Marauder Minute (October 19-25, 2026)

Hamilton, Ont. - McMaster Men's Soccer takes two straight wins this weekend to continue their playoff run as they approach the OUA semi-final this upcoming weekend. Both Men's and Women's basketball take wins at home against Nipissing to start their off their regular season on a high. Football fought hard through a loss in their last regular season game to enter the playoff season as the third seed overall. Men's lacrosse and Men's waterpolo each took a couple of wins this weekend to continue successful seasons. 

Men's Soccer
October 21st - W: 3-0 vs Brock | Box Score (OUA Playoffs)

The McMaster Marauders men's soccer team opened its 2026 OUA postseason in convincing fashion Wednesday night, earning a 3-0 victory over the Brock Badgers at Ron Joyce Stadium to advance to the OUA Quarterfinals. The first-round matchup featured three goals, two Brock red cards and 11 total cards issued, as the Marauders combined disciplined defending with timely offensive execution to extend their postseason. 

McMaster's breakthrough came following an impressive individual effort from second-year standout Niko Eskit (Oakville, Ont.). Pressuring Brock's defence inside its own penalty area, Eskit forced a turnover and found himself with an open net ahead of him. Before he could capitalize, Eskit was pulled to the ground by Brock's Nicholas Buccianti, earning the Marauders a penalty kick. Damiano Refosco (Hamilton, Ont.) stepped up and converted from the spot in the 29th minute, giving McMaster a 1-0 advantage.

The Marauders continued to build momentum into the second half, doubling their advantage in the 62nd minute through another dangerous attacking delivery from Refosco. Driving a low cross into the penalty area, Refosco's ball clipped a Brock defender before ricocheting off the goalkeeper and into the back of the net, extending McMaster's lead to 2-0.

Read the full recap here. 

October 24th - W: 1-1 (4-3 Penalties) at Western | Box Score (OUA Playoffs)

With their season hanging in the balance and just five minutes remaining in extra time, the McMaster Marauders men's soccer team delivered another unforgettable postseason performance, defeating the Western Mustangs 4-3 in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw Saturday night at Mustangs Stadium.

Trailing after a 109th-minute penalty kick, the Marauders refused to let their season end. AJ Robichaud (Oakville, Ont.) found the equalizer in the 115th minute before McMaster converted four of its five attempts from the penalty spot to secure a place in the OUA Semifinals.

Fifth-year goalkeeper and captain Ethan Cagalj (Stoney Creek, Ont.) delivered an outstanding performance between the posts, recording eight saves across 120 minutes while helping McMaster withstand relentless Western pressure.

The victory sends the Marauders into the OUA semi-final, where they will travel to Toronto to face the No. 1 seed TMU Bold on Saturday, October 31, at 7 p.m. at Downsview Park. 

Read the full recap here. 

Football
October 24th - L: 17-25 vs Queen's | Box Score

The McMaster Marauders closed out their 2026 regular season with a 25-17 loss to the Queen's Gaels on Saturday afternoon, finishing with a 6-2 record. After trailing 15-0 at halftime, McMaster scored 17 second-half points to remain within striking distance.

Quarterback Lucas Barresi (Hamilton, Ont.) led the comeback effort, scoring two rushing touchdowns in the second half. Michael Horvat (Hamilton, Ont.) opened McMaster's scoring with a 23-yard field goal before Barresi added a pair of one-yard touchdown runs. The second came after Ryan Broome (Grimsby, Ont.) forced a fumble that Domenic Limanni (Orangeville, Ont.) recovered at the Queen's 11-yard line.

Barresi finished with 259 passing yards and two rushing touchdowns, completing 26 of 45 attempts. Shane Wismer (Stoney Creek, Ont.) led the receiving corps with 12 catches for 125 yards, while Nathan Denkers (Hamilton, Ont.) added eight receptions for 95 yards. Defensively, Jaden Briscoe (Oakville, Ont.) recorded two sacks, while Broome contributed a sack and forced fumble.

McMaster recorded 340 yards of total offence and 23 first downs in the loss, while the defence finished with three sacks and forced two fumbles.

The Marauders will now turn their attention to the OUA playoffs, hosting the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday, October 31, at Ron Joyce Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. as

McMaster begins its postseason campaign on home turf.

Women's Basketball
October 23rd - W: 90-34 vs Nipissing | Box Score

After an undefeated preseason run of seven straight victories, your McMaster Marauders' Women's Basketball team opened their season at home against the Nipissing Lakers in the friendly confines of Burridge Gymnasium. The Marauders success in the preseason led them to a 7th place ranking in the initial U Sports preseason rankings.

