Women's Vanier Cup

By Ian Donaldson

Vanier Cup weekend in Kingston kicked off with a bang on Friday, as the second annual Canadian
Collegiate Women’s 5v5 Flag Football Showcase took place at Mic-Mac Field and Richardson Stadium. 12
colleges and universities from across Ontario and Quebec were competing, with some of the best and
brightest of the Women’s game on show in sub zero temperatures.

The hosting Queen’s Gaels were to face a tough pool stage schedule, first taking on the York Lions,
followed by the Universite du Quebec á Montreal (UQAM) Citadins, and finishing with the provincial
champion Guelph Gryphons.

After a close 12-8 win over York, Queen’s would suffer a 54-0 defeat to UQAM thanks to ridiculously
high-level play from the Citadins quarterback. With a quarterfinal berth at stake, Queen’s would finish
the pool with an upset victory over Guelph to finish 2 nd in their pool and advance to the quarterfinals
against the Concordia Stingers.

Coming off pool stage wins over Western and Sheridan, Concordia would immediately put Queen’s on
the back foot with a touchdown on the game’s first drive. After a few switches in possession without
score, a Concordia interception off a Queen’s pass would set up another touchdown for a fired-up
Stingers offensive unit, doubling their lead to 12-0. Concordia would then add two more touchdowns in
either side of half time, picking apart Queen’s zone coverage with long drives to make it a 25-0
ballgame.

Determined not to lose complete control of the contest, Queen’s would finally find a breakthrough and
narrow the Stinger lead to 19, but neither time or luck was on their side in the game, and Concordia
would run away with a 38-6 final score—a lopsided score which does not do justice to the effort and
character shown by the Gaels.

Though the hosting Gaels were now out, there was still more football left to play—and it would be an
all-Quebec semi final with UQAM taking on the Sherbrooke Vert-et-O;, and Concordia facing the
defending champion Universite de Montreal Carabins. In the first semi final, the UQAM offensive
dominance seen all day would continue, when they scored on just the second play of the game. The
Citadins would score again on a deep pass over Sherbrooke coverage that the receiver would take in
stride on route to a 13-0 UQAM lead. However, Sherbrooke would quickly re-establish themselves with a
nice drive to score from close range, adding a conversion, and making it 13-7. Despite excellent pass
rush from Sherbrooke, UQAM would keep finding the endzone, and walked into half time with a 26-7
lead.

Overall, the quarterback play by Sherbrooke was largely of the highest quality, but too many perfect
throws were being dropped by Vert-et-Or recievers which stalled a number of drives. The UQAM
offense—seemingly unaffected by the frigid temperatures or the laws of gravity—would continuously
respond with touchdowns. UQAM would take this one 45-15 and looked unstoppable going into the
final.

It was an all-Montreal matchup on the other side of the semi-final bracket, as Concordia would face
Universite de Montreal, who won the inaugural women’s Vanier Cup tournament this time last year. The

Carabins would score two touchdowns on their first two drives, quickly building a 13-0 lead over
Concordia. The Stingers, however, were prepared to respond in kind, and scored two touchdowns of
their own to tie the game at 13 going into half time. In the second half, UdM would be the first team to
break the deadlock, when a Carabin receiver took a short pass all the way down the left sideline for a
score and a renewed lead. The defence for Montreal would come up just as big, as Concordia failed to
score on consecutive drives thanks to some lockdown coverage from the Carabins defensive backs. UdM
would score again very late, all but booking their ticket to the finals with a two-score lead. A Concordia
touchdown (set up by a ruled completion that was clearly put to ground) brought the game back within
one score, but the final whistle meant a 26-20 victory for Universite de Montreal and second-straight
finals berth. Muted Carabins celebrations after the win said it all—they had their full focus on gold.

It was now finals time—and what better matchup than a rivalry game between Universite de Montral
and UQAM. In what was really the first breakdown in coverage seen all tournament from the UQAM
Citadin defence, UdM would score on a wide-open touchdown and take the lead 6-0. The UQAM offence
would then turn it over on downs on their first drive. With a chance to make UQAM uncomfortable, the
Carabins would put together a patient and surgical drive to score again—it was now 12-0 Universite de
Montreal! Then, in a play reminiscent of Stefon Diggs’ Minneapolis Miracle from 2018, UdM would score
for the 3 rd time unanswered to give the Carabins a 19 point lead. And as if the half couldn’t get any
worse for UQAM, ANOTHER turnover on downs initiated ANOTHER successful scoring drive for the
Carabins.

At the end of the first half, the score was 25-0 to nothing UDM. It was hard to say what was more
impressive, the ruthlessness of the Carabin offense, or the Carabin defence holding a prolific UQAM
offense to four total offensive drives without a point.

Desperate to put something on the board, the UQAM offense would put together a clutch scoring drive
to start the second half. The UQAM defence would need a stop if they wanted to stay in the game, but
UdM were refusing to drop any catches despite excellent coverage! Suddenly, a UQAM interception in
the endzone gets them a much-needed stop. In that moment, nobody could feel their toes in the cold,
but everyone could feel the momentum shift—and UQAM would storm back down the field and cut the
deficit to just two scores—it was 25-12!!

Now finding themselves inside the final two-minutes of the game, UQAM forced a Carabin turnover with
time still to go—and on the very first play on the ensuing drive, UQAM would score again! They now
needed just a touchdown and a conversion to tie the game against all odds. 25-18 scoreline and it was
all going to come down to the final 52 seconds. Montreal quickly found themselves in a third down
situation inside their own half with 30 seconds to go. A first down would win it for UdM, a turnover
before time expired would give UQAM one more shot at the impossible. But in a remarkable display of
football IQ—it would be none of the above! In the interest of all-out coverage to mitigate a passing
threat, UQAM sat everyone deep in coverage. Recognizing this, two Carabins would fix themselves
behind the line of scrimmage and pass the ball between each other, killing all 30 seconds down on a
single play! With a final score of 25-18, the Universite de Montreal were back-to-back CCWF showcase
champions!

The gravity of the occasion cannot be understated—the amount of talent and passion on display just
goes to show the sleeping giant that is Canadian women’s football. Special acknowledgement must go to

the numerous dedicated organizers, volunteer scorekeepers and referees, and fans who made sure the
event was a resounding success.

With women’s flag football coming to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, who knows how many future
Canadian Olympians we are seeing blossom at this tournament—and the countless other women and
girls they will inspire?

As 58 years of history, excellence and tradition comes to a front at this year’s Vanier Cup, the Canadian
Collegiate Women’s Flag Football Showcase is forging their own path—and that is something
undoubtedly worth recognizing and celebrating.