Université de Montréal crowned champions at 2023 Canadian Collegiate Flag Football Championship

For a second year in a row, the women of the Université de Montréal were crowned national champions at the 2023 Canadian Collegiate Flag Football Championship. And for a second consecutive year, they had to fight tooth and nails to get past the other finalist in UQAM by a final score of 25-7. Concordia collected the bronze medal, finishing in third place.

The gold medal game started off with a fierce defensive battle, the first team finally getting on the score board with just over two minutes to play in the first half. This opening score led to fast and furious last few possessions in the first frame, with teams exchanging scores and breaking down plays, to go into the halftime break with UdeM leading 13-7.

In the second half, UdeM established their defense and cracked down on any openings UQAM created, intercepting two critical passes and converting those into scoring opportunities, leaving little room for their opponents to move up the field. The women in blue added two more touchdowns in the bottom half, closing the game with a 25-7 victory.  

“We came strong out of the gate, offers defensive player of the game Tamara Boulanger Ghanem. “We really established our momentum from the get-go and it really showed in our level of play. I am very satisfied and proud of the team performance we put out today. We didn’t make many mistakes, stayed focused and played the game we know we can play. For our team, everything is about our mental focus, so imposing our rhythm from the start and putting pressure on the other team is always in our gameplan; when we can do that well in a game it usually leads to good results, and today it did!”

“We’re extremely proud, added assistant coach Rachel Lessard. “We want to maintain a certain level of performance, consistent with what we demonstrated last year, and continue to perfect our game. These girls are my heroes, they are incredibly dedicated to their craft and have been working extremely hard. Today they showed great discipline against a very tough opponent, and their abilities truly shined in this game.”

While a national championship marks a momentous end to their collegiate season, the Université de Montréal team will have only a brief break as they prepare to represent the country as Team Canada at the 2023 IFAF Americas Continental Flag Football Championship in Charlotte, NC, USA this upcoming July 5-7, a privilege they earned as reigning 2022 National Flag Football Champions.

“This closes out our season in the best possible way and sets the stage for all the other wonderful things that we will get to experience this summer,” concluded Boulanger Ghanem.

In the bronze medal game, Concordia had the best over Sherbrooke in a tightly defended game. Concordia opened the score on their first possession, taking a 6-0 lead on a touchdown catch by Caroline Moquin Joubert. The remainder of the first half brought plenty of defensive highlights, seeing most of the play contained to the middle of the field. That is until Sherbrooke broke through and tied the game thanks to an acrobatic touch down catch by Alexandrine Chartrand a few seconds before the halftime whistle. Concordia went on to establish themselves in the second half, completing three interceptions and adding four touchdowns to capture the win 32-6. Concordia’s Moquin Joubert had herself a productive day, catching four touchdowns to support the work of her teammates and help them secure a bronze medal.

The Canadian Collegiate Flag Football Championship 2023, featuring women’s teams from across the country, was held at the Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard in Montreal, QC. All scores and highlights are available at footballcanada.com.