A bucket right from the opening tip by fourth year veteran and former OUA All-Rookie Team performer, Emily Frankovic (Thornhill, Ont.) got the Marauders rolling and they continued that momentum building a 36-7 lead by the end of the first quarter. Another fourth year veteran, Sophia Urosevic (Kitchener, Ont.) was particularly dominant, shooting a perfect 4 of 4 from the field (including 2 of 2 from long range) and 3 for 3 from the line to finish the quarter with 13 points. The Marauders shot 74% from the field in the first quarter and forced the visiting Lakers into 11 turnovers.

The second quarter saw the Marauders extend their lead to 36 points as they went into the halftime with a significant lead of 55-19. Nikolina Rupcich (Oakville, Ont.) had an outstanding quarter scoring 4 points on 2 of 2 shooting and adding 5 rebounds on the defensive end.

The third quarter saw more of the same from the McMaster women as the defense turned up the pressure holding the visitors to only 6 points on 25% shooting. Tayler Scott (Burlington, Ont.) opened the third quarter scoring for the Marauders and finished the quarter outscoring the Lakers by herself 7 to 6. The fourth quarter was more of the same as McMaster carried their momentum through to the finish which ended with a final score of 90-34 in favour of the home side. Four Marauders scored in double figures led by Sophia Urosevic with 24. Rupcich and Teja McCormick (Toronto, Ont.) paced McMaster with 8 rebounds apiece. For the game, the Marauders shot 53% from the field while holding the visitors to only 32%. The defense also forced 27 turnovers while committing only 10 of their own.

Next weekend, the Marauders play back to back games at home in the Burridge Gymnasium. First up on Friday, October 30th at 6:00 p.m., is the Varsity Blues of the University of Toronto before a Halloween showdown at 6:00 p.m. on October 31st against the U Sports 3rd ranked (preseason) Bold from Toronto Metropolitan University.

Men's Basketball
October 23rd - W: 81-72 vs Nipissing | Box Score

The Marauder Men's basketball team also opened their season against the Nipissing University Lakers at Burridge Gymnasium on Friday night. 

The Marauders got off to a really slow start trailing 9-0 before Oliver Lucas (Toronto, Ont.) got McMaster on the scoreboard with a layup. The Marauders trailed by as much as 10 before going on a 9 point run keyed by 3 pointers from Cassius McNeilly (Scarborough, Ont.) and Elijah Bethune (Toronto, Ont.) to level the contest at 14 apiece. The Lakers pushed the lead back to 7 points at 23-16 before the Marauders closed the quarter on a 6 point run to close the visitors lead to only a single point at 23-22. McMaster were led in the opening frame by Lucas with 8 points and Jack McMahan (Burlington, Ont.) who contributed 6 points.

The second quarter saw McMaster take the game to the visitors from Nipissing. They outshot them 52% to 35% and outscored them 27-17 to take a 9 point lead into halftime with the score 49-40. There were some outstanding performances in the second quarter with Jacyn Taylor (Pickering, Ont.) pacing the Marauders with 10 points on perfect 4 of 4 shooting from the field and 2 of 2 from the line. Riaz Saliu (Oshawa, Ont.) and Shakir Yakubu (Brampton, Ont.) added 8 and 7 points respectively. The Marauders were particularly effective on the glass in the second quarter outrebounding the visitors 12-3 in the quarter which included 7 rebounds on the offensive end.

The Marauders held their lead through much of the third quarter which ended with McMaster up 10 points by a score of 67-57. Riley Bleich led the way for the Marauders in the third quarter with nine points on 3 triples from long range. The fourth quarter saw the Nipissing men close the gap to only 3 points at 69-66 with just over four minutes to play. However, McMaster answered with a 3 pointer from Saliu to double the cushion to 6 points and they pulled away in the last two minutes to win by a final score of 81–72.

For the game, McMaster had four players score in double figures led by Saliu with 13, Lucas and Yakubu had 12 each and Taylor ended with 10 points. Saliu was also very effective on the glass with 15 rebounds while Bethune had 3 steals and 2 assists. As a team, the Marauders doubled up on the visiting Lakers on the boards outrebounding them by a 42-21 margin which was key to McMaster coming out with a win in their opener.

Next weekend, the Marauders play back to back games at home in the Burridge Gymnasium with doubleheaders with the women on both Friday and Saturday. First up on Friday, October 30th at 8:00 p.m., is the Varsity Blues of the University of Toronto before the Halloween showdown at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 31st against the U Sports 6th ranked team, the Bold from Toronto Metropolitan University.

