Fans on each side of the TD Place stadium held their breath in the last three minutes of the 57th Panda Game on Sunday.
But it was with one-and-a-half minutes left on the clock — before the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees officially got the green light to take the Pedro the panda trophy home — that Logan Ivardi and his group of uOttawa friends started celebrating a win for their university.
The Carleton University Ravens football team had tied the game 32-32 with less than five minutes to play in the fourth quarter, but the Gee-Gees went ahead again, booting a field goal with only 64 seconds remaining to make it a 35-32 final.
It was only a year ago that the Ravens had snapped the Gee-Gees’ six-year Panda Game winning streak .
“We knew there was absolutely no way they were coming back, (so) we started celebrating early,” Ivardi said.
The Gee-Gees have won 39 of the 57 games.
It was an overcast Sunday afternoon at TD Place, a stark contrast from the conditions last year when it was sunny and 28 C.
There was certainly no lack of energy in the stands Sunday, and after the game the masses from both sides of the stadium flooded the football field.
Police on scene, however, said Sunday’s Panda Game was relatively peaceful compared to some previous years .
“(Thousands of people) were here and, generally, most of the kids have been friendly and thankful (of the police presence),” Ottawa Police Service staff Sgt. Andrew Pidcock said as he stood at the tip of a long line of officers barricading fans leaving the stadium from traffic on the street.
As of 3:30 p.m., there hadn’t been any major incidents of concern for police, he said.
Pidcock said he attributes the after-game civility to a scheduling change. The game used to take place on Saturdays, but it was moved to Sunday in 2023.
“Of course you could party a little harder on a Saturday, and students have class on Monday,” Pidcock said.
Alexander Boily, who had played on the Ravens’ football team for the last four years, was on the sidelines as a fan this year. Boily, who dealt with multiple head and shoulder injuries over the years, was forced to hang up the cleats.
“It’s hard to watch when your guys fight really hard and come off short,” Boily said after the game.
“Just speaking about last year, it was a surreal moment for sure,” he said of the Carleton Panda Game victory. (But) the energy was still there from the team and the fans, and they were fighting and they had their chance to win, but it was a couple of plays short from another championship.
“This being my first one I got to watch from the sidelines, it hurt a lot for sure,” Boily said.
The Gee-Gees and their fans, on the other hand, lingered longer to celebrate their win.
“We are absolutely enjoying the moment right now,” uOttawa second-year student Ivardi said.
“Especially after last year’s (loss against the Ravens) it was my first year at school and we lost our huge winning streak, and we were super excited (this year) to come back and it did not disappoint.”
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