For the first time in Queen’s history, Team Engineering and Team Commerce took the fight to the ice on March 14 to see who is the better Smith School.
The Cure Cancer Classic (CCC) raised $624,000 dollars for cancer research this year, in one of the most highly anticipated sporting events of the Queen’s social calendar.
“They’re helping to change the landscape and cancer outcomes for generations to come,” said Doug Kane, director of independent fundraising and sports alliances at the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), in an interview with The Journal.
The Cure Cancer Classic executives raised $312,500 themselves, which was matched by other donors secured by the CCC. The money will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Trials Group, which conducts clinical trials to test treatments.
“There’s no other event I have been to that has this much ion, this much energy,” Kane said.
Stephen Smith, the donor whose name graces both Engineering and Commerce faculties at Queen’s, ed the co-chairs of Cure Cancer Classic on the ice and was met with applause from across the stadium.
“[Smith] was able to see this ripple effect of his vision and his great contribution, especially with the recent one to the Engineering faculty, is amazing,” Co-Chair of CCC Justin Tanenbaum said in an interview with The Journal.
Signs reading “Daddy loves us more” could be seen throughout the crowd, as students reveled in the first Smith versus Smith game in Queen’s history.
The first period started off with a bang. Commerce quickly bagged three goals before Engineering students even had a chance to catch their breath. With 2:19 left in the first period, Engineering students finally scored a goal, prompting applause and chants of “Daddy’s money” from the Engineering side of the arena.
“Every time, just skating out that first time here and hearing the Eng[ineering] crowd just be so loud, so much energy. Every year it’s the same thing, it’s the best feeling,” three-time Engineering player Matt Sheehy, Sci ’24 said after the game.
According to Sheehy, though Commerce might be scoring goals, the Engineering team will always have the best fans.
A quick goal by Team Commerce ended the first period at 4-1. Chants of “Puck Commerce” rang through the crowd, but the Commerce team skated off the ice with nothing to prove.
During the first intermission, bite-sized Timbits players took to the ice, dazzling the crowd.
The start of the second period took off with a goal from Team Engineering, met with more cheers as their fans caught a glimpse of victory. A power play for Commerce at 6:39 saw another goal for Commerce, raising the score to 5-2 by the end of the second period and dashing Team Engineering’s hopes for a comeback.
Throughout the game, kiss cams and free giveaways entertained the crowd, but by the third period, nothing could disguise Team Engineering’s slipping grasp on the game.
The third period kicked off with another goal from commerce, but a quick follow-up goal from engineering had the crowd cheering. A fight between three players got the crowd riled up, but nothing could bring Team Commerce down.
The final goal of the night, scored by James Moffat, Comm ’24, solidified Commerce’s domination.
“The best part of the game was just taking off and seeing everyone’s hands go up at the final whistle,” Moffat said in a post-game interview.
As a first-year rep for the CCC in 2021, Moffat enjoyed watching the organization grow in his four years at Queen’s. For him, scoring the winning goal was just the cherry on top.
Team Commerce had secured seven points to Team Engineering’s three.
“We’re a group of 36 university students, and we’re just here to make a big difference and a big impact on the cause,” Tanenbaum said.
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