Men's Waterpolo
Carleton Invitational
October 24th - W: 20-15 vs Carleton
October 24th - L: 11-14 vs Ottawa
October 24th - L: 12-16 vs Toronto
October 25th - W: 19-9 vs Queen's

The McMaster Men's Waterpolo team travelled to our nation's capital this past weekend for the Carleton Invitational. They opened with a 20-15 win over the Carleton Ravens before tough close losses to Ottawa (11-14) and Toronto (12-16) on Saturday night. The weekend slate of games ended on Sunday with an impressive 19-9 win over Queen's University to even their record at 2-2 for the tournament.

The opening game saw 17 of the Marauders 20 goals in the win over Carleton come from fourth year players Jack Sardo (Hamilton, Ont.), who had 9 goals and Ryan McCann (Hamilton, Ont.) who added 8 goals of his own. Kane Law (Singapore) had 4 assists.

In the second game, Ottawa got out to an early 6-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and McMaster tried to play catchup the rest of the game but came up on the short end of an 11-14 loss. The Marauders were again paced by Sardo who had 7 goals while Henrik Hodgson (Hamilton, Ont.) chipped in with 3 goals.

The third game against the University of Toronto was close through three quarters with the score deadlocked at 9 apiece before the Toronto team pulled away in the 4th quarter and McMaster ended up on the wrong side of a 12-16 loss. Sardo scored 6 times, Hodgson had 3, McCann had 2, and Max Angove (Perth, Australia) added a single goal.

The weekend ended on a high note with the 19-9 victory over the Queen's Gaels. Once again, Sardo and McCann led the way with 7 goals each while Hodgson had 3 goals and single markers came from Jack Feigner (Hamilton, Ont.) and Kiarash Ramezani (Coquitlam, B.C.).

Through seven games on the season, the Marauders have three of the league's top four scorers with Sardo leading all players in the league with 51 goals in 7 games. McCann is in second with 37 goals and Hodgson is tied for fourth with 19 goals.

Next up for the 5-2 Marauders is the NCWP Crossover playoff games which take place in Kingston on Saturday and Sunday, November 7th and 8th. The game times and opponents are yet to be determined.

Men's Lacrosse
October 23rd - W: 17-3 vs Laurentian

The McMaster Marauders men's lacrosse team opened their final weekend of the regular season with a dominant 17-3 victory over the Laurentian Voyageurs at home on Thursday.

McMaster took control early, scoring six goals in the opening quarter before adding five more in the second to build an 11-1 halftime lead. Caelan Mander (Surrey, B.C.) led the offensive charge, while Brennan Mee (Burlington, Ont.), Lincoln Gear (Mono, Ont.) and Ryan Bellamy (Toronto, Ont.) also contributed to the scoring effort.

Mander finished with four goals and two assists, while Mee recorded three goals and two assists. Gear added two goals and two assists, and Jake Cunningham contributed two goals. Bellamy finished with a goal and an assist as the Marauders maintained their offensive pressure throughout the contest.

McMaster added four goals in the third quarter and two in the fourth to secure the 17-3 victory. Goalkeepers Neel Cargill (Toronto, Ont.) and Patrick Jefferies (Toronto, Ont.) each played 30 minutes as the Marauders limited Laurentian to three goals.

October 25th - W: 13-7 at Laurentian

The Marauders closed out their 2026 regular season with a 13-7 road victory over Laurentian on Saturday, earning back-to-back wins over the Voyageurs.

After Laurentian took a 2-1 lead early in the second quarter, McMaster responded with seven consecutive goals to establish an 8-2 advantage at halftime. Caelan Mander  (Surrey, B.C.) and Brennan Mee (Burlington, Ont.) led the scoring surge, while Jake Cunningham (Milton, Ont.), Zac Milne (Vernon, B.C.) and Nolan Power (Georgetown, Ont.) also found the back of the net.

Mander led the Marauders with five goals, while Mee added three goals and Cunningham contributed two. Nick Pospisil (Oakville, Ont.) recorded three assists, and Preston Gear (Orangeville, Ont.) finished with a goal and an assist. McMaster finished with 26 shots on goal compared to Laurentian's 19, maintaining its advantage through the final quarter to secure the win. The

Marauders finished the 2026 regular season with a 4-6 record, closing their campaign with consecutive victories over Laurentian.

Upcoming Events (Oct 26 - Nov 1)

October 30
6:00pm: Women's Basketball vs Toronto
8:00pm: Men's Basketball vs Toronto
Rowing at OUA Championships

October 31
1:00pm: Football vs Ottawa
6:00pm: Women's Basketball vs Toronto Metropolitan
8:00pm: Men's Basketball vs Toronto Metropolitan
Rowing at OUA Championships
Cross Country at OUA Championships