If you’re the type of person who loves an underdog, then the 2026 NCAA championship was not ideal. Meanwhile, in Elmira, ON, the real underdog against the heavily-favoured champion matchup took place at the 2026 USports national championship.
It was an all-RSEQ final between the University of Montréal Carabins and the 2026 RSEQ champions, the Concordia University Stingers. To make it even more apparent this was the underdog versus THE favourite, Concordia was ranked the number two team. Meanwhile, Montréal was the eighth and final seed. Concordia could have been ranked number one and no one would have made the case against them.
The Stingers started their season by going to the USA to play NCAA Division I teams. This year those teams were Boston University and Northeastern University. Northeastern made it to the Frozen Four this season and Concordia took Boston, last season’s Hockey East champion, to a shootout. Let’s further drive home the point of just how good the Concordia Stingers are. They finished the RSEQ regular season with 22 wins and only two losses along with a +53 goal differential. The Carabins finished second in the RSEQ with a +9 goal differential as a comparison. Concordia went to be a perfect 4-0 in the RSEQ playoffs to take the championship title.
Road to the Championship
For Montréal to reach the final, they needed two wins and being the eighth seed meant their path would be difficult. First, they had to play the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds had a similar season to Concordia in that they only lost two games and also won their conference, Canada West, championship. The reasons UBC was given the top spot over Concordia is the Thunderbirds play a 28-game season. In those four extra games they put up four more wins than the Stingers.
UBC is laden in talent. One is former Boston Fleet draft pick Ilona Markova who led the Thunderbirds in points in the playoffs. There’s Grace Elliott who led USports in goals with 24 goals in 28 games. Also, Annalise Wong finished second in Canada West points with 32 points in 28 games. It’s not surprising that UBC would go on to be perfect in the playoffs leading to a Canada West championship.
Not exactly an easy opponent for Montréal to start their tournament off against. At first, it looked as though Montréal was going to upset UBC as the Carabins quickly took a 2-0 lead in the second period. UBC showed why they were ranked number one and took their own lead, 3-2, against Montréal. A few minutes later and the Carabins tied the game. Overtime doesn’t change anything and the first vs. last seed matchup was decided by a coin flip. Audrey-Anne Veillette and Jade Picard sent the Thunderbirds to the consolation tournament, as the unlikely has happened with Montréal winning the shootout to move onto the next round.
Onto the Next
With how the tournament is formatted, there’s no reseeding in the semi-finals. So, despite Concordia being the number two seed, they still had to play the number three Guelph Gryphons. Meanwhile, Montréal got to play the fourth-seeded University of New Brunswick Reds.
The Atlantic USports (AUS) conference is a not as strong as the Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Canada West, or RSEQ conferences. The last time an AUS team won a medal was in 2016 when Saint Mary’s beat the University of Guelph 3-1 in the Bronze Medal Game. The AUS has also yet to see a USports national championship. Only St. Francis Xavier has even been to the USports championship game among all AUS teams, which happened in 2011.
The UNB Reds weren’t a pushover team and provided Montréal with a scare. Late in the 3rd period but with still about two and half minutes left to go, UNB turned a 3-0 game into a 3-1 game. Full respect to UNB, whose history is fascinating: they had to get a court order to reinstate their women’s hockey program. It’s been a long road back for UNB, who went onto finish in third place and win bronze! Just to recap, in order to reach the championship game, Montréal had to beat the number one seed and the eventual third place finisher.
The Final Countdown
The moment had come; the Carabins had made the USports championship game and were about to play their third game in three straight days. As mentioned previously, Concordia came in as the favourite and for good reason. Not only were they clearly the best team in the RSEQ, the Stingers also had been to the last three of four USports championships. This would be their fourth USports championship game in the last five years. No one has been more consistent than head coach Julie Chu and her Concordia Stingers.
To further stack the odds against the Montréal Carabins, you have to go back to Jan. 31st, 2025 to find the last the time they beat the Concordia Stingers. The Carabins lost 10 straight games this season to the Stingers leading up to the 2026 USports Championship game. That losing streak stretches back into the previous 24-25 season to make it a 13-game losing streak. This was going to be a true top seed vs bottom seed match-up.
13 seconds after puck drop, Montréal got the start they’re looking for. Former Ottawa Charge 2023 draft pick Audrey-Anne Veillette opened the scoring thanks to a bit of a lucky bounce, but in a single game with a gold medal on the line, you’ll take any bounces. After that Concordia put on the pressure and suddenly Montréal went from being in the ideal situation with a lead to Audrey Clavette and Emilie Lavoie scoring 26 seconds apart to make it 2-1 Concordia by the end of the first period.
Now it’s the type of game that Concordia wants to play. They’re arguably the best team in USports and have a lot of experience being in games like this. Just two weeks ago, in the RSEQ best-of-three final, Concordia swept Montréal. This could have been a nightmare scenario for the Carabins. They were now tasked with doing something they hadn’t done since early 2025: pull off a comeback win against the Stingers.
Montréal was pushing but Concordia was locking it down. It looked as though the game was headed into the third with Montréal only having 20 minutes to make something happen. Just like Montréal got a bit of a miracle on their first goal, they saw some more luck on their game tying goal. Ann-Sophie Bedard let go a routine shot from the top of the circle, only to see it squeak through Jordyn Verbeek. This put Montréal back in it with the score tied 2-2 headed into the third period. A one-shot game with only 20 minutes left to play? Montréal was back where they wanted to be from the start of the game.
A tie game with 20 minutes left to play set the stage for everyone’s favourite championship scenario. The spotlight shone bright and the pressure was on. If anyone wanted to be a hero, this was their moment. The heroes to start the third period were goaltenders Maude Desrochers and Jordyn Verbeek, who made save after save. Not simple saves either, as both goalies went into desperation mode to keep the game tied. With just 4:32 left in the third period, the perfect scenario happened. Montréal blueliner Jade Picard made a seeing eye shot that found its way through a double moving screen and past Verbeek to give Montréal a 3-2 lead.
Now comes the tough part: defend a one goal lead against one of the best offensive teams in the league. Oh, and said team will have over four minutes to put shots on goal. As had been the case all game, the Carabins were playing their hearts out and not giving the Stingers room. Whatever room the Stingers did have, they had to beat a goalie from Quebec wearing #33. The name of the goalie? Maude Desrochers. The 24-year-old goalie from Rougemont, QC saved save every shot sent her way until the Carabins iced the game on two empty net goals.
With a 5-2 win over the Concordia Stingers, the Montréal Carabins became your 2026 USports National Champions! It’s their first win since 2016 and only third USports championship since the tournament started in 1998. In maybe a bit of cruel fate for the Stingers, the Carabins became the first eighth-seed team to win the championship since the Mount Royal University Cougars did it in the 2023 USports national championship in a 4-3 OT win over the third-seed Stingers. Here’s to a great tournament and see you all next season.