Record seven STFX teams ranked in U SPORTS Top Ten rankings in same week

STFX teams are ranked in all the U SPORTS rankings this week, for all the sports in which X-Men and X-Women teams compete in. In the first men's hockey rankings of the season, STFX is in the No. 4 spot, X-Men Football is ranked No. 6, both women's (No. 8) and men's soccer (No. 9) are ranked, along with women's (No. 8) and men's (No. 9) cross country. X-Women Rugby rounds out the nationally ranked STFX teams in No. 10 in their respective rankings. Women's hockey and men's and women's basketball rankings have not started yet for the season.

Complete press release from U SPORTS follows.

U SPORTS RANKINGS: Alberta atop the men's hockey rankings to begin the season, big wins score StFX and Toronto positions in the women's soccer Top 10, Carleton Ravens soar back into women's rugby rankings, and TMU shakes up the Top 10 in men's soccer.

TORONTO — The reigning Canada West champion Alberta Golden Bears open the men's hockey season atop the U SPORTS rankings. Big wins score StFX and Toronto positions in the women's soccer Top 10, while TMU shakes up men's soccer. In women's cross-country, Laval sweeps the podium and remains on top of the rankings, while Alberta jumps three places to become the biggest movers in men's cross-country. The Carleton Ravens soar back into the women's rugby Top 10, and Western holds firm atop the football standings. The Top Five held serve in women's field hockey rankings.

Men's Hockey

Alberta top of the rankings to begin season

The reigning Canada West champion Alberta Golden Bears (3-0-1) are at the top of the U SPORTS rankings to begin the men's hockey season.

In a recent coaches poll, the Golden Bears were favoured to run it back for their 30^th Canada West title.

Alberta rookie Jakin Smallwood has made a statement to begin the year, scoring four goals and three assists in just four games to start the 2022-23 campaign, while All-Canadian forward Josh Prokop also tallied seven points to begin the year.

Behind Alberta are the No. 2 UQTR Patriotes (0-0-0). After winning an OUA banner last season, the Patriotes defeated the Golden Bears in the U CUP final to capture their second U SPORTS championship in program history. Led by goaltender Alexis Gravel, UQTR will look to keep their momentum as they begin their season with a Top 10 showdown against No. 8 Queen's Gaels this Friday.

Football

Western holds firm at the top, Undefeated StFX climb in rankings

The No.1 Western Mustangs (6-0) continue their stranglehold over the football rankings after topping the Toronto Varsity Blues (3-4) by a score of 56-21.

Western running back Edouard Wanadi rushed for 213 yards and four touchdowns on the day, while his running mate Keon Edwards ran for 139 yards and a pair of scores.

In the AUS, the No. 6 StFX X-Men (5-0) extended their winning streak to five with a 30-10 win over the visiting Bishop's Gaiters (2-3) in the eighth annual Bigg Bowl.

X-Men sophomore running back Malcolm Bussey scored a pair of touchdown runs while racking up 115 yards on the ground, and quarterback Silas Fagnan went 16-35 in the air with a passing touchdown to receiver Zak Karim.

Men's Cross-Country

Alberta jumps three places, biggest movers in men's cross-country

The Alberta Golden Bears (31 pts) are the biggest movers in men's cross-country this week. The Bears climbed three places to No. 7 in the U SPORTS rankings following gritty performances at the Trinity Western Open at Clearbrook Park in Abbotsford, B.C., on Oct. 8. The 2021 Canada West first-team All-Star Riley Stuermer won the eight-kilometre race in a time of 24:34.8, finishing 12 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. The 5-9 graduate student is the first Bear to win a race since Royden Radowits won the 2019 Sled Dog Open in Saskatoon.

The Golden Bears men's team placed second as Will Cebuliak (6th), Cassian Murray-White (10th), and Brendan Simone (12th) joined Stuermer as the top finishers for the Alberta men.

As a result, No. 8 Queen's (29 pts), No. 9 StFX (23 pts) and No. 10 McGill (15 pts) each dropped one position. No. 1 McMaster (89 pts) remains atop the men's rankings for the second week.

Women's Cross-Country

Laval sweeps the podium, remains atop women's cross-country rankings

The reigning U SPORTS champions, No. 1 Laval Rouge et Or (96 pts), remain atop the women's cross-country rankings following a dominant team performance on the Plains of Abraham at the Rouge et Or Invitational on Oct. 8. The Rouge et Or owned the podium as 2021 U SPORTS cross-country champion Jessy Lacourse won the women's race in a time of 28:27.5. The 25-year-old master's student shared the stage with teammates Catherine Beauchemin (28:43.2) and Florence Caron (29:33.9). With five of the top six finishes, Sara Pier Package in fourth and Camille Boudreau in sixth, the women's team scored 16 points and easily edged out StFX (64) and UNB (78). 

