UOttawa students celebrate fifth Panda Game win in a row

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Published Oct 01, 2023 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 3 minute read

The stands were packed with football fans watching 2023 Panda Game at TD Place, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. Photo by Ashley Fraser /POSTMEDIA

Students made their way to the Sandy Hill area after the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees won the annual Panda Game against the Carleton Ravens on Sunday afternoon, marking the team’s fifth win in a row.

The Gee-Gees won the game 18-16, with kicker Campbell Fair getting a 55-yard walk-off field goal.

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Students from both universities watched from the packed stadium, with uOttawa fans storming the field as the team clinched the win on the 54th anniversary of the annual game.

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Ottawa police and Ontario Provincial Police cars were parked every few blocks throughout the Sandy Hill area Sunday after the game, many also driving up and down the neighbourhood’s streets or standing at intersections hoping to prevent any potential issues. A police spokesperson told this newspaper that, as of 6:30 p.m., there were no incidents or arrests to report.

Police made a parking lot beside the Sandy Hill Community Centre at the corner of Sweetland Avenue and Somerset Street East their home base, with cars, trucks and vans filling the spots.

Students slowly started making their way back to Sandy Hill at around 3 p.m., many of them taking the city bus home, with others loading onto school buses to be dropped back off on campus.

University of Ottawa students Jack and Matthew Halloran canoed along the Rideau Canal to watch the game at TD Place Sunday. Photo by Catherine Morrison /Postmedia

Choosing a more unique form of transportation, uOttawa students Jack and Matthew Halloran were portaging a canoe down Somerset Street East on Sunday afternoon after watching the game at TD Place.

Brothers from Trenton, along the Bay of Quinte, the Hallorans canoed to the game after deciding that the bus lineups from campus were too long.

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“We went to, like, the tailgate and the line was super long,” Jack Halloran said. “As a joke, he was like, ‘We should take the canoe,’ and we did.”

Jack said the paddle on the Rideau Canal toward TD Place took about 30 minutes, with the brothers getting permission to drop the canoe at the Canal Ritz during the game. Originally their dad’s hunting canoe, Jack said the brothers have been using it in the city, using buckets as seats.

The football game itself, Jack said, was “not nearly as good as canoeing.”

UOttawa student Sam White and Carleton University student Jack Switzer. Photo by Catherine Morrison /Postmedia

“We’re not from the city, so canoeing there was the most fun,” he said, adding that they might hit up a party Sunday night or maybe even do some more canoeing.

UOttawa student Sam White and Carleton University student Jack Switzer said the game was fun to watch, given the close score, adding that the almost 60-yard field goal was “like NFL level.”

Switzer said the stadium was packed, adding that, near the end of the game, everybody who was in the top rows of the bleachers made their way towards the bottom to get ready to run onto the field. He said some students from Carleton ran onto the field too early, believing they had won.

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“After uOttawa won, everyone went absolutely bananas,” Switzer said, adding that Carleton students were “distraught.”

UOttawa students Aleigha Shepard and Eva Notebomer. Photo by Catherine Morrison /Postmedia

UOttawa student Aleigha Shepard said the field goal win was “a big moment.”

“With only two minutes left, I was sitting there with my head between my knees,” Shepard said. “With one second left on the clock, they scored a field goal.”

Eva Notebomer, also a student at uOttawa, said she and Shepard woke up around 7 a.m. to get ready for the day, adding that they planned to nap and eat before deciding what to do Sunday evening.

As students made their way back home, many stopped at a local Quickie convenience store to grab freezies and Gatorade. Others gathered for food and drinks at bars and restaurants along King Edward Street.

Those living in houses where parties were taking place just a few hours earlier were either cleaning their porches and re-setting for later, sitting or playing beer pong.

By 6 p.m., activity on the streets picked up again as students made their way to the next party, drinks in hand. One house in the area was inviting people to stop by to do a “beer bong” that reached the street from the building’s balcony.

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