Carleton Ravens win Panda Game to snap uOttawa Gee-Gees’ winning streak

Thousands of students packed TD Place Stadium for the annual Panda Game between the uOttawa Gee-Gees and the Carleton Ravens. CTV’s Katelyn Wilson reports.

The Carleton Ravens have taken Pedro the Panda.

The Ravens men’s football team won the annual Panda Game against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees at TD Place Stadium with a score of 20-14 on Sunday.

The annual game between the Ottawa university rivals had been won by the Gee-Gees every year since 2018 (no game was played in 2020) after a four-year run for the Ravens.

The game, which has had a reputation for leading to raucous and sometimes destructive after parties in student neighbourhoods, was played on a Sunday for the third year in a row, following incidents in 2021 and 2022, when the game was played on a Saturday.

In 2021, thousands of students gathered on the streets in Sandy Hill, with some flipping a car onto its roof. In 2022, seven people were arrested and dozens of tickets were issued after a street party in Sandy Hill following the football game.

The last two years have been tamer, with no notable problems arising after the match.

Ottawa police and bylaw officers went door-to-door in Sandy Hill and Old Ottawa South over the past week to speak with residents and businesses. A heightened police and bylaw presence will be visible Sunday night for after-game events.

Carleton and uOttawa are hosting a joint post-Panda event at the University of Ottawa campus from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday. The Carleton Student Experience Office has organized a Post-Panda Cleanup event in the Glebe and Old Ottawa South for the day after the game.

The Panda Game has been an ongoing rivalry in Ottawa for decades. The first match was played in 1955. The teams traded wins until 1998, when the Carleton Ravens team was shelved for 15 years. Ravens football returned in 2013 and with it, the Panda Game rivalry.

The Gee-Gees have won the Panda Game seven times since 2013, and the Ravens have won five times.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle

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