a close loss to Queen’s University. Horia Puscus won fifth place out of 32 fencers in the men’s sabre competition and women’s captain Amy Blackburn placed 11th out of 33 fencers in the women’s foil competition.Men’s Soccer The last time someone projected how his team would do, coach Tony La Ferrara told him he would have “kicked them in the balls” if they’d said it before the season. Well, here we are before the season and I’ll say it anyhow: This team is all about Radu Melnic. If he stays healthy, they win. Don’t kick me in the balls.
Regular season: 6-4
Men’s basketball
A good core of players will be spoiled by a lack of consistent coaching and veteran leadership and last year was pretty dismal with just one win. The Rams are one of the smaller-sized teams on the OUA and memories of last year’s games settle on a bunch of upsets when they were beaten by shots at the buzzer. Their playing came together towards the final four weeks of the season, when they got their first — and only — regular season victory against the Royal Military College. New coach Glen Taylor will head the team and most of the guys are returning for this year, but without graduated forward Vlad Matevski. Someone will have to step it up on and off the course. Matevski’s are some angry, screaming shoes to fill.
Regular season: 4-18
Women’s basketball
No big changes for this squad. Same coach, same core, same batch of marginal prospects. But now no Big T: Tamara Alleyne-Gittens graduated, leaving a huge hole at the five spot. They could compensate by quicker play, but that doesn’t suit pointguard Lisa Grieg’s style. It could be a long year.
Regular season: 3-19
Badminton
Ontario’s top singles player, Sherman Lam, returns to the team for his fifth and final season. The Rams were eliminated from the playoffs before their final match of the season against the undefeated Western Mustangs. The women’s team had immediate success with the addition of OUA all-star and rookie of the year Jocelyn Ko.
Men’s & Women’s Rowing
Ever felt like you needed something to do at 5 a.m.? Join rowing, possibly the only team on campus eager to recruit curious novices. “Rowing and frosh kind of go together,” said coach Dominic Kahnm, who’s looking for “good athletes from track and field, women’s hockey, and those sports that Ryerson doesn’t represent” to join the team. In their third year of competition last season, the Rams won gold and silver at the OUA championships in the 2,000-metre women’s novice doubles event. If you’re looking for something fresh, check out the intramural Viking boat races — imagine dragon boats, but with rowing.
Hockey
May not be our finest team, but damn it, they’re a Ryerson institution. Last year’s only win came in the last weekend of the season, when Matt Harris scored in overtime to shame Queen’s University. The new season starts without captain Jamie Byck and assistant captain Matt Robinson (both graduated), but with a new practice surface at George Bell Arena and coack Mick Mitrovic, who will take on his first full season. Byck returns, though, as an assistant coach. It will be a long season for the Rams. More than half the Rams roster is even filled with new players, but how well have expansion teams ever done in the big leagues?
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