In other news, No. 3 Western (73 pts) pulled away from the now-ranked No. 5 McMaster (49 pts) and jumped No. 4 UBC (72 pts) in the women's cross-country rankings. Tied at No. 10 are UBC Okanagan and Alberta.

Women's Rugby

Ravens soar back into Women's Rugby Top 10

U SPORTS women's rugby welcomed the Carleton Ravens (4-2-0) back into the Top 10 following Saturday's 48-13 home victory over the Concordia Stingers. The Ravens' soared eight spots to No. 7, Carleton's highest U SPORTS rankings this season. Concordia dropped out of the Top 10 following this RSEQ loss.

Despite a strong effort, the No. 5 Ottawa Gee-Gees (5-1-0) fell by a 32-22 score to the now-ranked No. 2 Laval Rouge et Or (6-0-0) at Stade TELUS-UL in Quebec City on Saturday. However, the Garnet and Grey is the first team to break Laval's perfect scoresheet, with points scored by Claire Gallagher, Ketsia Kamba, and Sarah White. This defensive match likely served as a preview of the RSEQ Final slated for Saturday, Oct. 22.

No. 3 UBC Thunderbirds (4-0-0) had a bye this week and dropped one place following Laval's win. The Thunderbirds return to action on Oct. 15 in Victoria.

Despite a 69-3 defeat over Western, No. 4 Guelph Gryphons (5-1-0) dropped one position, while Brock fell out of the rankings after a 24-20 road loss over No. 9 McMaster Marauders (4-2-0) on Friday.

Women's Soccer

Big wins score StFX and Toronto positions in the Women's Soccer Top 10

The newly ranked No. 8 StFX X-Women (5-2-0) scored a big win (3-1) over the Cape Breton Capers (6-1-0) to earn a spot in the U SPORTS Top 10 rankings while pushing the Capers down two places to No. 10. The X-Women will host a much-anticipated Cape Breton rematch at STFX Stadium on Oct. 14. 

Meanwhile, No. 9 Toronto Varsity Blues (8-2-0) crashed through the rankings after defeating their crosstown rivals, TMU Bold (3-4-1), twice last week. The Blues jumped five positions and sit four points behind OUA East leaders and No. 2 ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees.

No. 3 Trinity Western Spartans (9-1-2) and No. 4 Queen's Gaels (5-0-3) swapped rankings following the Spartans' double defeat of UFV at Chase Office Field (1-0) on Friday and Rotary Stadium (3-1) on Sunday, while the Gaels' drew 1-1 with Nipissing in Kingston on Friday.

Western (7-2-1) dropped out of the Top 10 following a surprising 3-2 home loss to Waterloo (1-7-1), and Calgary (6-4-2) also lost their Top 10 position, dropping three spots after a 2-0 loss and a clean sheet draw with UNBC (4-5-3) over the weekend.

Men's Soccer

TMU shakes up the Top 10 in men's soccer

This week, the biggest movers in U SPORTS men's soccer is No. 5 TMU Bold (6-2-0), following two OUA East matchups against cross-town rivals, Toronto Varsity Blues. The Bold climbed three positions after double-shutout victories on Thursday (3-0) and Saturday (1-0). The Bold opened game one at Downsview Park with ferocity and conviction in search of revenge following last year's loss to the Blues in front of TMU home supporters.

Blue and Gold midfielder Justin Santos found the back of the net twice, and second-year forward Karamvir Mehmi closed out the match with the final goal at the 80-minute mark, sending Downsview into hysterics. Game two was relatively uneventful, with both teams sharing possession for most of the match until Santos scored the lone goal in the 90^th minute bringing his season's total to seven goals. 

Despite having a bye, No. 4 Mount Royal (8-0-2) moved up one position after the now-ranked No. 6 Carleton Ravens (5-1-2) dropped two places following a 2-0 loss to No. 7 Ontario Tech Ridgebacks (8-1-0). No. 8 Guelph Gryphons (4-1-4) dropped one position as TMU shook the rankings.

No. 9 StFX X-Men (5-1-1) maintained their position following a 1-1 draw with Cape Breton, as did No. 10 UBC Thunderbirds (6-3-2) after a 1-1 road draw and convincing 7-2 home win over Victoria.